Mentoring

Lorien

Lorien

Nose to the Grindstone
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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I believe that mentoring is a fundamental aspect of personal development, in all fields of human endeavour.

This thread is about your mentor(s), and their affect on your passion when it comes to custom knives.

As a Collector of knives, maker of knives or as an enthusiast of custom knives, where and how have you found your mentor(s)?

What affect has their mentoring had on your collecting, making or interest?

Was there a particular instance where your eyes were opened by a mentor?

Thank you in advance for your contributions to the topic:).



PS. I am considering this topic as 'article material' for a cutlery publication, just to be clear. I won't use any of your input toward this thread without your express permission, and I might be getting in touch with those who have the most compelling stories.
 
My mentor for collecting in general was my father. He collected coins and was a huge Civil War Artifact/Relic hunter and collector. He was considered an authority on the subject, was published and sought after for his knowledge on the artifacts, the battlefields and Civil War History in general.
I spent many nights when I was very young watching my father clean the almost 100 years of dirt and corrosion off his day's find.

More specifically to custom knives, it would have to be Larry Bailey and Jerry Fisk who initially got me hooked and who I have drawn much of my knowledge on the subject. I was fascinated by Larry's beautiful walnut cases full of ABS Hunters that he has carried to knife shows all over the country. Jerry has taught me so much over the years about knife design, construction, what to look for in a good knife. There's been others of course including a few here on this forum who have and continue to influence and educate me on my collecting.

Good thread Lorien as I feel most of us (makers and collectors) have had mentors to help us along the way. I have collected classic cars for many years even thought I'm not as active now since finding custom knives and cars are more a "learn it on your own or don't" atmosphere.

I hope I have given at least a little back in return for all the help I've received over the years.
 
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Thanks Kevin:thumbup::cool:

I read today about a knife maker who considers a certain collector as his mentor. Is this common?
 
My mentor would have to be the beautiful knives themselvs. My uncle started to collect a few months before I got into it. I liked the few knives he had bought, and was interested in them. But it wasn't until our friend had this knife on he gunshow table. I admired it for a while, then I finally asked him what he wanted for it. When he told me it was $300, I knew I could not afford or justify it. So I went home and dreamed about it for a while. A few monthes later I noticed he still had it for sale. I at this point still could not afford it. After a while he noticed I had benn staring at it. It told me I could take it home and pay him later. I fell in love with that knife, and it opend up a new world for me. I can't wait to lern more about making knives.
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Lorien said:
Thanks Kevin:thumbup::cool:

I read today about a knife maker who considers a certain collector as his mentor. Is this common?
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I wouldn't think so.
In what respect did the maker consider the collector his mentor?
For knife making? For teaching the maker sound business practices, for influencing the design or type of knives he makes? Or all of the above?

Generally speaking, I believe collectors more influence makers than mentor them.
 
Kevin, I read in David Darom's new book that Wolfgang Loerchner considers Don Guild a mentor. This makes a lot of sense to me.

David Darom has been a mentor to me, as he has taken the time and made the effort to encourage my interest, while providing educational tools to further my understanding of what custom knives are all about.
There are a handful of others in this community that I consider mentors.

It seems to me that in custom knives, there is a lot of mentorship going on, and on many different levels.


***


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentorship

Mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The receiver of mentorship was traditionally referred to as a protégé, or apprentice but with the institutionalization of mentoring the more neutral word "mentee" was invented and is widely used today.


There are several definitions of mentoring in the literature. Foremost, mentoring involves communication and is relationship based. In the organizational setting, mentoring can take many forms. One definition of the many that has been proposed, is "Mentoring is a process for the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital, and the psychosocial support perceived by the recipient as relevant to work, career, or professional development;mentoring entails informal communication, usually face-to-face and during a sustained period of time, between a person who is perceived to have greater relevant knowledge, wisdom, or experience (the mentor) and a person who is perceived to have less (the protégé)"
 
Lorien said:
I read today about a knife maker who considers a certain collector as his mentor. Is this common?
Click to expand...

Lorien said:
It seems to me that in custom knives, there is a lot of mentorship going on, and on many different levels.
Click to expand...

I totally agree, however in regard to your above question, I believe knifemakers considering knife collectors as mentors is much more rare than commonplace. Makers considering other makers, collectors considering other collectors and collectors considering makers as mentors is IMO more the norm.

This is not to say that there's not knifemakers who invite, appreciate and heed collector's knowledge and advice, however IMO, that can often fall short of makers considering them mentors.
 
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I dont really have a mentor in the true sense of the word, but you guys do a really great job filling in thanks!
 
Like the writer said, "a rose by any other name" - lotsa mentors out there, in my opinion. They just don't use the term.

Bob
 
this thread was mentioned by Mike Deibert in another thread, and I don't feel that this topic has yet been given a fair shake to get some great input.

This is not about semantics, or generalities. This thread is supposed to be about individual experiences which feature mentorship as a prominent component.

I'd love to hear some more stories. I particularly am fascinated by what Mike mentioned in his thread. Mike, which story stands out most in your mind when it comes to mentoring?
 
Lorien said:
I'd love to hear some more stories. I particularly am fascinated by what Mike mentioned in his thread. Mike, which story stands out most in your mind when it comes to mentoring?
Click to expand...

There are so many stories I could tell from my 9 years teaching in Nicaragua. I've had three awesome craftsmen come to teach at my school; one master blacksmith and two Master Blade-smiths (Jason Knight and Burt). All three of them left life-long impressions on my students. My role here is as a full-time mentor/teacher in the area of vocational education. I get to know my students very well. When people as talented as Jason and Burt come down I try to choose the students who show the most interest and potential to receive the instruction. One student, Ramon, has been so dedicated that he has been in both Jason and Burt's classes here in Nicaragua. As I looked through the pictures of both of these classes I don't think I took one where Ramon's eyes weren't intently fixed on the instructor and what he was doing. After Jason was here Ramon took all his instruction and got right to work making knives. He does a lot of welding for me and during his lunch breaks he would get the forge going and make knives, every day! He was so thrilled and inspired by Jason and his teaching. Well, after a while we had a few finished knives lying around. Visitors would come to our shop and ask about them. Very soon we had sold Ramon's knives and had orders for a few more. This has been off and on for a couple years. Then we got an order for 40 knives for the Christian Motorcyclists Association. We were stumped because making 1 knife was one thing but 40 of the same knife was different. In the knick of time Burt had planned a trip here. Burt showed Ramon some great techniques that were practical and made it easier to reproduce the same knife over and over again. Ramon soaked it all up and cranked the knives out in a couple weeks just after Burt left. It has been amazing to see Ramon take this knowledge and use it to better himself and to become a better blade smith.

Ramon now teaches my other students when it comes to blade smithing. I make that happen so he will learn to become a teacher/mentor just like Jason and Burt. It's my goal to have people like Ramon in place to take over if/when I leave here.

Mike
 
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