- Joined
- Aug 13, 2002
- Messages
- 5,703
I was reminded this week of something I'd like to share. I am sure others have experienced this.
Making a take down knife, you come to a point when all the parts are shaped and fitted. All that is left is the final finish on them, be it polishing, bluing, handle finish, etc. As much as you can see what the knife will look like, there is still a big difference with the parts completely done. I finish them carefully one by one and lay them carefully on a clean piece of cloth. When all done, I sit down with the parts on the cloth in front of me and that's when the magic happens. You slowly assemble the knife and, if all went well, you see the final product take shape. A metamorphosis of sort into a beautiful piece of art. Not an appreciation of my personal work of course, I mean beautiful any maker's eyes, no matter what his or her skill level. Because of the pride you now feel and sometimes even astonishment. I did that?
Of course you can experience this with other types of knife construction but it is spread out over a longer period of time. With take downs, it all happens in a short amount of time, helping to make the moment kind of “Magical”.
Savor it because after a while it passes you'll start finding the flaws.
But let's not spoil it. 
PS: I swear that I did not take any mind altering drugs before writing this.
Making a take down knife, you come to a point when all the parts are shaped and fitted. All that is left is the final finish on them, be it polishing, bluing, handle finish, etc. As much as you can see what the knife will look like, there is still a big difference with the parts completely done. I finish them carefully one by one and lay them carefully on a clean piece of cloth. When all done, I sit down with the parts on the cloth in front of me and that's when the magic happens. You slowly assemble the knife and, if all went well, you see the final product take shape. A metamorphosis of sort into a beautiful piece of art. Not an appreciation of my personal work of course, I mean beautiful any maker's eyes, no matter what his or her skill level. Because of the pride you now feel and sometimes even astonishment. I did that?
Of course you can experience this with other types of knife construction but it is spread out over a longer period of time. With take downs, it all happens in a short amount of time, helping to make the moment kind of “Magical”.
Savor it because after a while it passes you'll start finding the flaws.
But let's not spoil it. PS: I swear that I did not take any mind altering drugs before writing this.
