I almost always do at least 2 of any knife I'm making because:
1. If I screw up, I have a backup
2. I have another one if someone sees it and "wants one like that" ( happens all the time)
3. To gauge my consistency and skill at execution.
Oh heck yeah, especially #'s 1&2 (and I've got #4 too). On #1: it takes just a tiny distraction to, e.g., have the blade take a dive between the platen and table, and whammo, in 1/2 a second you've just irreversibly gouged a blade that was cut-out, beveled, drilled, heat-treated, and well into the hard-grind. It is SO much more agonizing to go back to square zero than to've spent the
slight extra time bringing up twins.
On #2: I have
never yet not wanted
(pardon the double neg) an extra. Either for the next customer, or to have a "showroom floor model". (Or both - if I have the "floor model" that often leads to an "I want it" - and then I'm out of
that, again.) The other nice thing is that I find that a screw-up that I wouldn't
sell can actually be
just a great show piece - this has happened a few times when, e.g., I've overheated a blade too late in the process to re-HT. It's even kind of an advantage in that I
can't sell it, so I'll always have it to show. Same deal with a nicked spine: not sellable but fine to show as an example (and even use it to emphasize your high standards!
)
#4: Making 2 or more in parallel is (a) MUCH cheaper + faster than making 1-and-then-1 - AND (b) you get an "economy-of-skill". By which I mean: it often takes me a few minutes of grinding bevels before I get back in the flow of it, or maybe it's been a week or more since I've brazed on a brass bolster (my personal top "improvement-opportunity"
) If I'm doing 2 or 3, odds are I'm sliding back into a good groove as I go, and that mistakes get used up on the first one.
Also, on just raw economy: my steel in bulk (521, 1084, 1080+/80CrV2) is maybe $8-12 per blade, and I'm talking good-sized 210-240mm chef gyutos. Compared to my time and effort, and the sale price, that's down there with the cost of my belts, really. And lots of the steps - like setting up for drilling, or doing the HT heat/quench/temper - are barely more to do 2 (or 3 or 4) than for 1. Brazing brass bolsters is
especially good to do multiples of; so is cutting & stabilizing scales, or just cutting blade blanks.
I've started to cut and drill
4 of nearly everything and at least have them in the drawer if not take them through at least a few of the next steps. That way if I have an "OH, ****!" moment, the blow is cushioned knowing I've got a backup or 2 already part-way there. Makes it a LOT easier to decide to scrap the screwup and back up --
which is often something I should choose sooner than I actually do. (and we've all been there!!!!!)
