What are your goals as a knifemaker?

Hankins

Hankins

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Dec 7, 2008
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What are your goals as a knifemaker?
What are you looking for as an "Endgame" how are you planning to get there?
or maybe a never ending game?
 
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I know it sounds a bit melodramatic, but my goal is to get the new shop and new forge finished and spend the rest of my time enjoying it as I am able.

Some days I may work like a demon until my body says, "enough for today!".
Some days I may just sit for hours quietly looking at blades and wood.
Some days I might just nap in my chair.
And someday I won't get up from the chair.

It would be a perfect knifemaking journey if the folks at my funeral all knew that I passed away sitting peacefully in the shop.
 
Everyone's journey & destination is different as we all started from different places.....

I'm newer here, I set up goals for last year (I'm still thinking of what my goals are for This year, and Next year, and after that)

I did, as I am extremely fortunate to have obliterated last years goals, this year is causing me to want to dream Bigger... I won't though, it's against who I am.

I'm taking a modest, "Make haste slowly" approach.

I will say, that I'd like to have a knife published some day with Nice photographs......
I thought I was going to have a photographer last year, and lost a knife in the deal. Oh well.
 
Once you get past the hordes of women, cash, entourage, and special treatment you must achieve a Zen like state to surpass to the next level.

Seriously though... my shop collapsed due to wind shear so I'm rebuilding and have moved. I'm putting together a shop and getting new knives started.

Goal - 1200 Knives over the next calendar year. I have about 1000 profiled and 400+ going to heat treat. 400+ more are at the waterjet.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Some days I may work like a demon until my body says, "enough for today!".
Some days I may just sit for hours quietly looking at blades and wood.
Some days I might just nap in my chair.
And someday I won't get up from the chair.
Click to expand...
Stacy, that sounds like my goals in life - just enjoy and don't press too much. I did that before retiring, now I'm retired.... or perhaps just "tired"? :)
 
I am working toward a)making what I want, when I want it, and b)making knives that push the boundaries of creativity, either mine or the industry's boundaries, and c)getting to a point where nobody questions my prices, they just are happy to get to buy. My goal is for knives to be my post-retirement bonus income.

In order to accomplish these, particularly C, I do alot of things. I'm active on social media. I write books, and write for Blade Magazine. I'm a member of the Knifemakers' Guild. I have tables at Blade Show Atlanta and Texas. I pay for professional photographs of the major pieces. I also have stuck with this for 15 years, and hope for another 25.
 
My goal is to make pieces that are honest reflections of my skill with my hands and senses
Hopefully someone will then use them to create food for people they like and I'll get better at making knives (and i get money for buying more tools), but i still consider them successes if they reflect my ability
 
Hengelo_77 said:
My goal for now is to make good, classic looking slipjoints.
There are many smaller goals on that journey that I'm taking on one or two at the time.
I also keep enjoying making fixed blades and improve there.
Click to expand...

I like your fixed blades myself.
 
To make the most detailed and crisp hamons I possibly can. I have other aspects of making knives I need to improve before I start another hamon though. I can spend a year working on and off on a hamon but if the rest of the knife looks like a turd… well then what’s the point :)

Also to make tools that make people happy. Man when I gift a buddy a machete and I see how much fun they have with them, that’s the best feeling in the world… speaking of which, I have a 25’x25’ overgrown section of the yard with a fire pit hidden in it. Might have my own machete time next week!
 
To find another local maker and actually start a Mid Tech company, using my own designs!
Oh yea also be able to pay the bills...
 
there are probably lots of different ways to come at this question which I think is what makes it a great question.

I have lots of goals- some are conflicting, some are incompletely conceived and some are not practical- but all are conceivable, lol!

In general, though, a good generalized answer for me which I know I can't go wrong with and I know most here can probably relate to, is that I want my flaws to get to the point where they're essentially not at all noticeable. That particular goal is kind of an umbrella, covering most of my other goals, the least of which vary from day to day.

Maybe goals are like flaws- they start off big, and as we get better, they get smaller?
 
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