Went to a gun show this weekend.....

Ooops... meant to comment on kit knives. IMHO, it all boils down to being honest about it. And that doesn't mean you keep it to yourself unless they ask if it's a kit. Just be up front.

If you're up front, then it's up to the buyer to decide how THEY FEEL ABOUT IT. :)

My biggest problem with kit knives is that most of them are stamped out of crappy steel. MOST. ;) I've made about 175-200 "kit blades" for people over the years, and they were all heat-treated just the same as all my other blades. :)
 
Growing up in Nebraska, I did not know what a knife show was, almost all gunshows were advertised Gun and Knife show. Most of the larger shows had 1, 2 or 3 knifemakers in attendance. I cannot say what percentage of the patrons of the shows bought knives or even stopped and talked to the makers but the makers were always well thought of by the other "merchants" that were setup at the show. (I was setting up my self for a few years.)
I wound up purchasing a couple of knives, Carl Jensen went by Bear Cutlery and would either have tables or would walk thru a show with bandoleers of knives across his chest. I have a medium size hunter that I got from him before he passed on and I am quite fond of the knife.
Another knife came from Dunn Knives of Rossville, KS. It is a very nicely made Bird and Trout knife that always brings admiration from the folks I show it off.
I wish I was more into knives in the 90's when I was setting up at shows, I would have picked up quite a few more.

Not sure if this fits in this thread but reading it reminded me of the good times I had and the knives that I purchased at the shows.
 
There seems to be and awful lot of hoopla on what is a knifemaker and who is not.
The honesty in daveinvegas post above is something. I've never seen anyone put
in a for sale thread anything about " their Knife" being made by someone else unless
it was to give rightful credit to a damascus maker. You and you alone know whether
or not you're a knifemaker no matter what anyone else tells you.
Ken.
 
I appreciate ya'll's comments about my honesty. I'm just trying to be truthful and not detract from those of you who make blades.

So, a couple more questions:

Some of you here make blades; Do you call yourselves "bladesmiths?"

What constitutes "a knife?" Is the blade you produce a "knife" without the handle material, or is it a "knife" only after you install a handle on the "blade?"

For example, going back the gun analogy, I am not a "gunsmith," I am an armorer. A gunsmith is capable of doing many more things than I am able to do at this point (mainly because I don't have the equipment. If I had a mill and cut a dovetail slot for a front sight or if I had the capability of bluing steel and/or any number of other procedures then I would call myself a gunsmith).

Or, even tho I have instructed a number of people how to shoot I am not yet a firearms instructor because I am not certified as such (that is soon to be corrected, however).

I still can't feel comfortable calling myself a "knife maker" but I do make a product that is not mass produced by a factory.

At this point I'm happy to declare that I have purchased the blades and install custom, handmade handles, which results in a custom knife as opposed to something mass produced.

I'm not going to insult the rest of you here by calling myself a knife maker until I produce a blade.

BTW, you have all been very nice about this issue. I appreciate that you don't look down on those of us who haven't reached your level of expertise yet. I'm just trying to stay alive (at least financially right now). I'm producing other items than knives (handgun display stands and cases/boxes; 1911 & High Standard derringer grips and holsters; percussion revolver loading stands; and I'm going to start making display boxes for knives too).

Hey, deafsmithco; howr yall?
 
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Deafsmithco,

Thank you very much. I'm just tryin' to learn about making knives and all and contribute something meaningful to the conversation. I do sometimes tend to run off at the mouth; that's why I have a blog where I vent about stuff that just pisses me off so don't git me started on the socialists ruining, er, running the country rat now.
 
daveinvegas said:
I
So, a couple more questions:

Some of you here make blades; Do you call yourselves "bladesmiths?"

What constitutes "a knife?" Is the blade you produce a "knife" without the handle material, or is it a "knife" only after you install a handle on the "blade?"
?
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By my reasoning an un ground blade is a blank. A finished blank is a blade. A finished blade with scales is a knife.

The heart of a knife is the blade. The grind and heat treat dictate how well the knife will perform.

You're a bladesmith if you forge.
 
There is a an abundance of gun shows in my area and I still have a table at several of them. Most of the stories here are very familiar. It seems like everybody who comes by knows somebody who made knives. Usually that somebody once filed an edge on some kind of scrap metal and made the best knife ever created.

My favorite so far is the one who told me about his friend who made the best knives from engine blocks. I didn't even bother to explain the difference between cast iron and steel.

But I still do them and think they are worthwhile for me. The shows are local, relatively cheap and lately have been drawing huge crowds. The National Gun Day show earlier this month had people standing line for an hour to get in. I sell a few knives and I get to talk to a lot of people and let them know that I am a local knifemaker. The word-of-mouth has brought me some custom orders.

Of course I prefer a knife show where the people know something about knives but the gun shows occasionally give me the opportunity to educate someone and maybe create a new collector.
 
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daveinvegas, you raise some good points, as always. As for me, I am definitely NOT a bladesmith. Anything with the word "smith" in it, implies forging to shape. I'm a knifemaker and I shape my blades by stock-removal. I would never EVER infer that's the same thing as forging. Forging is a specific and demanding skill, and those who do it well have a right to charge for their labor. Whether SR or forging makes a better blade is open for debate (I think both methods are capable of producing excellent blades).
 
daveinvegas said:
I I'm not going to insult the rest of you here by calling myself a knife maker until I produce a blade.
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Hear, hear!:thumbup: If I could figure out how to change the "knifemaker" moniker under my user name I would since I'm not even CLOSE to being one yet.
 
I too have the ole knifemaker "title" . There should be no stress involved here because I upgraded my membership to take full advantage of the search function and because I read a post stating something along the lines of Upgrading your membership helps support BladeForums. I don't consider myself to be a knifemaker yet but I'm on my way and will be grinding steel long before my year subscription is up. It is very informative hearing everyones definition of "knifemaker" "bladesmith" etc. Perhaps we should have a Newbies Forum with an extensive dictionary of all knife related terms. Just food for thought.
 
JAD said:
Perhaps we should have a Newbies Forum with an extensive dictionary of all knife related terms. Just food for thought.
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A glossary of terms is one of the searches that led me to BF.

I found a couple of sources online, one glossary in a book (but still far from complete) and one, maybe two links so far explaining blades shapes but I haven't found anything comprehensive with a full glossary of terms and not just pictures of blades shapes and styles but also a short description of the primary use of each blade (cutting, chopping, slicing, etc).

Maybe a future sticky we can all collaborate on...:D
 
NickWheeler said:
I think Nathan should win some kind of award for that post! Priceless! :D

I realized I was being one sided. Truth of the matter... is that I sold a knife at that crappy gun show AND took an order from a guy for two knives.

The funny thing, was that he was a slobby, dirty looking fella with a pair of ratty jeans, holes all over his T-shirt, and a hat that was ready to fall apart. Luckily, I didn't judge him, because I come from a family of working men... so those dirty, calloused hands of his are a sign of pride in my family :)

What I know now, that I didn't understand then, was that his rag bag T-shirt said, "Proud to be a JHKelly Ironworker" Which means that even 10 years ago, he was making about $35/hour. ;) :)

Lesson? Don't judge a knife show attendant by their cover!!! :D ;)

He ordered a knife from me a few years after that too. He told me he likes to go to trade shows in his "just got off work" wear, so he can see who treats him fairly for the man he is inside, and not just how he looks on the outside. Pretty deep for a beefy, 'ol crusty welder! :D



So that show sure wasn't all bad. But I'd still take a true knife show any day. :)
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You never can tell what a person is just by looking at them. I was at an estate auction a few years back. There were a lot of guns there as the guy that had passed away used to have a gun shop and was big into cowboy shooting. There were quite a few people there, some from out of town to buy, a lot of locals just there to gawk. This was a rural farming community, so you would get guys that looked like they just dropped off the tractor seat. One old guy sat in back in a grubby pair of Carhartts and grease stained work shirt. He didn't bid on anything, until a very nice Ballard in .45-70 came up. He bought it for $3800.
 
Wow- you guys have bad luck with shows. I've seen a few custom makers around here and all of them have been professional. Of course 1/3 of the tables are knife related or have knives in them. I have seen the bad sellers $150 for a rusted, bad antler handled saw bladed "knife", but it is OK as I laugh every time I see the knife (each year for about 10 years- wonder why it did not sell?). I get lots of good $10 -$20 deals from people who do not know their productions, but everybody is great when it comes to the customs (that I have seen- maybe I missed some people). My only regret is that every time I have had money for an Ed Storch custom he is not there.
 
Doctors are practicing medicine , lawyers are practicing law.... I consider myself a practicing knife maker ;)

Not there yet , but practicing....

Our local gun / knife shows are sometimes frequented by a couple custom makers , one being Barry Dawson. He is a riot to talk to , not sure how much BS he gets from folks there about prices , but I bet he has many stories to tell.

About the mentality of some of the folks at gun shows , I watched a guy buy a Barrett 50 cal for $6200 , and go over to the scope guys table and dicker him down on price on a $125 barska scope for his new 50 cal. Huh ? a $125 scope on a 50 cal..bet he had fun keeping that zero'd !

I am a gun guy , was into guns long before knives. I realized I use my knives more often than my guns , therefore it made common sense to buy the best I could afford.

It's so ridiculous anymore , I only bother to hit one or 2 gun shows a year , usually the humor from listening to people talk is worth the price of admission alone. ;)

As I heard one guy say " more people are killed each year with unloaded firerarms "
I called him on it , asking if they clubbed them with it ? He said " no they thought it was unloaded ". I then suggested he should rephrase his pitch to " people are killed each year with firearms that they thought were unloaded , because they were too negligent or stupid to verify & check "
He said " Means the same thing "....
 
LOL, Yes, the conversations are sometimes worth the price of admission. I have heard some good ones in front of my table where a guy who obviously knew nothing about knives would be explaining them to his wife/girlfriend/kid.

Several times I have heard someone explain to their companion how the patterns are stamped into a damascus blade. Well, OK, maybe in China.
 
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