Lifelong Dream Fulfilled!

[AdamFuzzyballs]

I have been obsessed with knives since I was a young child. It is no exaggeration to say that I find myself thinking about the ins and outs of knife design all throughout the day, no matter what I’m doing. It’s a constant song playing in the background of my life. My dream of knifemaking has become more obtainable in the past year, but still a ways off until I have the extra income and time to learn.

Well, today I got a call and found out that I received the new scholarship to take the beginner knife making course at the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing!
I know that I am fortunate to even have a program like this close by, and I really think it will benefit my learning as I am the kind of person who needs to see demonstrations firsthand to really grasp the concept.
I am beyond excited, and I know that the instructors are top notch, but I wanted to ask a few questions so that I can be sure to get the absolute most value out of the experience!

1.) What, as a knife maker, would you recommend to really pay the closest attention to? I’m other words, what is the thing that you wished you could have had a better understanding of when you first started?

2.) Would it benefit my beginner learning more to approach this as a “what to do” process or more of a deeper “why am I doing this”? In other words, should I just try to focus on the fundamental process, or should I try to nail down the exact “why” that I’m doing what I’m doing.

3.) Finally, what advice would you experienced makers give to yourself if you were starting out all over again?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, my family knows that I am excited, but I’m not sure if they fully understand the desire to learn this art, I’m glad to have a place where people get it!

 

[Keith Nix]

Learn as much as you can about the metallurgical whys. A "perfect" knife design will suck without a properly heat treated piece of steel to build it around.

 

[AVigil]

Repeatability in all tasks
Do not do anything on the knife until you have to, it often will come back to get you if you do something out of sequence.

Find a style you like, focus on that and do it over and over again until you have it down. What you learn will transfer over to other styles of knives.

Do not be in a hurry, you can tell when someone is in a rush and they often make an excuse of it being "Rustic"

 

[weo]

Congrats, have fun.

2.) Would it benefit my beginner learning more to approach this as a “what to do” process or more of a deeper “why am I doing this”?

Hard to say as we have no ideas on where your skillset currently lies....but assuming you are just starting out, I'd say focus on the "what to do" (or "how to do") and don't get too bogged down in the why.

But, if the instructors are any good, they should be able to explain the why at the same time.

 

[Alex Topfer]

Do not do anything on the knife until you have to, it often will come back to get you if you do something out of sequence.

Find a style you like, focus on that and do it over and over again until you have it down. What you learn will transfer over to other styles of knives.

yep, order of operations is a big one (and you'll probably get it wrong the first time. i know i do)

make a style of knife you know how to use, better yet one you will use. you can't assess your work if you don't know how it will be used, and even if it isn't great using a knife you made yourself is a nice feeling

 

[LCoop]

There's a reason you have two ears and one mouth. LISTEN to what they have to say and do as they say. And don't go in thinking your going to make some double edged Zombie knife with a blood grove. Think basic. Then read AVigil's post again

 

[AdamFuzzyballs]

Thanks for all of the advice so far, really good points from all!

 

[12345678910]

Leave the phone at home. It's a distraction

Take a camera
take an audio recorder
take a sketch pad / note pad and two pens and two pencils
take photos, record the instructions, take notes, whatever you are allowed to do.



sketch out a small simple thin three piece edc, no jimping and try to build it at home before you go.
then you will have a basis to start from.

 

[A.McPherson]

Build your ability to see your work, and others work critically. In my opinion it's the most important and hardest skill to aquire.
Are there tiny gaps in places where they shouldn't be? Is your finish perfect, or are there small faint scratches in your mirror finish, or lower grit scratches in your mat finish? Are your grind lines crisp, or did you roll them while hand sanding?
It's the small details that move a knife from ok to good to great.

 

[DanF]

Be you.

 

[AdamFuzzyballs]

Here’s a short update. I’ve finished the first week of class. Our instructors were Brion Tomberlin (MS) and Don McIntosh (JS). The first week we focused on forging, grinding, normalizing and heat treat with 5160. I have been paying as close attention as possible, and I think my progress has shown it. I will upload pics tomorrow if my work from this week. Next week we have a different instructor, and will focus on edge geometry, finishing, etc. Most of the class has been hands on learning after watching demonstrations.

I will say that Mr. Tomberlin did a good job of explaining things in layman’s terms, taking most of the mystery out of heat treat for me. My most troublesome part has been freehand grinding, I seem to have a tendency to round everything off so I don’t end up with crisp bevels. I have been trying to tweak my approach, however. Overall I’m excited to continue and can say without a doubt that this class has pushed me even further into pursing this dream!

 

[AdamFuzzyballs]

So here’s the two week update. We had as instructor this week Mr. Mike Williams. Great guy, very funny. He also knows his stuff. Whereas Mr. Tomberlin was methodical and had a “process”, Mr. Williams has gotten us to focus on slowing down and thinking about our next step. We also tested our knives in a mock Journeysmith test. I’m proud to say mine did pass, though it wouldn’t be an ideal blade shape for a real trial!
Still, my biggest holdback is that I don’t have the muscle memory to always make clean grinds and perfect hammer blows- the Mastersmiths make it look effortless!

Here are my knives I’ve done this week, mind you, our goal wasn’t to necessarily finish a knife, but to know how to finish a knife. The scalper is the one I made today, I wish I could have been a little more careful not to hammer too deep, but I’m happy with my beveling progress.
The larger knife was my backup test knife, so I didn’t profile it as well as I would have liked but regardless it is a monster.
The small neck knife was a little attempt at a “cleanly” forges knife. The Hunter is one I’ll probably attempt to guard and handle sometime later.



Importantly, they are all at a state where I could potentially finish them further and make a nicer knife. The ingredients are there, now I just have to get better at putting them together.