What got you started in blades?

I have always been a knife nut, even when I was very young and would go to a store with my dad, where they sold knives, I would have to look at them before we left the store. When I got older I saw a magazine with some handmade knives in it and thought that was what I wanted to do. My dad had a welding shop and I worked there in the summer, so I had access to a belt sander and grinders, and an old saw blade for steel, I made my first knife, been hooked ever since.
 
Actually, I was just in a bit of a mess here on Long island NY... My fiancee and i were living in an apartment that had the electric turned off because the landlord would not pay to have some wiring fixed. Anyway, there were three families and we had to use generators for two weeks! The guy below us put a generator in the basement and killed everyone in the hous except for my fiancee and I. We have a chihuahua and he started screamong and I woke up, looked over to see My fiancee having a seizure so I tried to get us out but passed out.. I woke up long enough to open a window and a door before having a seizure myself. It was in all the papers, first page of Newsday twice and every news channel for days. After the incident I have been having trouble sleeping and so on so I decided to take up this hobby. I have thought about it for a long time but always took work and other things over myself but now I have to try and self medicate and I think this will be great therapy.

I know it's a crazy story but 100 percent true, anyone living in NY will probably recall it because it only happened a few months ago.
 
Yeah guys, The dog is alright and so is the wifee.... We are trying to get over the trauma of it all and deal with it the best we can. We also suffered severe Carbon monoxide poisoning and had to go into hyperbaric chambers and stay in the hospital for days. It was the craziest thing to ever happen to us. The people who died should not have even been in that home! Turns out that the landlord was not allowed to rent those apartments at all and the town was after him big time. He is being sued for murder.
 
I had a quality factory knife break on me while I was hunting deep in the woods. My godfather is a stock removal guy and I asked him how much,
"$250"
I'm you're godson,
"that's the godson price"
fine, I can make knives how hard can it be?

I reckon I spent at least $500 until I was happy with a knife I made and about $2000 until I made a knife I would sell. My family and friends got sick of opening presents and finding a knife. I took to hiding the knives in large boxes when I made presents. lol

I love making them and talking to people that love to use them.

Will
formerly known as badbamaump
 
Will Leavitt said:
I had a quality factory knife break on me while I was hunting deep in the woods. My godfather is a stock removal guy and I asked him how much,
"$250"
I'm you're godson,
"that's the godson price"
fine, I can make knives how hard can it be?

I reckon I spent at least $500 until I was happy with a knife I made and about $2000 until I made a knife I would sell. My family and friends got sick of opening presents and finding a knife. I took to hiding the knives in large boxes when I made presents. lol

I love making them and talking to people that love to use them.

Will
formerly known as badbamaump
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hahahaha thats great I got a good laugh outta that
Im where you started except I wouldnt want anyone to see my junk yet lol
the large boxes part was funny as hell because I can picture myself doing it too

I can convex grind cleanly but hollow and flat hahaha forget about it

now for myself, I always want more knives and cant afford them plus I love making things and working with my hands

as a kid I always was drawing knives and making sharp sticks and so on
then again we were so poor we had no TV and this was in the mid-late 90's lol

what else would you do besides make fort's and play survior man and harass the cattle lol
 
bryce said:
hahahaha thats great I got a good laugh outta that
Im where you started except I wouldnt want anyone to see my junk yet lol
the large boxes part was funny as hell because I can picture myself doing it too

I can convex grind cleanly but hollow and flat hahaha forget about it

now for myself, I always want more knives and cant afford them plus I love making things and working with my hands

as a kid I always was drawing knives and making sharp sticks and so on
then again we were so poor we had no TV and this was in the mid-late 90's lol

what else would you do besides make fort's and play survior man and harass the cattle lol
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Bryce, don't be afraid to show your work to a maker, user or collector that you respect. Honest criticism will go a long way to improving your knives. Any maker I've shown my knives to tell me where I need to improve and usually how to do it or an invite to stop by and see how they do it. Users will tell you how they think it needs to fit them and a collector will tell you what they look for in a knife. A collector buddy of mine showed me places where some makers (myself included) forget to clean up the blade, he pointed out small details and made suggestions in design that really went a long way to improving my understanding of the craft.

I used to leave my knives at the cleaning area at our hunting club for the guys to use and get their opinions. I know how I use knives but that's not all people use the same knife.

Will
formerly known as badbamaump
 
I dont know any knifemakers or collectors around where I live,

I do know peter marzitelli lives up the street from me but years ago I asked him to show me a few but he told me "this was a business and he didnt have time"

I doubt I will be going back to him

eventually I will get it under my belt, regardless

im waiting for more books to show up so i can try to use a method rather then just randomly grinding and trying to guess. lol

im not concerned its gonna happen,
Because I decided that im far too dumb to give up :)

I just gotta put in the hours and I grind everyday eventually it will add up

I also saw this cool level jig made by fred rowe in the "dont look at this thread"
and i wanna build one just to try it
 
I got started when i was real young. At age 5 my dad gave me a small, dull pocket knife. When i was in the scouts, i upgraded to the scout knife and have carried one everyday since. As far as making them, In high school metal shop, we had to make a screwdriver and a chisel. After playing with the forge for a while, i really enjoyed it. After some years, i had decided to do it again.I bought a forge, a 4x36 craftsman and some torches, and wanted to get back into it. I have made and sold several knives since and am hooked. I just ordered my KMG and cant wait for that to arrive!!!! Next is my oven and im golden!
 
I was a D&D nerd in jr high school who took a year and a half of metal shop in high school. Always wanted to make a knife but didn't want to get busted. Fast forward several years and I saw this knife by Don Fogg in Blade magazine
http://www.dfoggknives.com/images/Vikingdag.jpg. Asking price was about $3000. I said to myself I need to do that!
 
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