What am I doing?

I

idahoron

Joined
Jan 18, 2015
Messages
9
Hi guys. I have been lurking for a while and I have only posted a couple times. I am new to "building" / "making" / "customizing" knives. I am not sure what to call it.
I buy blades from Jantz. I put on a set of scales, I build my own Mosaic pins, and finish and sharpen the knives, letter openers, and spoons.

When I say I built the knife people ask if I forge them, or what steel I made them out of. I tell them what the steel is and I tell them that I buy the blade and build it. About half the time they have a look on their faces that I disappointed them by saying I built it. Like I am not allowed to say I built it because I didn't mine the steel forge it and harden the blade to a specific hardness.

A gun Smith can build a gun and we don't assume that the GS hand made the barrel or the action, but I do know that some do. Most guys assume that the gun smith bought the action, and barrel and many other parts. Some even buy the stocks and assemble the gun. It is generally considered that he built the gun. So what am I doing? Making, Building, customizing?

I built this knife for my father in law. Each of the mosaic pins represents one of his kids and their birthstone. The seven individual pins represents a grandchild. The cluster of three pins represents his two daughter in laws, and me.

Grandpa%20knife%2021%20small_zpsoskv3kr3.jpg


This knife is a Jantz model 31 154cm.

Superknife7_zps98f4b6b9.jpg


This knife is my hunting knife. The blade is a Jantz Idaho hunter.

DoneCsmall_zps6b4a7011.jpg
 
sounds like you are 'building kit knives', although that's not entirely accurate since you're manufacturing parts of them yourself, ie; mosaic pins.
Although people might seem disappointed in hearing what you actually do, truthfulness is more important than that disappointment.
If it gets to bothering you enough, you'll do what most of the guys in here who make knives have done; you start making knives! The more parts of the knife you make, the more satisfied and proud of your work you'll be.
Take all that from a guy who's only made a few knives, which is to say, with a grain of salt. Might be 2 cents worth in there somewhere.
 
I do not know what you call it. But I did the same thing.
I did it in '96 - maybe 6-8 knives. I brought one to work and showed it to a fellow and he simply said, "Well, you didn't make the knife".
And it angered me just enough that I bought a small grinder and a bar of steel.
Since then I've been a knife maker - making knives.
 
i started in a similar way. putting new handles on old used knives from flea markets, shining them up, making sheaths and buying pre made blades. i felt odd saying i "made" the knife. because i made everything but the blade. of course the first thing people would ask is " how did you make the blade? i got annoyed and bought a craftsman 4x36 sander. that first blade was horrible, but it was all made by me :)
 
It's "crafting" vs "making".

Long ago, "handmade" knives, meant just that...in that......makers did not have access to a lot of material suitable to make knives....so they endured a quite laborious process in order to make that knife, in the case of stainless steel, milling down or forging material that didn't look like a knife blade billet at all.

However, a safe bet is to say that you are "hand crafting" a knife, as that is true, rather than building it.

The craft is in putting it all together well, rather than the art of designing the blade and then creating it all from scratch.

Does this make sense?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Well, whatever you are doing, you're getting pretty darn good at it. Now I don't make knives at all, in fact I've never even played a knife maker on TV, but in the case of a stock removal maker, once they cut the profile with a band saw they are about where you start out. Now another little word. There is quite a lot of talent in being able to design a knife, and that's already been done for you. All things considered you are just a couple of steps behind true hand made, but as STeven says, Hand Crafted is a sure thing and you're very good at it!

Paul
 
I 'built' many kit knives and was a moderator on a kit forum once.

We liked to use the term 'handfinished'. I also like STeven's term 'handcrafted'. No matter what or how much work you put into it, it's inappropriate to use the term handmade, but you knew that.

Also never, EVER, mark your kit blades with a mark unless it uses one of those terms. That area is a signpost for true Handmade makers.

Good stuff. Keep it up!

Coop
 
Your knives are looking very nice, and it looks like each knife you put together you could call one of a kinds.
 
I met a fellow at Tru Grit who buys a lot of pre made blades and puts handles on them. He has hundreds of them.

He calls him self a "Knife Handler"
 
Thanks for the compliments. I do this just to give as presents and to make some for me. I don't want to step on any toes that is why I ask. But at the same time I don't like it when someone thinks that if you get a blade, then a 4 year old can produce a finished product. I do more than just stick on the handles. I build the pins, even the loveless bolts. I also install shape and finish the bolsters. Also shape and finish the scales.
I put in a lot of work to finish them. The term "hand crafted" is a good one I like "hand finished" a lot too. Thanks Guys!!
 
I think build is a good term. Like building a house. Since it's customized, maybe "custom built knife". This gives you an opening to tell them your story about the knife and how it was built with care and love.

I wouldn't use the term hand crafted, since it's used in many other areas to indicate something made by completely by hand. That's the dictionary definition as well. The blanks you buy are probably not made or ground by hand.

Many knifemakers do just as you, except the design is theirs and they contract the blade cutting and initial grinding. They may also contract out the initial cutting and finishing of the handles. They then assemble 20 identical knives, or 20 knives with three different handle materials. Unlike you, where each knife is unique and customized. Those makers call their product a hand made knife, custom knife, or mid-tech knife. In reality, it could also probably be called small batch production knives.
 
I am sorry to resurrect this old thread but I have been building kit knives for several years on and off and would love to have the money and space to actually forge a knife blade, yet I don't, and have always felt that there was a lot of art that went in to the crafting of the guard, scales and shape of the handle. I've always considered myself a kind of an artist. Even though my designs wouldn't stand up to most of the work being crafted here, it is still art to me. I have a stamp that I etch the blade that says handcrafted by fergy, and I always tell anyone who I'm giving a knife to, or in some cases, making a knife for (to sell), that I don't make the blade. In fact, I've had customers flip through the Jantz catalog and pick their knife blade or folding kit, pick the scales and have me build it for them and they were glad to pay me for it. I'm not ashamed that I don't make blades. I am humbled by the work of the artisans who do make the blades. Some day I might make the blades, but I find a lot of personal satisfaction in the craft that I can currently do and I am who I am. Obviously there are a lot of folks who think less of us who are not knife makers but who are doing what we do, building kit knives.

I also do all my own leather work, and even though I don't kill the cow and tan the hides, my maker's mark for the leather work says "handmade" because I honestly think that's appropriate. Yet, it never dawned on me to look down on someone who has someone else do their sheaths! Never even entered my mind. As long as we're honest about it, there's no need to be snobbish about it. Call me what you want. It won't change who I am and the face I see in the mirror every morning which is the only one that counts.
 
In my honest opinion, there's nothing wrong with what you're doing. Like you said, you're a builder not a blade maker. As long a you stay honest to your customers and stand behind your work/craftsmanship that's fine. We all have to start somewhere, not everyone has the bucks to build a shop, invest in all the equipment, things like that takes time. At least it does for me, and I'm still not there.
So keep doing what you're doing, and some day you will get there!

Steve
 
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