knife makers blasphemy?

C

chad2

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Sep 2, 2011
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this question is for the hard core knife makers. the ones that have been doing it for a long time.

as someone who makes knives myself, i feel that the more skill i gain and the more tools and technology i get to make these nice manufactured knives that i like, the more i feel like it is blasphemy for me to buy them.

my question is do you buy knives anymore or if you like something do you just make it? also if you do buy knives are they a manufactured knife or only by custom makers like your self?

i guess my other question is,you make knives not just for the looks but for the good work you put in them would you stoop below that to get a benchmade, spyderco, or coldsteel?

not saying any of those knife makers are bad but they just cant have the QA that a custom knife maker does on his own work.
 
I'm sorry but I think this an absurd question!

Buying knives is what got me into making knives. Buying knives supports the industry I love; either custom or production. Buying knives allows me to study the good and bad of other makers. Buying knives gives me ideas and pushes me to try new things.

That said I have very specific tastes and save my money to purchase very specific knives.
 
David66 said:
I'm sorry but I think this an absurd question!

Buying knives is what got me into making knives. Buying knives supports the industry I love; either custom or production. Buying knives allows me to study the good and bad of other makers. Buying knives gives me ideas and pushes me to try new things.

That said I have very specific tastes and save my money to purchase very specific knives.
Click to expand...

i agree with this 100% i was just wondering how other people feel about this and if this feeling of not being able to buy manufactured knives instead of custom ones would get worse
 
I'm a pretty firm believer that a knife maker should be using his own knives. It wouldn't say much for a BMW motorcycle salesman to be riding a new Yamaha! I carry a folder of my own making and have for almost 20 years, and I've carried my own fixed blades hiking, hunting and fishing. It lets me show someone who has never seen my work an example of what I can do, and it's a good promotion tool. As much as I like the work of other makers I'm not going to advertise their work, and I'm sure not going to promote a factory knife (unless it's a collaboration with a factory).

You suppose the executives with the knife manufacturing companies are carrying an expensive custom made knife, or one that they got out of inventory from their company? I don't mind the idea of supporting my industry, but to be honest my industry is hand made knives, not factory knives.

David
 
I don't make folders yet, so I carry a factory folder.

If I'm going to carry a fixed blade, it will be one of mine.
 
It boils down to this question.......Do I want to keep the knife.....or do I want a happy customer...??

No brainer.....

BUT....since (for the time being), I don't make slippies....I'll buy them...and have a few (lol) old
Bokers and Hen & Roosters....and some Cases and Queens for EDC.....

Blasphemy...?....NO.
 
In my opinion there's nothing wrong with custom knifemakers using production blades. I carry a Spyderco Military folder that was gifted to me by a group of BF members. I can make myself a folder but honestly, why should I when I can sell if for hundreds of dollars. My Spyderco cuts great and I've been carrying it for years so I'm used to it. Even though I do believe that I can make a nicer knife than production ones, I don't feel the need to carry my own knife. It's all economic sense for me really.

Now this may be blasphemy to some but I've seen plenty of production knives that are of better quality than a lot of customs. There's nothing wrong with using Spyderco, Benchmade, or Cold Steel or a number of other brands!
 
Quality Assurance will vary by maker, weather custom or factory. I like quality so I am a little particular as to whose knife I carry. I have only made a couple of fixed at this time and am working on my 2nd and 3rd straight razors. I am a machinist by trade and worked in one of the top shops in the Pacific Northwest for the last decade. I have now moved on but my point is this, quality is all about the process. It really has NOTHING to do with custom or factory. I know machinists who refuse to include a substandard item in the customers shipment. I wish every man thought that way. the truth is though I also know machinists who have NO PROBLEM shipping substandard work. I believe blademakers are the same, some good some bad. Often it is easier to build quality in a production run than a prototype piece.

Quality really is a state of mind to be considered every step of the way. Factory or Custom, quality takes time and that means costs more.

Jeff
 
I am a maker but I am also a collector and user of producion blades. My current fixed blade is a Cold Steel Trailmaster, it hasn't failed me yet and I used the living hell out of it, why would I get something new if I don't need too. Once my TM is gone I will make the perfect fixed blade knife for me. Also since I have bill to pay I can't justify keeping a knife I made when I can sell it. I see nothing wrong with a maker using blades from other makers and companies, and often(not always) I feel is a form of blade snobbery, which I just fundamentaly disagree with.
 
I buy factory folders sometimes and have bought from other custom makers in the past, but I mostly carry and use my own fixed blades. I do occasionally carry a folder when I need a knife that is a little more public-friendly, but haven't tried my hand at making them yet so I can't sport one with my name on it yet.
 
I'm no "hard core" knifemaker but it is far from "blasphemy" for a maker to carry and use the work of another maker or a production piece if they so choose, IMO. Of course makers should test their own blades, but what they choose to carry is up to them. Labelling that choice as "blasphemous" because it differs from yours seems more than a bit of a stretch to me.

Roger
 
I think makers ought to carry and use production knives and the products of other makers. How else will you know what is out there?
 
This is a question that has been asked here before, and a few feathers got ruffled as a result of some of the answers:DMake what you like, buy what you can afford, and use whatever you chose!I collect knives from other makers who's work I respect.I will sometimes use a fixed blade of my making, but more often than not I will use a custom folder made by a friend of mine.My carry knife these days is a Chad Nichols gent's folder.Do I think this is blasphemy, not in the least,just a personal chice!
 
Do all the workers at the Ferrari factory drive Ferraris?

It's not uncommon for a person to make things he can't afford to keep. I made a 1/12 scale model of a house for an architect once that ended up costing more than my house.

I almost always have at least one of my fixed blade knives on me as well as a factory folder. I can buy a halfway decent folder for about the same cost as the materials in one of mine so I like to keep one around as a beater. Every time I finish a folder that I think I'll keep I end up talking myself into selling it because after all, I can always make myself another one plus I could really use the money :D
 
Yeah, I can't afford to keep my own knives :-) So, I've always got an Osborne styled Benchmade on my hip. Of course I have some broken blades around the shop with duct tape handles on them that I use for utility knives...

-M
 
I carry my own and what style I carry depends upon what I do. I make myself a hunter, a folder and a large bowie each year to test and really put through the ringer. Each year is different because I plan on testing different. I also carry my own to as David said so I can show this is what I do, however by the time I am through with them they be worn. :) I let others use them and sell them at the end of the year and start all over.

I buy store bought knives as well to look at so I can keep up with what they are doing.

I collect other custom makers works, most to go use, some I collect to use then destroy because I want to see if it is better than what I do. I collect some because I just want to look at them and remember the makers.

I collect good quality antiques of whatever style I am currently studying.
 
I'm no hardcore knife maker, but what few knives I make I do in a hardcore way. Pretty much all the custom knives I own, I see as 'research'. Because I wannabe a hardcore knife maker one day. Maybe in 20 years.
 
Jason Magruder said:
Do all the workers at the Ferrari factory drive Ferraris?

:D
Click to expand...

Actually that's a bad analogy. :D The current president/CEO of Ferrari does in fact only drive Ferraris. He has an older 355 spyder he drives to work every day and calls it his "little Go Kart".
That's his "beater" ED..D.
I just read an article about a month ago that had an interview with Some top Exotic Auto execs.

That said I do agree with your post 100%.
I'm just beginning to make knives, and while I'll probably only carry knives I make, I will absolutely buy and collect other maker's knives.. both handmade and production.
I doubt any knifemaker here would turn down a cool collectible production, or even a top example of a known knifemakers work, but I would think most make their own EDCs if they can.

Carrying the knives you own shows not only pride and confidence in your work, but is also an incredible advertising/selling point.
And , Gosh darn it.. it makes ya feel good to know you made the knife you carry.
 
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