No soul

Farmer:
You should have maintained your good habit of reading through all thread before answering. You can do so now, anyway.
Reading again my initial post and the subsequent ones you'll see that I didn't criticize, negatively or positively, neither SRJ nor Lake knives. A critic is somebody expressing an objective artistic judgment on a work of art.
I'll make an example to make it clearer:
"Use of extensive engraving on XXXX knives means subverting the piece's linear simplicity and such engraved pieces lose their maker's spirit to the engraver's one much like fine caviar taste would be completely drowned in hot sauce" is a critic judgemnt (DISCLAIMER: READ CAREFULLY! This it's made JUST TO BE AN EXAMPLE, it's NOT my opinion, or the opinion of anybody I know about an engraved knife, and I DON'T intend to get on endless, pointless discussion about it with people who don't even bother to read what I write!)
So, this is criticism.
What I said is "to me they have no soul. Do you have seen knives which elicit the same lack of response from you?"
You see?
Objective statement vs. subjective statement. I don't want to enter a debate on how much objective a critic should be, let's just say that, surely, no subjective statement can be held as critic, but just as an expression of the thought of the person who made it.

EVERYBODY:
I'd really appreciate any answer to the questions I asked above.
 
Greeting's All as a "Part Time" Maker I Try Very Hard to Put Soul in Each Knife I Make I Am Very Happy to See that Other's See / Feel This in a " Knife " I Learned the Soul Aspect of Knive's as a Boy And it Show's Me How to Make Each Knife " Special " Even Today !! I Try to Let the Knife Talk and Tell Me What it Want's to Become !! I Am Not Crazy!! Ok Maybe a Little !! Please one and All Check Out My WEb - Site at http://www.pinoyknife.com Tell Me If You See any Heart and Soul !! I Welcome Each and Every Comment on Every Knife Weather "Good or Bad":D :D
 
Here's something interesting. Jim Weyer (Points Of Interest fame) has photographed and handled more knives from different knifemakers than all of us combined. Guess who his favorite knifemaker is? That's right.....Steve Johnson! Hmmm?
 
You know, I've never been to Italy but heard it's beautiful!

Soul as others have mentioned, is an almost intangible thing and I for one do get what he was trying to come across with in his post. There are some knives that when I look at them leave me cold, I'd not use Souless but that is the general idea I suppose. Others to me have a great flow about them and beauty in design/shape/contour that speak of great thought placed in making the knife, for the few knives I've made, a lot of the time the knife was created while at the grinder and evolved from there, so to me those knives spoke to me more than those that have exacting precise edges and profile, hard to explain in words and it truly is a PERSONAL experience that he was trying to elicit from us...one of the knives that I've always loved was from WhiteWing a small start up company that ended soon after it's creation, but liked the design and shape this knife had and the feeling that holding it evoked inside me...and like a fool, sold it off when I needed money but I still enjoy looking at it...

attachment.php


So Merry Christmas and to each his own, if not, why would there be so many different knife makers out there if not for our very own personal tastes and feelings toward sharp pointy things! ;)
G2
 
Doesn't mean it's better or worse than Firenza (never been to Milano :) ), it just touches me a certain way.

Many women are beautiful...though sometimes the most beautiful does not appeal to one the same as another...

Thanks, Alarion, for touching on the systemic nature of our passion!

-Michael
 
I have recently got one. A knife with no soul. Yes, I look at it and it does not generate any positive emotions. Why? I even tried to customize the makers design (I wanted some little changes), I even sent him my own bolster material, I sent the knife back once to be better finished. Yet the knife feels "cold" and I wish I had never ordered it. I too was trying to figure out what is "wrong" with the knife and maybe I found my answer - the knifemaker did not leave part of his soul into this knife. For me the "soul" is not how the knife was built but how it was handled by the knifemaker - both are equally important to me.

David
 
As I see it , Alarion did not troll this issue . Some of you folks have taken a very diffensive stance simply because one man stated his opinion ( maybe not as politicaly correct as he should have but still his ) . Bob Dogget as would be expected stood up quickly for his mentor and I applaud him for doing what he felt was right and just in his mind .

Not all knives speak to all folks the same and some not at all and I don't care who makes it . I have a Loveless that is a fine knife but does nothing for me at all , except go up in value everyday . Is that cold,tarnished , unjust , no just a simple fact . Please understand anyone I call by name are just the folks that I see and read their post most and do not mean to draw undew attention to . Keith is one of the first to state just how he feels about a knife someone makes whether it is something he likes or dislikes and I admire him for this way of doing things . But on the same issue Alarion made a very straight point and is being torn a new ass over it . All knife folks are one family whether they have the same view or not .

As for me , I had 2 Fowlers that I sold sometime back and have just got both back . I never used them and got sorta rubbed wrong on another thread about them . So I let them go and regretted it from day one . On the same note I bought a Burke for the sole purpose of working it's ass off and as soon as I held the knife , the soul and meaning of all his work just spoke to me . I carried it daily and it served me beyond my wildest dreams . I BONDED with that knife and also the makers way of thinking, not to mention his mentor . What were just cold works to me at one point have a new meaning and will remain in my collection forever and go to my kids .

So as you see some things can change and not all knife folks will see the soul of the maker in his work and just maybe after a time they might begin too if not bashed and browbeaten into submission .


Regards,
Jerry
 
Alarion did nothing wrong by posting this thread about
"soul." In fact, this is one of the most interesting
threads I have had the pleasure of reading on this
forum. Let's face it, beauty (soul)is in the eyes of
the beholder (owner.) I am a fanatic about collecting
knives by Darrel Ralph, but there are many collectors
who do not care for his creations. I am sure they respect
him as a maker but just not moved by his work. How about
TNTs by Mayo? As fast as his knives sell on the forum you
would think they were made out of gold, and with the prices
they are going for now, they might as well be. But, I have
read posts that stated Mayo's knives seem cold with just a
bunch of holes in them. Just because you do not care for
a maker's knives does not mean you do not respect him. Johnson
and Lake, incredible makers with great knives, but maybe they
do not appeal to everyone. I like seeing some personal opinions
here. There are times I feel that many collectors are just
following the herd, and if you do not care for a certain knife
then there must be something wrong with you. (In caps for a
reason)WE NEED TO START A THREAD ABOUT KNIVES THAT HAVE "SOUL"
AND KNIVES THAT DO NOT. AND, give reasons for why we feel a
certain way about a knife. I bet a maker would love to know
if there is something he/she could do to improve his/her
knives. Or why their knives are so popular so they could repeat
the success in their new designs.

So, enough of this thread, tell me about your "soul" or
"soul-less" knives.:) :) :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top