is there anyone out there?

is there anyone out there that just lets the steel "talk to you" and the blade shape just happens.You know .....when you are not planing on a specific blade shape or style,and you just let it turn out the way it does.
i`ve made alot of knives and i think only one was a planned shape and style.I start out hammering steel not knowing what kind of blade shape,the only thing that is planned is if it`s a hunter or bowie ..ect.
just wondering if i`m the only wacko out there or what?



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That which does not kill you, only makes you stronger
 
i plan out my blades, becuase i use stock removal. but when i'm grinding i change stuff around.
 
T

tom mayo

Joined
Jan 27, 1999
Messages
6,277
you can do that, but you will end up with a lot of stuff for the trash can. those without a plan, plan to fail...God gave us a brain for a reason...the best knifemakers use templates and a very defined method. I hope this helps...it is not a slam against your ideas...sincerely...tom

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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
I always lay out a pattern of how I want the knife to look and then make it as close to that as possible. There isn't really any way around that with foldrs, which is what I'm trying right now. I do make minor changes in blade shape when I'm grinding if I really don't like something or if I screw up. But I always try to keep things on the pattern.
Oh yeah, the steel does talk to me sometimes. It says" hey idiot I'm hot and you shouldn't be holding me right there !" I talk to the steel sometimes too, only its more name calling than conversation
smile.gif


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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !

[This message has been edited by Matt Shade (edited 01-22-2000).]
 
Guess I'm just not destined to be one of the "best". Most of my designs began as an idea I sketched on steel, cut out, then modified as I profiled the blade. They haven't all worked but most have, and I enjoy the surprises when they do.

I don't think I have ever made a blade that began as a drawing on paper. Well, a few customer designs maybe, but none of mine. I do use prior knives as rough templates for new knives, but they always change. Only once did I make two the same, and vowed then that I would never do that again. It drove me nuts trying to shape the handles to feel exactly alike.

I've not had a piece of steel talk to me yet, but I have cussed back at a few of them anyway from time to time.

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Jerry Hossom
knifemaker
www.hossom.com




[This message has been edited by GaKnife (edited 01-22-2000).]
 

Hi 01-Fan, I'm with you on this one, especially when I'm forging.
smile.gif


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KSwinamer
 
Thanx kisu
I guess i just can`t help it,i really don`t want to make 2 identical knives.Like Gaknife i made two identicals.....and personaly i just don`t want to limit myself.I feel every knife i make is a part of me, and i have a hard time with being the same as everyone else. I think that will make a unique knife in is't own right.
I want to make knives as an art, for quality and style not as a something that needs to get done, like a job.
Now at least i know I am not the only one.



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That which does not kill you, only makes you stronger
 
i feel it's easier to make them if you've designed em' it's also alot easier to change the design when it's on paper.
try drawing a few before you go forge, you'll find that it's easier.
 
Heya all,

well as outnumbered as we are, i am going to have to mark myself down as one of the whacko's.

i look at the piece of metal that i am hammering with and it always seems perfectly obvious what it should be made into.
i dont want to make hundreds of knives that are all the same .. i like the variation.

and.. seeing as i am new to the game.. i like to test my blooming skills on different things.
ok .. i have made a hunter knife.. so lets see if i can make a kris style blade ..

Tom, if that is how the best knifemakers do things... then i guess i dont want to be one of the best.

if i were to do the exact same few templates for the next 40 years, i could get pretty darn good at those templates too.

variety is the spice of life and if the metal says it wants to be a dagger, then who am i to argue?

D.
 
I figure to give my dos centavos on this subject, so bear with me....
I think the gist of what the more experienced knifemakers are saying is that it will greatly advance your knifemaking abilities IF you are able to duplicate a blade. Doing someting "by the book", as opposed to having it come out different (even slightly)will demonstrate your ability to make a knife just like the customer wishes.
As for letting the mind go on holiday...I do that with bits and scraps of steel...the weird offal from profiling blades. Pieces will tug at me to be made into a neck knife or some other strange creation.
It's a kick to see where this leads when nothing else is going on in the shop, but the bread and butter is still in the execution and planning of the blade prior to making.
 
i will take it that you just disagree with me, not that you are saying i am wrong, which is fine....but when i first started i made every type of knife imaginable, and did just what the first post said plenty of times. however..thru the years i have defined which knife shapes are best and which ones arent...which ones i like and which ones i dont...and now i have a plan. i dont make the same knife over and over and over. but i am in the business to sell knives, and quite frankly..that means that someone else's personal appeal to a knfe is just as important as mine...i have thrown more knives in the trash than a lot of people have made and i speak from experience. write back in 18 years and tell me if you feel the same way..sincerely..tom mayo

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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
Speaking from about 18 years of experience also and being in the business of selling knives for a living, I find there are sufficient variables in blade design to permit constant variation while maintaining certain styles. I use no patterns or templates and sell quite a few knives.

If my knife business became as routine as did my career in industry, I would find something else to challenge my imagination. Life is too short and the challenges too many, and what works for some doesn't work for others. None are wrong, just different. I like that.

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Jerry Hossom
knifemaker
www.hossom.com


 
hey all,
i didn`t want this to become a heated subject,but ....i don`t think there is a right or a wrong way to do this.i personally don`t want to be confined to building afew select blades,everyone likes something different so i build every one different!
My personal favorite blade is a drop point,but i do not produce only those i build what ever the customer wants.But i`d rather just build knives cause i love to build them not because i have to.
If you only make a certain knife,only certain people will buy,but if you build a variety, i beleive you will catch more eyes and as a result obtain more sales and customers.....my personal opinion of course!

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That which does not kill you, only makes you stronger
 
O-1

When I do forge the blade, I sometimes have a basic idea, but have learned to let the fire and steel tell me how the design should be. It took me awhile to listen to these voices, but glad to know that I am not THAT crazy....
biggrin.gif
 
Tom~ you are correct.
i am not saying you are wrong.
what i am saying is that i dont do things by a template... but that doesnt mean that i plan to fail, nor that i have no brain.

just that .. that is how i do things, and seeing as i like what is produced from my efforts.
that is how i shall continue... for all those 18 years.
then i shall gladly contact you and we can spin a yarn or two about my experiences.

i have made knives that are the same, just so that i know i can do it.
and then i changed the one.

i do not claim to be more experienced than you, nor to have the knowledge in making knives as you do.

just that, that is how i make my knives.

D.
 
Did you ever notice the philosophical questions get the most answers? Here's my .02. I try not to make a hatchet when I'm striving for a Bowie, O-1 are you talking about "variations", you know a little more curve here, maybe a bit stretched out here. I just recently finished 6 knives all the same basic dimension's, but none of them would cast the same shadow.
 
MikeS, that is precisely what I am referring to. But I always notice that one of those six is just a little nicer than the others, and often not the exact shape I was aiming for. That then becomes the shape I aim for next time, when all six are different again.
Serendipity rules!

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Jerry Hossom
knifemaker
www.hossom.com


 
hey all,
I`m back with some pics now.
and about the variation thing every knife is different i really try not to produce a blade exactly the same unless it is in the customers wishes,but in the same breath i like the drop point hunter and will do variations of it.You will see in the pics.....although they are not that good ,we just stuck the knives in the scanner tonight.

<a href="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/albumsindex?u=210599&a=1554672

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That which does not kill you, only makes you stronger
 
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/albumsindex?u=210599&a=1554672

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That which does not kill you, only makes you stronger
 
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