Some Handmade Slip Joints for Blade

[Bastid]

I like all that I see here, and the whittlers and the toenails are especially nice.

 

[KnifeHead]

I probably have a huge misperception of what I am looking at here so pardon me for my ignorance. The blades and liners are EDM wirecut, blades are stamped as part of the cutting process, the pulls are stamped, the bolsters are stamped, etc. Did I miss anything?

Please excuse my curiosity, but, would it be possible to get a pic of all the manufactured parts of a knife like is in post #10, just as an example, before you do any of the handmade work, so I can get a better understanding of what is handmade versus hand assembled. Also, have you thought of selling your parts to other custom makers, unstamped of course? I would think there would be a market for that as you have some interesting and different patterns.

 

[pappy1959]

I'll post some pics of parts when I get back from the shop later today.

I don't think I would sell parts. It takes alot of time and effort to research these patterns and then get things to work right. From a more fundamental standpoint, I would be shooting myself in the foot by having anybody out there making the very things that make AC special.

There are lots of philosophies out there about custom, handmade, sole authorship, etc. I don't want to be part of that debate. I do, however, want people to know what I have to offer and what they are getting. The finished product speaks volumes and the price is in correct relation to what goes into my knives.

I'm like you, I want to know what I'm buying when I purchase something. At the same time, I just want to do what I do well. I'm hoping to earn people's respect for what I do well, not try to be all things to all people, and not try to be something I'm not. Hope this makes sense.

Pics a little later today.

thanks

Tim

 

[sheathmaker]

Tim, straight forward and well said!

Paul

 

[Kohai999]

I probably have a huge misperception of what I am looking at here so pardon me for my ignorance. The blades and liners are EDM wirecut, blades are stamped as part of the cutting process, the pulls are stamped, the bolsters are stamped, etc. Did I miss anything?

Speak your mind, and quit tapdancing, Kerry.

This ain't the Folksy Forum, and we don't sugarcoat our language here.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[KnifeHead]

Speak your mind, and quit tapdancing, Kerry.

This ain't the Folksy Forum, and we don't sugarcoat our language here.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

Thanks for the encouragment, Steven.

I make my knives from scratch and after a little over two years of hard work at making each one as good as I can possibly make them, I still feel like such a noob sometimes. If if wasn't for Tony Bose sharing his knowlege, patterns, and tools after many years of struggles in the handmade knife business, I would still be trying to figure it all out. I don't feel that my knives are good enough yet to grace the pages of this particular forum. I have much to learn and haven't "paid my dues". I reccon Tony isn't worried about shooting himself in the foot

I was just wondering about the definition of handmade and custom knives There seems to be a gulf of disparity between "how" you make these, Tim, and how others that have their knives posted here make them and how that fits in this forum. Please understand, I am not disparaging your knives in any way, shape, or form and I hope you sell every one you make.

Definitions seem to be important on the forums. As an example, someone might get a warning for inferring something of a political nature in a forum where politics is not designated to be discussed. Here, clearly you are re-defining what "hand made" means and I just wondered where it's going and if I need to hop on the dang bus or just keep walking.

 

[Kohai999]

Thanks for the encouragment, Steven.

I make my knives from scratch and after a little over two years of hard work at making each one as good as I can possibly make them, I still feel like such a noob sometimes. If if wasn't for Tony Bose sharing his knowlege, patterns, and tools after many years of struggles in the handmade knife business, I would still be trying to figure it all out. I don't feel that my knives are good enough yet to grace the pages of this particular forum. I have much to learn and haven't "paid my dues". I reccon Tony isn't worried about shooting himself in the foot

1. I like your knives, and if my judgement is suitable, they are plenty good enough to display here in the Customs section.

2. Tim is being up front, I believe, about his methods of construction. We have many definitions of "custom" and variants for knives in this forum, we like to know how things are made.

3. As long as the disclosure exists as to how he makes his knives, and he does not misrepresent himself, Tim is, and should be, free to call his knives "handmade." If he is EDM'ng the materials himself, great, if he has a helper, great, if he has an outside business do the blanks, state that, no problem....if it is coming off a Chinese or Eastern European assembly line somewhere, and the steel is of unverifiable provenance, and not communicated as such, we have a problem, right?

4. There are many ways to make a knife. R.J. Martin, Ken Onion, Rick Hinderer to mention a few Forumites, have challenged us to re-think how we view "custom" or "handmade". As R.J. wrote "I don't have a knife maker machine, where I put in the raw materials, and a knife pops out." As long as this is the case, a variety of methods will be used to produce a finished product.

IMO, as long as Wolfe Loerchner produces the knives he does with files and sandpaper, he makes ANY of us that use power equipment to grind or shape look bad.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[KnifeHead]

Thanks for the vote of confidence and the edumacation, STeven. I didn't realize that hands-free mechanized cutting/grinding/final shaping was acceptable in hand made knives. Now I know.

 

[Kohai999]

Thanks for the vote of confidence and the edumacation, STeven. I didn't realize that hands-free mechanized cutting/grinding/final shaping was acceptable in hand made knives. Now I know.

I haven't seen anyone come forward with the hands free grinding or final shaping yet, Kerry? R.J. for example does his grinds by CNC, which results in the striated blades of the Havoc, Devestator and Zing, but still does a final finish, and fitting by hand.

You know something about that I don't?

If you have outright accusations to make, or knowledge to share , then do so, and don't be disingenous about it. I told you before, we speak fairly plainly here.

I know Seipmann(sp?) grinders can be done for the blade bevels, but the only people that I know of employing them are full-boat production facilities that can afford these rather expensive machines.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[KnifeHead]

I KNOW nothing about who is doing what, with what tools. I just look at the pictures, take in the pieces of information about how they LOOK LIKE they are made and just draw my own conclusions.

I don't know what is acceptable so that's why I ask. Is anything other than free hand grinding acceptable? From your statement it sounded like it is so I probably misunderstood.

(there's probably a better way to say this and I may have confused the issue. By "hands free" I mean the grinding process is automated or the steel is ground by a machine in some way. The opposite would be someone either holding a grinding tool in their hand or hands and taking it to the steel or taking the steel by hand to the grinder. I call that "free hand grinding") I'm almost positive someone else would have a better way of explaining this)

 

[Kohai999]

I don't know what is acceptable so that's why I ask. Is anything other than free hand grinding acceptable? From your statement it sounded like it is so I probably misunderstood.

Ok.

Yes, many other methods than free hand grinding are acceptable in handmade knives to knife BUYERS.

I can't speak for the makers, because there seems to be no consensus.

Was turned onto using a block to grind when I first learned how. It isn't really freehand now, but is certainly handheld. There are too many processes to split hairs over.

I mean, some makers grind using huge sanding disc grinders where "all" they have to do is line up the angle and make a clean plunge vs. standing in front of a belt grinder.

We tend to focus on what is clearly a factory built knife as opposed to "handmade" which is a term that we can't even really agree on as being acceptable, and usually results in 20 pages of discussion that really don't accomplish anything, other than being fun.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[bluejaunte]

Tim, some very nice knives. I too am not much of a fan of the stamped bolsters, but the fluted and engraved ones look great.

I will say that the gunstock, while somewhat non-traditional looking to my (mostly uneducated) eye, is downright sexy! Please feel free to make another with a second blade.

 

[KnifeHead]

Well see there...I just keep learning more and more every day. Thanks for taking the time to give me the "splains".:thumbup:

 

[Kohai999]

Well see there...I just keep learning more and more every day. Thanks for taking the time to give me the "splains".:thumbup:

Just because "I say" doesn't mean that you have to agree.

That said, what has been written HAS been discussed here, even before I was a member, and is regurgitated to the best of my recollection.

Also, I prefer sole authorship, and am willing to pay more for it, and by "sole authorship", freehand grinding is but just one requirement/critical point.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[kc custom]

I"ll try and keep this as low profile as possible and I agree today there are a myriad
of ways to make knives. The one thing I wonder about isn't even honesty when asked
how ones knives are constructed, its that I've never seen a for sale thread that
advertised laser, waterjet or cnc as part of the "for sale" in the the thread.
Now I will run and hide.
Ken.

 

[xaman]

Tim,

The engraved piece is outstanding. May I ask who did the engraving work?

I hope to meet you next week, your table is a must-see for me...

 

[Morrow]

I would like the opinion of those here on this example.

The Case/Bose collaboration knives are EDM wire cut. The blade bevels are done by machine. The pieces are hand assembled and hand finished. I doubt any would say these knives are not of the highest quality. What would stop Case from advertising these knives as "handmade" given the cloudiness of the definition? Whether the parts are assembled and finished by employees of a company or an individual can't be the only factor in what gets labeled handmade or not.

 

[Kohai999]

I would like the opinion of those here on this example.

The Case/Bose collaboration knives are EDM wire cut. The blade bevels are done by machine. The pieces are hand assembled and hand finished. I doubt any would say these knives are not of the highest quality. What would stop Case from advertising these knives as "handmade" given the cloudiness of the definition? Whether the parts are assembled and finished by employees of a company or an individual can't be the only factor in what gets labeled handmade or not.

I wouldn't say that the Case/Bose knives are not handmade, or whatever we choose to call them...benchmade, mid-tech, hand worked.....

It is up to Case to market them as they choose.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[Jon Brand]

Whatever you call them, I think these are nice looking folders. And for a good knife with pretty mammoth ivory such as these its nice to not have to be totally spent after a purchase like I usually am.

 

[Peregrin]

Nice looking knives Tim. As far as the definition of hand made, there's probably near as many definitions as there are readers. If all the facts are up front we really don't need a definition, as we'll each have our own.