Only the Lonely

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
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Time and again I read about the loneliness of being a knifemaker.
Some of those heart-rending stories have tugged at my heartstrings and I wondered silently to myself: "How do these people deal with those lonely years?"

Loneliness can be terribly taxing. It eats at one's innards, undermines one's confidence and makes one question one's own work philosophy and profession.

I suppose having a supportive family is a great help. But sometimes, I come across tales of courage that elicits admiration from me. These bladesmen prodded on despite years of gaining nothing but heartaches and frequent headaches.

Ignorant people criticised your work unfairly. Sometimes their work suffered as a result of personal problems.

How does one deal with such setbacks, especially when they seem endless? And the loneliness, how does one deal with it?
 
~
hmm... i dont know if lonliness is really the word for it.

i have a supportive family, including the most supportive wife you could imagine.
i have a short list of people who i email about blade related things.. especially when i require information urgently.

but i must admit since starting baldesmithing .. friends have become something of a past memory.
so how do you cope?
when i think about the times that i used to spend with my friends .. i look at the blades that i am working on .. and i think about how i wouldnt be able to finish a single one of them unless i am here, at my workshop, getting on with it.

that pretty much clears it up for me.

of course it doesnt help that i am desperately trying to increase my abilities,...
i guess friends come when you go to the various shows that are held.
then you have no other option than to sit/stand there and relax a moment.

D.
 
When I'm by myself in the shop or smithy I'm in good company. I mean who would rather listen to me talk and who is a better listener than me when it's me talking and listening at the same time? Who said that?

It's only lonely work if you isolate yourself golok. A knifemaker has lots of company in the shop. All of the equipment I use becomes good close friends. And my dog always keeps me company too because he hates to be by himself. He curls up on a pile of scrap leather under the workbench and farts contentedly in his sleep. Now that's good company :)

Lonely comes when you are truly by yourself. Isolated from friends and family for whatever reason. I'm lucky because I have my Mom to keep me company. She has Multiple Sclerosis so I live with her in the old homeplace of Bob Ogg working out of his (my) shop. She's my quality control officer. Checks all of my work for fit and finish. It suits me just fine. We are all as lonely as we want to be old buddy. I'm not lonely. I have everything I need in order to stay sane. For now anyway. Don't feel too bad for knifemakers. They're just ordinary people with extrordinary talent to make stuff with their hands. Good folks mostly. But not lonely. Not by a long shot.
 
I dunno....when i am working I am not lonely at all...like MaxTheKnife said, I am in good company when I am out in my shop.

Sometimes I can get depressed when I screw up a blade...or when my work is critized...but thats just the perfectionist in me telling me "If you cant get it right the first time, you are a lame brain dip*something* who is worthless" which is utter B.S.! :p

I hope I never get to experiance loneliness associated with making knives...that would ruin it for me.
Being lonely is one of the worst feelings in the world...and if that ever mixed with making blades....I'd go mad.

My deepest sympathies to anyone who has ever had their blade-making result in their loneliness :(.
 
Dementia, Max, Satin, you three are good men. With your own sense of self-esteem and supportive families, you all will be a success at whatever profession you choose.

I am happy for you three. Carry on making those great blades. Merry Christmas!
 
Max, snow is coming my way, and I PLAN on heading YOUR way. Time is nearing for this NEWBIE to learn how knives are made!!!!
I will bring the refreshments, you have the ambulance standing by.....wolf;) ;) ;) :D
 
Bring it on Wolf old buddy! I can stand it if you can :D

And don't worry, we actually have 911 way out in the sticks where I live. Never had to use it yet but my Mom learned me how to dial it! He he. Don't forget to let me know when to pick you up at the airport and all that. Call me if you get the chance. I'm still about half crippled up so I'll be around the phone most of the time.
 
I see my friends pretty often. I've given knives to most of them and they have helped me with an extension on my shop, one of them gave me a large two stage compressor, and I'm always glad to see them. They know I like fancy grained wood and when they go on vacation they are subject to find me a piece and drop it off. I'm sixty years old and kind of banged up and most of them are about the same age, so we help each other at times. I know one thing, the first liar doen't stand a chance when they're around. I understand that if you have to depend on your knives for a living it would be eating into your profits if you can't work on account of company in the shop. I don't have to rely on knifemaking for a living so I'm in a different boat, I've retired twice. My friends usually always call before they show up and if I'm really busy they understand. I can always make another knife, but friends are hard to replace and in my case that takes priority over my knifemaking. I've been to to many funerals in the last couple of years to risk not seeing a friend when he wanted to stop by. A lot of them are a wealth of information. Like I said, if I had to rely on making knives for my sole income it would probably be different and they would understand and would get with me when I wasn't busy. I guess what I'm trying to say is don't lose your friends, make some time to get together with them while they are still your friends.
Tom
 
Tom~

you give sage advice ...
but i fear it comes a little late...
:(

if i could turn back time, eh?

D.
 
to me it is sollitude, and that means being hapy in my own skin and thoughts as i work with my hands. knifemakeing is my full time livleyhood. it was a god send to find after the better part of twenty years in sales and marketing it doesnt madder if its diamonds or dog doo, its just some comodity your pushing. after turning diabetic and having severe back pain that i was unable to work, lost the lady and all my savings. i was waiting to have surgery on my spine and being a avid outdoors man in my teens and twentys i bought tim mc creigth book on knife making and that was a little over four years ago. i was so broke i didnt have a vehicle. and now at 43 i have a new carrer and a new lease on life. my dog is my bussiness partner and she is a great listiner, most of the time. and every knifemaker will tell you that there are times when the whole world seems to go away and you relize you just completed a lot of grinding and it seem like only a minute ago that you fired up the grinder. those moments make all the dust and cuts worth it.
 
For me the issue isn't loneliness it's the balancing act involving all of the competing demands on my time and energy. Its hard to get into the shop when leaves pile up, sink needs fixing, and truck needs oil... Its even harder when it competes with family and leisure time. Since the demands on my time aren't going away anytime soon I'm left working more hours then I ever thought possible. The cool thing is the joy knifemaking brings to my life! Why doesn't fixing the sink feel as good? ;)
 
There is this thing.........I call it "Shaper's Syndrome!"
A surfboard shaper goes in this little room..... 8'x16'
and stays in there all day long.....shaping surfboards.....the same one.....over.....and over.......and over......
and when he comes out.......he LONGS for human companionship.....so much so that you cant shut him up!!!!!!! :(:(:( EVER!
I have noticed the same thing in knifemakers........that solitude plays out in an never ending steam of BS!!! :):):)
Go to any knife show and prove me wrong!!! :p:p:p
 
The words you FINE knife-makers write to describe "working alone" is very true of anyone in a profession that requires INTENSE concentration, and work, using not only your hands and brain, but YOUR HEART.
When the "day is done" and you re-join family and the human race, if you have had a very INTENSE day, NO ONE can SHUT you up!!!!!. Kind of like a Natural Eurphoria;) ;) ;) And I Thank the Good Lord that there are wonderful and seriously dedicated makers like YOU Guys......

And Max, I SHALL be calling:D :D :D ..................Ira
 
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