satisfaction?

H

Hagar

Joined
Aug 15, 1999
Messages
147
Lately I have not been satisfied with the final outcome of my knives. I know this is a good thing cause it causes me to do better, but I find it really frustrating.
Maybe because I see Brian Lyttles knives and compare mine to his ( no comparison)?

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There is no such thing as "good enough", either your work is good or it is not. How is your work?
SGT BLADES www.therockies.com/hagar/
 
Hi Hagar,

I think there's a difference between being satisfied with what you've achieved and where you are with your work and the negative end which is being self-satisfied. If you look for satisfaction only in waiting until your work is "better" than other peoples you're in for a hard ride.

One of the best abilities anyone can have is being able to look at one's own work and evaluate it objctively. "How can I make the next one better" or "What did I do wrong and what did I do right?" for example. If you can ask yourself these questions about every knife you make and answer them for yourself truthfully and objectively, your work will keep getting better. But no matter what you make, there'll always be somebody who comes along with something fantastic to chalenge you to keep working and thinking.

Don't forget however, these guys who make the fantastic stuff usually started out just like everybody else: at the bottom. If you ask 'em, they'll probobly be glad to tell you about it too. I have had a tremendous amount of help and encouragement from "the big guys" in knifemaking. As a matter of fact I have had ONLY help and encouragement from big name Makers. For which I am deeply grateful.

I recall not too long ago I was exhibiting at a Show and standing with a well known European Maker who has decades of experience and makes - for me - flawless knives. We were looking around the show and I remarked that seeing all the beautiful work and high standards there at show, I knew I had a lot of catching up to do. He remarked without missing a beat, " So do I."

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Totally new website!
http://www.wilkins-knives.com
 
I go to shows to learn from others. I can find something on every maker's table to examine very closely and learn from no matter how experienced that maker is. I guess what I am trying to say is that each of us can contribute to the art form by picking something to do well and building on it.

The downfall of many starting makers is trying to do everyting at once, and not doing it well at all hence the dissatisfaction with the result. I fell into that trap and was ready to quit until I decided to start from basics again. I began making a simple 3" droppoint with wood handles and I made several until I had that mastered. I then added bolsters to that knife and made several until I had the style mastered and so on and so on....

I admit it is the slow way but it is better to be known as a maker of fine little hunters than someone who makes all styles of poorly finished knives.

Someday I will be ready to ask Brian Lyttle for a bit of his ladder patterned damascus for a small hunter for myself. He makes an excellent ladder patterned damascus.

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george
www.tichbourneknives.com
sales@tichbourneknives.com


 
Just remember--

If you want to be a millionair ask a millionair how he did it, Don't get advice from someone who is struggling financially.

Get advice from those whose work you admire.
Don't get frustrated, learn and get better.

The great thing about being at the bottom is there is only one way to go. I'm in no way saying your at the bottom. I am at the bottom, working my way up, watching and learning trying to learn from my mistakes. I keep that first one close so I can see where I've come from when I get frustrated.

John

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http://www.toptexknives.com/yeackley.htm My contribution to the world of knife fanatics.

http://www.sixgunner.com/blumagnum/default.htm
 
What I get from your post is that you were once satisfied but now you're not. I know the feeling well not just from blade making but in all things. Go back to the point where you were satisfied and make small changes not big ones. You have the knowledge to complete all tasks set before you...enjoy!

Dileas Gu Brath
 
For many years I owned and used 3 knives by D'Holder as the benchmarks for my own work. His polishes are superb, his fit is flawless and his designs are clean and elegant. In the past couple years, my polish is almost that good. My fits are sometimes invisible. And my designs are getting cleaner and easier to make. Meanwhile he has moved on and gotten even better, but he certainly got me where I am and helped me a lot along the way with helpful advice.

At the same time, there are a couple things in my knives that I didn't learn from D'. And there are designs I make that thankfully he doesn't. I learned other things from other makers and can credit all of them with the quality of my knives. All I really added was a desire to learn and a determination to get better. In the past week I put together 5 knives. Four were pretty good; one sucked! Even the four that were pretty good weren't as good as they can be, but they are so much better than what I made last year that I am still comfortable with the results. I've been making knives for about 18 years, and my quality has probably improved tremendously in just the last year. That's just they way it goes.

Today I can see things that I couldn't see in the past. Seeing the problems is the beginning of solving them.

Don't get discouraged. Ask for help. Always learn.

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Jerry Hossom
www.hossom.com
 
Hagar "Not satisfied" is a good thing if it keeps you striving for better. That shouldn't mean a lack of pride in your work though. You've seen pictures of my knives and you can imagine that it took some real 'kahunas' to post those pictures for review by a group like this. I doubt my work would stand serious comparison to anything I've seen here - even some 'first knife' efforts. Still, they represent the best work I've ever done and I take pride in that. If you have to compare your work, compare it to your last knife - or your first knife. .... and keep looking up to Brian Lyttle - good role model!


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Rob Ridley
Ranger Original Handcrafted Knives
http://www.col.ca/rridley
 
after making stuff (surfboards, furniture, knives, etc) for over 30 years...I have found that only once in a great while does a project come out as good as I hoped it would. You can only do your best everytime, and that is a sum of all your experience and effort...you can always try harder, but our experience sometimes limits us...the perfect knife is only in our mind, not down here in the blood and guts real world (although there are some who would argue the point im sure)...but we are imperfect creatures in an imperfect world...who are trying to do the best we can....thats all you can do...better to fail than not to try...as one guy has in his signature....we learn more by failing than by doing it right...I think that is very true....but hopefully the mistakes will make us do it better....like winston churchill always said...DONT GIVE UP!!

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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
Thanks for the encouragement !
I really appreciate it!
I have a couple of my first knives around. just to remind me what I used to be able to do.
I strive to make each knife better than my last.
I think it may simply be a matter of
"the more I learn, the less I know"
and that I have been making a number of knives for a guy to his specs, and he tells me to put my interpretaion into his design, and then he complains about what I did...... very frustrating
I find it is great to come here and talk to rookies and masters alike.
I have learned so much from all of you.
THANK YOU!
Garth


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There is no such thing as "good enough", either your work is good or it is not. How is your work?
SGT BLADES www.therockies.com/hagar/
 
I might add...after a few hundred you will start getting the feel for it....
smile.gif
 
I like this post-it's honest, and, all the replies have added sound advice. Making knives to someone else's specs is often very trying. I have decided that I really don't like it. Maybe I am not a "true" custom knifemaker, but, if that is the case, so be it.
There is the problem of communication-you think you understand what they want, but, you don't.
There is the problem of them not liking what they asked for when you give it to them.
There is the problem of them wanting something that simply is not right.

That said, there is also the tremendous satisfaction when, you make a totally unique piece to reasonable guidelines and the customer goes ape **** for it. That doesn't happen too often, but, man, it's sweet.
After doing this for quite a while,
it is hard enough for me to make a knife that I like. It is lots harder to make one that someone else likes. The trick is waiting for people who like what you like to discover you.

Having said all that, my advice is to concentrate on making knives to your designs. Develop your style, and offer knives for sale that YOU LIKE. Not everyone will like your style, but, some will. If you continue to refine and develop YOUR style, those people will probably stay with you, and, you will add new customers as well.

After a lot of soul searching, like you're doing, I find my greatest satisfaction is making knives that I REALLY like, and then watching someone come along who discovers they like them even more than I do. What a rush...
Hope this makes sense to you. Philosophy IS a key part of the experience of knifemaking-keep it up!!

RJ Martin
 
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