Market research: a beginning knifemaking book?

aareeyesee said:
I've only been making for a little over a year and I would disagree about the files, possibly an angle grinder occasionally. Once I decided I wanted to make knives my first purchase was a belt grinder. I got files after a few knives because they are actually handy for certain things. If my option was mostly file or not making knives. I wouldn't make any knives. Ain't nobody for time for that.

You can get a garbage 1*30 for less than a set of files. It's still faster. I started with a 2*48 multitool lanisher for my grinder for like 250$. I would say if you're making a beginner book start with teaching/methods to grind on a shit sub $400 grinder and work up from there. I think a cheap grinder and gas forge heat treat *are* the entry level. No way I'm sending my uneven plunge, lop sided grind 1084 blade off for heat treat nor am I dropping 2k on an oven so I can find out 7 blades in that this tedious craps not for me.

I have 50$ shop and I like the info, but back then the entry level was much, much lower. We have really cheap Chinese tools to buy that actually work almost as good as the decent stuff back then.
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Exactly. The genius of the Goddard approach depended on a back yard full of scrap and motors and stuff. If you weren’t already a scrounger, it was less useful.

This one may focus on good/better/best and $/$$/$$$.
 
A.McPherson said:
I don't know if I'd agree with this...

If you mean you have to practice something to get better at it, yes... Sort of.

I'm a firearms instructor on a professional level, and I've studied a lot about adult learning. It turns out that what really makes a difference is not effort, it's purposeful practice.

It's not "I'm practicing making knives" that gets results, it's "I'm practicing making consistently even plunge lines" or "practicing making bolsters match" or any other individual task in knife making. Breaking a task into the smallest reasonable parts, and perfecting those small tasks.

Sure effort is necessary, but if you're not being focused in your practice, you're just wasting your effort.
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yes im not trying to discourage anyone from starting off making knives... everyone starts somewhere
im simply trying to warn them .... if you Barely Try ,you Barely succeed... so the effort you put in is what helps you learn your own way to accomplish a task...
i have a 28 year old autistic boy over the learn how to hollow grind by hand.... his effort results in his success... little effort/little success...
i think the most important thing was him saying "I don't know how" and i want to learn how!!!! this says he wants to put in effort for his reward of learning how
after a week he can actually grind (not great) but removing material ... from there it takes lots of "Practice" to refine things and learn the hand/arm movements to do it well...
again new guys should approach this like a baby... learn to crawl ,walk ,then run.... the more you work at it the faster it happens.... he has zero desire to use a jig to grind
so he wants to be able to just grab any piece of metal and go for it... i can respect that....
 
People who read how-to books on construction, crafts, hobbies…

Is it a thing to put a QR code to a video that explains an illustration or concept?

“To do the thing, first use the left hand to do the other thing,” then a picture of holding the thing in the left hand, then a QR code to a video of actually doing the thing?

Would that be a format worth pursuing?
 
Jason Fry said:
People who read how-to books on construction, crafts, hobbies…

Is it a thing to put a QR code to a video that explains an illustration or concept?

“To do the thing, first use the left hand to do the other thing,” then a picture of holding the thing in the left hand, then a QR code to a video of actually doing the thing?

Would that be a format worth pursuing?
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In today’s world absolutely. Unfortunately most younger folks just don’t buy that many books anymore. They google whatever they’re trying to figure out. In many cases I’ve found videos more beneficial than pictures and certainly more so than written steps but everyone learns differently.
I Think a link to a video or a cache of photos would be very helpful. Like I said in an earlier post, assume they’ve never used tools before. You might think you’ve described something perfectly but it might not make any sense to the end user.
 
Jason Fry said:
Wayne Goddard's classic "$50 Knife Shop" came out more than 20 years ago. I've been toying with the idea of a new beginner/intro level book.

Here's the angle for this forum:
What do you wish was in a book like this, that you haven't seen in a book elsewhere?
What content is over-published and would be good to avoid?
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Great title, that book is all over the place

diy tools ? great
cable damascus ? not a beginner project.

There's a $500 knife shop on the youtube.
 
Fair point, Lorien. A good photo and a good caption can be useful, but you seldom see good ones. For my last book, I did a combo of pics, graphics, and at least one hand drawn diagram.
 
My 2 cents, from experience and observation...but just opinion.

The use of files in the Loveless book is good, but all the photos in that book kinda suck (too dark, not crisp). When I started I began with files. This means you have to take the blade closer to finished size before heat treating. Lots of things take longer. I found that having the blade at the right height so I could jam the handle of a 12" Bastard cut file in my hip and drive with my legs was a good technique, but most people when handed a file go at it all with their arms. It was discouraging seeing all these great looking knives in books, but then the method of making all used tools that were out of reach at the beginning.

Design is generally not talked about enough. There are a heck of a lot of knives out there by otherwise skilled makers that are lumpy looking, or lumpy handling, or both, so just looking at a lot of knives isn't enough by itself to teach you design. If you don't have an eye for lines and flow, you won't pick it up by osmosis if no one tells you what to look for. If you don't use and handle a lot of knives with a particular mission and some experience of use, you won't see those details. This is part of why so many beginners who post examples of knife designs here for critique have similar issues to address. The problem with writing a good design section is needing experience with the knife types being described. Lots of examples of people who are expert in one or two styles doing an awful job advising on another style, not realising that the good features they always use may not be so good when transferred.

Drawn graphics have some advantages over photos and videos. There is a great bit in the video Flat Grinding by Harvey Dean where he talks about pressure on the blade and changing the angle of blade to belt. Its not so easy to see, and hard to photograph, but I bet a lot of that stuff could be illustrated well, with exaggeration to make it clearer. When someone exaggerates in an illustration, its easy to tell that is what it is, but when its a photo it can look like the exaggeration is how it is meant to be done.

More stuff about drills and making holes. Given the number of questions on the forum, and the problems one can run into using the wrong drill bit, at the wrong speed, in material that is too hard, too soft, two abrasive, etc. There was a pretty big thread once, Art and science of the perfect hole. The whole topic of fits, choosing drill size vs fastener size vs material, doesn't get much time, but finding that holes have shrunk happens to the best of us. The tips and tricks of drilling a pin hole in a hidden tang so that the handle hole is kept tidy and located...lots of stuff that gets shared here, but not always described in books.

Good luck!!

Chris
 
Often in instructional books, they tell you that X is how the author does something, or just say to do it X way, without a lot of explanation of why. There might be an explanation stating that it gives the best results, but not why it gives those results.

A good example of lots of explanation is The Traditional Bowyers Bible. Some argue that it’s too detailed for a beginner, that for beginners it is better to just dictate, give one method, do it this one way and you will get a bow that works. As a beginner though I loved that it gave a huge amount of background so I could understand why. It meant that the same book that could walk a beginner through their first bow could also be a perennial reference as their experience grew.
 
Hello, I am new to blade forums and learning my way around.

What’s a “book?”

Is there a channel on Youtube?
 
ScarFoot said:
In today’s world absolutely. Unfortunately most younger folks just don’t buy that many books anymore. They google whatever they’re trying to figure out. In many cases I’ve found videos more beneficial than pictures and certainly more so than written steps but everyone learns differently.
I Think a link to a video or a cache of photos would be very helpful. Like I said in an earlier post, assume they’ve never used tools before. You might think you’ve described something perfectly but it might not make any sense to the end user.
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Sorry, just read this post after I commented… I may have just been an example of my own point
 
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To that point, I'm looking at ways to integrate a video library and a hard copy book. As (I assume) a young 'un, would you follow a QR code from a book over to a video?
 
I'm not a fan of physical books and haven't been well before e-text books became mainstream. Not to say I don't read, I am in medicine so text is a fact of life for me. I most easily followed an interactive apple e-book about ear infections (enthralling stuff) which incorporated videos side by side with text.
Aside from that, I use a lot of AI to bulletpoint content for easy retrieval later. You may consider an appendix or companion guide in this format.
That's just my use case, and it is a different sort of knowledge application. It's much less muscle memory for me. By that token, have videos from 2-3 angles to really appreciate the movements.
However, I think the QR code idea is a huge (and novel) step in the right direction. As was posted above, pointing out pitfalls and errors (and then demonstrating them) is a huge learning point for me.
 
C_Claycomb said:
Often in instructional books, they tell you that X is how the author does something, or just say to do it X way, without a lot of explanation of why. There might be an explanation stating that it gives the best results, but not why it gives those results.

A good example of lots of explanation is The Traditional Bowyers Bible. Some argue that it’s too detailed for a beginner, that for beginners it is better to just dictate, give one method, do it this one way and you will get a bow that works. As a beginner though I loved that it gave a huge amount of background so I could understand why. It meant that the same book that could walk a beginner through their first bow could also be a perennial reference as their experience grew.
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I agree with this.
Part of the answer will be to decide what the actual purpose of the book is:
If the purpose is to make as much money as possible by selling as many copies as you can (which is what the publisher will push for) then you will want to appeal to the least common denominator by adding flashy pictures, editing out information to reduce costs, etc,
If the purpose is to write a comprehensive book that will guide as many individuals through the knifemaking process, then you should follow C_Claycomb's example of the Bowyers Bible to let each reader decide what information they need.
 
C_Claycomb said:
Often in instructional books, they tell you that X is how the author does something, or just say to do it X way, without a lot of explanation of why. There might be an explanation stating that it gives the best results, but not why it gives those results.

A good example of lots of explanation is The Traditional Bowyers Bible. Some argue that it’s too detailed for a beginner, that for beginners it is better to just dictate, give one method, do it this one way and you will get a bow that works. As a beginner though I loved that it gave a huge amount of background so I could understand why. It meant that the same book that could walk a beginner through their first bow could also be a perennial reference as their experience grew.
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The book could be both approaches. It could have the full details section and a section called "TL;DR: Follow these steps exactly and make your first knife". If they skip to the TL;DR section and catch the bug, they will go back to read the details.

*Some may not know that TL;DR is shorthand for Too long; Didn't read.
 
Jason Fry said:
To that point, I'm looking at ways to integrate a video library and a hard copy book. As (I assume) a young 'un, would you follow a QR code from a book over to a video?
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I know this wasn't directed at me but I'll comment in the hopes of helping you. I'm a new maker. I read all 3 or 4 books the Fort Worth library had to offer on the subject then bought Larrin Thomas's Knife Engineering and David Boye's Step by Step Knifemaking: You Can Do It. A QR code to a video would be tremendously helpful. A picture is worth 1000 words and a video is worth 1000 pictures so, a video can be equivalent to a book itself. The downside for me is I'd end up using the code then sending the link to my email so I can watch on the laptop, my eyes are 47 and don't like the phone. I'd read a book like yours cover to cover then go back and use the videos so it may be beneficial to write it as a build along by chapter. Even the best How to Grind or How to Handle book would be followed up by a few utube videos so, yes, use the QR code.
 
QR code is a great idea, agreed!

I think making it spiral bound and waterproof would be a good idea too...

The problem with normal books in the shop is that they are so fragile (not that iPhones and tablets aren't) and they don't stay open when you're trying to use them as a reference.

Yes, I know that would make it much more expensive.
 
McPherson, that would be a challenge to make a how to book that would stay open.

I LOVE the TLDR chapter idea. Tempting to do that, and make it a downloadable PDF lead generator. That could also address the "stay open" problem.

Weo, always difficult to split the difference between information and sales pressure. Doesn't matter if it's 50 pages or 500, decisions have to be made. I've always tried for the most information I could squeeze into a book that would sell as many copies as possible ;)
 
"To that point, I'm looking at ways to integrate a video library and a hard copy book. As (I assume) a young 'un, would you follow a QR code from a book over to a video?"

That is some of my dilemma. I started making knives before Video, computers, or QR codes. Photos and sketches were all we had.
My plan was a paperback book with a DVD with more photos, drawings, and videos in the back.
I played with the possibility of having a link to a weekly YouTube channel as well, but there are already not enough hours in the day. I'll do that when I get caught up 🔊(sounds of hysterical laughter in the background). Maybe that is what I'll do in my 90's when I have to slow down a bit.
 
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