Knife "attachment"

MeDoctor

MeDoctor

Joined
Dec 8, 2003
Messages
279
Do any of you folks have trouble with becoming attached to knives you've made, finding yourselves not wanting to let them go? If so, does it get easier as you make more knives and progress in your skills? I just finished my first one, and I've probably poured more than two hundred hours of my life into it, plus untold amounts of pain (both physical and emotional) and frustration. And now I don't want to give it away. Yes, give it away. When I asked my buddy the mill hand for a couple of small chunks of O1 so I could try my hand at making a small fixed blade or two, he also gave a roughly 12" x 8" piece of 1/4" cold rolled and said "here, you can make me a meat cleaver". He was just being a smart-alec, but I decided I'd go ahead and make him one. As of right now he still has no idea that I've made it at all, let alone that I intend to give it to him. I have almost no doubt that I will give it to him when I go back to work this Thursday (I've been on vacation for the last 2 weeks), but I suspect it won't be easy -- even though I really don't have any use for it. (Unless I want to start a new career as an axe murderer. :eek: )

I know that all of the time, effort, and pain were poured into more than just that one knife. They were also poured back into me as a part of the learning process, and much of what I've learned will make it easier to produce future knives. I should add that the input I've received from many in these forums has been priceless -- both the direct responses to my questions that I've posted and the info that I've gleaned from other posts. (It's not my intention to wax philosophical on the art of knife making. I'm not qualified to do that anyway.)

So... How about it guys. Does it sometimes hurt to let them go?

Shalom,
Mark

(Edited for spelling)
 
Mark, KEEP it. Make your pal one next time you make one. You will regret parting with it, trust me. And it sounds like your friend would be overjoyed receiving a knife from you. He would probably be happier with a fixed blade knife, for more actual using.
 
Hi Mark, I've been a fulltime maker for about 14 years and I get just as much enjoyment from selling them as I do from making them, but giving them away would be painful. BTW I did keep my first one and I did give some of the early ones' away. After all these years I still enjoy making knives :D

Don Hanson
 
I give almost all of mine away. I only regret one. I had an employee that wanted a serious business Katana in the worst way.

I made a 39" wit a near perfect curve and the best balance, feel and Hamon of any I've ever made.

He left after a year or so and I got a call from him a few months ago. He wanted to know if I could clean it up for him. When I saw it it looked like a plow that had been buried for the last 50 years. Solid rust.

I just told him I couldn't do anything and left.
 
John Andrews said:
Mark, KEEP it.
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John, I'll be praying about that, but I think I already know the answer. God is full of surprises, so the answer may or may not be what I think it is. Besides, if I knew what God's answer is I wouldn't need to pray about it, would I? :D
One thing I don't need to pray about is buying some steel to replace the stuff my buddy gave me, since it came from company stock. At various times I've wondered if that cleaver blade is cursed (at least as long as it's in my hands) due to the fact that it was effectively stolen from the company. There were times when the screw-ups that occured while making that thing went way beyond what I'd normally expect as part of the learning curve. The bosses tolerate -- and at times even wink at -- that kind of petty pilfering, but it's still stealing, no pun intended (steel / stealing).

Shalom,
Mark
 
peter......think that guy ever heard of oil beore? :rolleyes:
 
John, I think I have my answer -- I'll let him choose. If he truly wants or needs a cleaver he can have it.

Here's the cover I made for it on the cheap, rather than trying to make just an edge guard out Plasti Dip. It's leftover linoleum stitched with 30 pound test Spider Wire:


cleavercover.jpg
 
Mark, I didn't realize how he came by the steel he gave you. You know more about your situation than I do, so I leave it up to you, of course. Most makers regret parting with their first knife, is what I based my opinion on. You have a conscious about the route of the steel, and that is very much understandable, and I applaud you for your thoughts on the subject and your honesty. I think you have all of what it takes to be a knife maker, and one that we are all proud to be associated with, Mark.
 
For a little while because of all the care and attention given it. But over all, no I do not.

RL
 
I always like to hold onto my knives for a week or 2 after I finish them before they go for ever.

My cheap $35 specials that sell at the art galery I have no trouble parting with them just making them after so many.

Keeping your first knife is always a good Idea but if you want to give this one away call it your first cleaver and your first knife is still to come.

I still get a buzz out of giving knives away but sometimes after the initial buzz I ask my self what I was doing. Giving to someone who I like allways lasts if it is just a rush of blood to someone I don't really know that well that is the ones I question myself about, then I go an do it again a couple of months later.

Its a weakness I have. No I'm not feeling weak at the moment before anyone asks.
 
I had a couple of days to admire it after it was finished. Now it's gone and I have no regrets -- at least for now. Turns out that my friend really did want a cleaver since he hunts and butchers his own meat. I was blessed beyond words to see his reaction when he finally realized that I was serious about giving him that knife. (Each of us is good enough at BS-ing the other that we sometimes have trouble sorting out the truth from the BS!)

Reg, I might try taking your advice and call that one my first cleaver and call the next one my first knife, and make it with the intention of keeping it. Now that I've gotten past proving to myself that I can really do this I think I can slow down and enjoy the process a bit more when I start my next one. Then again, I'll always know that I gave that first one away -- I guess I'm not good enough at BS-ing myself to hide that one with semantics. Perhaps I'll have regrets one day, but perhaps not. I'll always have the fond memory of Doyle's reaction. He really is one of the "good guys", though he tries real hard at times to come off as a hard @ss.

John, thanks for the kind words, the advice, and the encouragement.

Shalom,
Mark
 
My first knife was for me and for no one else. That must have been selfish though because it was stolen off my desk one night. I still watch for it in pawn shops and at gun shows, even after 14 years... If I ever see it again I won't try to negotiate the price, I'll just pay it.

Then last year I remade it, with a beautiful piece of Reg Ellery damascus...

Guess what?

I gave it to my wife.

<sigh>

Aw, she loves it. She knows how much the steel meant to me and how much the knife meant too. She's more protective of that one than any of the others I've given her.

I guess I'll just keep hoping I find that #1 some day... :D
 
By the way, Mark, I know what you mean. I'm kinda like Reg, tend to hold on to em for a while when I can. But more often than not, at least for orders, I find there's as much anticlimax to finishing one as pride. It's a little different when I make something on spec just 'cause I wanted to; I'm not obligated to sell those. :D But I always do, eventually. :rolleyes:
 
I kept my first one, but gave many away in my first year.

When I'm making knives that aren't pre-sold I think "now this one I'll keep" but I never do. Someone always comes along that wants it and I say okay. I still don't own one of my fillet knives, and my only fixed blade that I made (other than the first one which stays in a drawer) is a knife that has a mistake in it.

I get alot of joy from hearing that others really like the knife or knives that they buy from me.

Sean
 
Reg ELLERY said:
I
Keeping your first knife is always a good Idea but if you want to give this one away call it your first cleaver and your first knife is still to come....

Its a weakness I have. No I'm not feeling weak at the moment before anyone asks.
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Reg, I didn't catch the last part of your reply until the third or so time that I read it. ROTFL!

Odd thing though -- before I retired last night I told my wife that I'd given Doyle the knife, and that I really didn't have any regrets over having given away my first knife since I was so blessed to see Doyle's response. Her reply:

"It wasn't your first knife anyway... it was your first cleaver."

Her term for anything short of a sword or axe that has a single sharp edge that is used for cutting has always been "knife".

Not that I'm still fretting over it, but her comment made me consider your suggestion a bit more seriously.

Shalom,
Mark
 
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