Relax, they are just knives.

NickWheeler said:
Well I make the bestestess knives ever, and everyone wants to be me. And if they don't, they at least want to emulate me.

So there.

Nanny, nanny, poo poo!!! :mad: :p :D

Great thread Kevin!!! :D
-Nick-
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NO ONE'S gonna "emaulate" you here on this forum if I can help it!..... I think we should keep sex in the bedroom. :) Now. baiting hooks??... that's another matter.


mitch!...(the non-emulator)
 
Some of the spontaneous combustion triggered on the forums happens because we are strangers to one another. You guys just don't know how funny I am in person. You and I haven't spent the last 10 years ribbing each other daily. I don't know what you are trying to accomplish by what you are saying...

It can happen in person just as well. I was stuck at a company team bonding session one time. We had been baring our thoughts on the challenges of engineering computer chips. Our boss did a great job of describing the problems of trying to guesstimate schedules for new designs and the negative impacts from trying to chase unrealistic marketing schedules. I really didn't know that he was so aware of the impact that schedule pressures had on the troops and on the product. I tried to tell him and the group how much I appreciated his insight and how helpful it was to know that he understood. What I said was something about it was great to know that when he was hammering on us about schedule that he appreciated our situation and our efforts. The result was that he took offense and we couldn't get him off the topic of schedules for the next two days. It seems that he had been working real hard on not "hammering us on schedules" and was destroyed that I would suggest that he still did that. The phrase hit a particular nerve of his (that I didn't know he had) and sent him around the bend. He in turn couldn't see how vaguely I meant the phrase. I could have said something as general as "when he is soliciting schedules" or "when he is discussing schedules", but because of my style of talking I was trying to use a "more interresting" turn of phrase.

You would have thought that we would have had a higher level of understanding. I had worked in his group for over a year. We were neighbors for that period. We had mutual friends. And we went to the same church. But, in reality we were not old buddies and he really didn't know where I was coming from and I didn't know where he was trying to go.

So when I write on the forums I tend to get verbose. I expect 10% of what I write to be lost because of something I don't think to explain. Another 10% will be misinterpreted because some reader gets something out of my words that I never intended. So I try and explain things extra carefully. But, you can't win. I've discovered that some people get insulted if you explain things too much. They interpret that as your thinking that they are slow witted. Thank heavens for smileys :).
 
Good points Kevin.
Personally I do try to answer questions, if it's something I know and I will comment sometimes but I don't like to argue.
I've been called a man of few words, I think I'll keep it that way :D

Don Hanson

Edit: BTW, You guys are better than TV :) Thanks
 
sunfishman said:
Edit: BTW, You guys are better than TV :) Thanks
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Well, there are no commercials, but their pacing could use a little work, there are often times when things move a little too slow, I prefer entertainment with a more fast-paced atmosphere. Also, they are trying to put in too much information, they should space it out more in between the action scenes to keep things interesting. They also need to work on their humor a little, there just aren't enough times of side-splitting laughter, oh well, you get what you pay for, time to upgrade to satellite, this free stuff just isn't working.

Larrin
 
Kevin,Well said.
Jeff,It doesn't matter if some of the posters on this forum know the other guy or not.Some people will argue for the sport of it.

My take on all of this is : The less a person knows the more opinionated he usually is.When you only have a narrow scope of knowledge you have a very narrow view.
With time,we all learn that there are many ways to skin a cat........There are at least 536 way to skin a cat,actually.My way, and 535 wrong ways.Master Williams' way does not count,as that when he looks at the cat,it voluntarily strips off its hide and runs.
 
great thread Kevin
Is this by chance a prelude to edge packing :footinmou
I think the customer bears a little fault in that problem for
lack of knowing and that lack of knowing gets taken advantage of..but how do you make wise them who don't know....
the ones that fall to this?
it's usually left to them to live and learn, sad to say.. :( but the hyper
get bit in the end I think..as you say, being a target..

I'm thinking if someone has to say theirs are the best,,
I'd want to know why
they'd have to say that in the first place, :confused:
may it be, it's the only way they can sell them?

I know I joke and say 154cm yeah baby :D
but I do know, I don't know all the steels, but what I can say is, I like it
for SS. and the same goes for O1,, some like it some don't..I'm rambling now..
 
Kevin,
This has been a problem, the hype, in selling knives as long as I have been buying and making knives. 47 years ago I bought a triple laminated knife that was not supposed to break, and broke it by throwing it into the barn. Dad did weld it back and it was a good serviceable knife till I lost it on a deer hunt in North Dakota.
It takes a long time for your achievements to be spread by word of mouth of the local knife buyers. Sometimes the maker is a better salesman than a knife maker. I know a few that are in that catagory. That doesn't mean that their knives won't work, just that they know how to present all the good qualities and never mention the other ones.
Kind of like hearing the sizzle of bacon frying, you can almost taste it. With a lot of things, its the sizzle or story that sells the knife. If it is the best one you ever had, you got the best. When you reach a point in life that you have tried a lot of them, then you have a wider selection of things to judge by. I have bought name brand pocket knives and after a month or so, sold it and bought another one just like it. Some knives are better than others, even when made by the same company or person. The better we get, the more uniform is our quality. That is the way is should be, getting better all the time.
Another aspect of this is that there is always a matter of "pride of ownership". If every one thinks the maker of one of my knives is great, I want to show it to every one. If he is an a-----le, then I will probably sell it the first chance I get. I have seen that in the case of certain knife makers falling in disfavor.
Actully, I do think that the Great Spirit carries an integral of 52100 and Bois D Arc.
 
I agree with the not jumping to fast to feel like you have to defend a certain style of blade.I bel;ieve that we are all Brothers in the craft of Knife Making being it forged or stockreoval,carbon or stainless.If we all would just look at the history of knives all styles and shapes have been used and prevailed for the people using them.I Love our soiciety now as we have the freedom to chose what we want,not just what is handed to us.I have had potential customers say that they would never own a hidden tang knife,yet I can hand them a framed handle and they think it is great,it is like the difference between car makers.Some like one or the other best,to me if it runs and stays running it is the best for me at that time.

I knjow that my knives are not the best and never will be,but some customers disagree with me on that statement.I will never say that any style is better than the other,but will stand up and say hey they all work!I may not prefer stainless,but that is a matter of opinion..if a order comes in for it I would use it,the bottom line is a financial matter for most makers..You know,make what the customer wants or don't eat :eek:

Me personally,I don't make my knives to be bent,with the exception of my test blades.They are just that a test blade for the ABS to see if the smith can Differentialy heat treat his blade and make it bend without breaking.I have always been taught that a blade is not a prybar and will break when bent.I forge for the love of the fire and old ways of doing some things,history must go on,if it wasn't for that I would probably be better off finacialy if I did more stockremoval of stainless blades and more full tang knives,on that note I would put the Bowies asside and start making folders as that is the most sought after style of knife,but I make what I like when I can.Been rethinking my business as a full time maker since I have started back this time and believe that I will have to compromise and start doing what I just said and not be so hardcore as I was.

Sometimes lack of sleep can cause my brain to not always say things as I should,so I here by appologize if I ever say something to upset another maker or friend here on the forums.I will start thinking more of what I say and if a thread is a timebomb as the one were are disscussing I will wait till my head is staright and clear before posting.

Time to make a knife,
Bruce
 
Bruce being flexible has it's ups and downs for sure..
The up side is more work, pay wise,
the down side is, more work, work wise, if you know what I mean..
it's not easy to go out of a comfort zone, in the way of doing other things..
more multy tasking, I guess I'm trying to say..
 
I agree Dan,That is one of the reasons I haven't went that route.I have alwys believed in doing one steel correctly and to the best of my ability instead of multiple steels and taking a chance of messing one up.Like having a blade around for awhile and then going to finish it and find out it hadn't been heat treated yet and forget what steel it was made out of.Evan just a bar of steel,when they get a light coat of rust they all look the same :confused: :D ..

Bruce
 
Bruce Evans said:
I agree Dan,That is one of the reasons I haven't went that route.I have alwys believed in doing one steel correctly and to the best of my ability instead of multiple steels and taking a chance of messing one up.Like having a blade around for awhile and then going to finish it and find out it hadn't been heat treated yet and forget what steel it was made out of.Evan just a bar of steel,when they get a light coat of rust they all look the same :confused: :D ..

Bruce
Click to expand...

I mark some of my steel with an engraving pen
and many times do the same on the tang of a blade..

I know you can tell with some testing if the blade has been heat treated or not..but it's easier to just grind an identifying mark on the tang, one that you know marks it as H'T'ed..
to remember if the blade has been h/t'ed you can even put some masking tape on them and mark them. I have to write myself notes to remember things
like,,, remember to do file work before H/T'ing :eek: done that before :grumpy: :D
 
Kevin,
You said it all right there. When makers have an atitude like that then they can truely enjoy knife making at its fullest and the life they are living. That is what it is all about and it could not have been worded better. I don't comment much, but couldn't help but say "thank you"!

Ramsey
 
Well Kevin, when you're right, you're right. As time has gone by I have found myself staying out of most of the really heated threads. Intelligent debate goes right out the window when emotions take over.

It has actually been some of your previous posts that have made me realize that I held beliefs that were based on hype rather than fact. It was a bit of a kick in the pants, but one that did me some good. Thanks.
 
I agree whole heartedly with everything KC said.

But...
Some one has to stand up and say BS when the hype is thrown around.

Even if it is just once to get the fence straddlers to thinking.

If not, the hype becomes gospel.
 
cool post, very well said Kevin, and I also agree with Ebbtide. When crap flies its alright for those that know better, but the newcomers who don't need to be made aware, I'm not for pity arguing, just the facts mam, just the facts. ;)

Bill
 
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