Knifemaking quotes

"Measure twice, cut once" always applies. Ever drilled holes in the wrong spot on expensive handle material?
 
Patrice Lemée;12326828 said:
"A clean shop produces clean work"
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I know for a fact, that's not always true :D

Calvin Robinson said:
OUCH!,OH NO!,WHAT THUH!,HELP ME LORD!,THANK YOU LORD!
:) These are the most often heard quotes in my shop.
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:)

Jason Fry said:
"Measure twice, cut once" always applies. Ever drilled holes in the wrong spot on expensive handle material?
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Yes :grumpy: It's even more frustrating because I really ought to know better... I had a Grampa and Dad who taught me that rule when I was very young.

Also: "You can always take away more (steel, handle material, etc.). It's a lot harder to put it back."
 
"It looks pretty good, just once more"

That Just once more is often a very bad idea, set it down, look at it later.
 
I've got a friend that occasionally tells me "You've got to be sharp to stay on the cutting edge of the knife business."
 
I believe Paul Long said in one of his videos something along these lines...
"If you are going to take another man's money, than 'good enough' had better be perfect."
 
"Don't waste time chasing perfection." This isn't meant to mean putting out shoddy work, but to be aware of the diminishing returns on effort past a certain point. This is from my uncle, a very experienced woodworking craftsman.

I often say to myself when looking for the superglue or tape: "Damn, that's sharper than I thought."
 
"If it were easy, everyone would be doing it".

When asked why I do things the way I do them......... "Because I can"

"You can't make chicken-salad out of chicken-poo" (or chicken-something-or-other)
 
My father was a 3rd generation cabinetmaker, craftsman. One of his sayings that has stuck with me when I was doing chores around his workshop. he would ask have you finished that? and his responce would always be, well hurry up and take your time, nothing gets done properly if you rush it.
Cheers Keith
 
I dont agree with you can't make chicken salad out of chicken poo.Because you most certainly can,the problem is it's about as tasty as Humble Pie.
Eddie
 
Willie71 said:
"Don't waste time chasing perfection." This isn't meant to mean putting out shoddy work, but to be aware of the diminishing returns on effort past a certain point.
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This is a tough balance, but I couldn't agree more. I think everyone has to come to a place they're satisfied with on this issue. Absolute and unrealistic perfectionism has probably doomed many a promising knife making career, but so has too low standards.
 
By far my favorite quote. Not specifically for knifemaking but it applies to any creative work.

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
― Ira Glass
 
"Geometry cuts.
Heat treatment determines how long." Roman Landes


"Jesus Christ, Himself, could send a bar of steel down from Heaven.
It will only be as good as the heat treatment it gets on Earth." Jerry Rados


"An empty table sells a lot of knives." Jerry Rados
 
Travis Fry said:
This is a tough balance, but I couldn't agree more. I think everyone has to come to a place they're satisfied with on this issue. Absolute and unrealistic perfectionism has probably doomed many a promising knife making career, but so has too low standards.
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I tell people every day in my office (I am a therapist) to "do the best you can with the skills and resources at your disposal. In future you will likely have more skill, and more resources." I think it applies here.
 
"Don't ask me what this is going to be until I'm done"
 
"Do, or do not. There is no try". – Yoda

Not exactly a knifemaking quote but I'm going with it. :D
 
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