What is knife making?

DeadboxHero said:
Have you made any progress with your ventures?

Have you been practicing grinding and putting handles on?
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Yeah. I've been getting a bit better at both with time. I'll see if I can post a picture of the last knife I finished in a second.

Right now I have the cpm 10v sitting on the shelf, and I picked up some 52100 to make a knife for someone with instead. I'll just heat treat directly from an pearlitic state with that, like larrin recommends.
 
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It's not perfect. I definitely have some more work to do, improving my skills. On this knife right near the plunge line could be improved. The top of where the handle and tang meet is nice and flat, but the bottom where the finger choil is. The tang ever so slightly sits higher than the scales.

When I imprinted the stuff on the blade (I had to use cold punches)I ended up grinding a bit of the letters off. Because before heat treat I only profiled the knife. Since I knew I was going to do ht in the forge I wanted a completely even thickness throughout the knife to give me the best chance to control the heat possible, and also to get the best contact possible against the aluminum plates for fast cooling.
 
Blankblank said:
It's not perfect. I definitely have some more work to do, improving my skills. On this knife right near the plunge line could be improved. The top of where the handle and tang meet is nice and flat, but the bottom where the finger choil is. The tang ever so slightly sits higher than the scales.

When I imprinted the stuff on the blade (I had to use cold punches)I ended up grinding a bit of the letters off. Because before heat treat I only profiled the knife. Since I knew I was going to do ht in the forge I wanted a completely even thickness throughout the knife to give me the best chance to control the heat possible, and also to get the best contact possible against the aluminum plates for fast cooling.
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I don't think I've ever made anything perfect yet, it seems that perfect is impossible to reach. I think all we can do as knife makers is our personal best for that moment in time with what we know and can do.


Right now should be a fun stage for you because every knife you make you're going to get that much better so that's why it's so important when you first get started to just keep making knives and learn from each one and then your skills keep growing and growing soon you'll develop your own sense of taste and style and where you want to go.
 
Make your knives any way you want.
Have fun,
Repeat 100 times. Now, you are a knifemaker.
 

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com www.reddit.com

I forgot to post the link my bad.

Anyone have tips for getting smears off blades? I swear whatever I wipe my blades off with, I still leave streaks. On that one you can see them going horizontally, the grind Mark's are vertical. I used isopropyl alcohol. I think mineral spirits left it too the last time I tried. Maybe windex?
 
DeadboxHero said:
I don't think I've ever made anything perfect yet, it seems that perfect is impossible to reach. I think all we can do as knife makers is our personal best for that moment in time with what we know and can do.


Right now should be a fun stage for you because every knife you make you're going to get that much better so that's why it's so important when you first get started to just keep making knives and learn from each one and then your skills keep growing and growing soon you'll develop your own sense of taste and style and where you want to go.
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Yeah, makes sense. I do see small incremental improvements as I keep going. There are still some more tools I need that will help me improve also. Just being tight on money, and having to prioritize each purchase is tough, and of course factoring in consumables makes things even tighter.
 
Blankblank said:

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com www.reddit.com

I forgot to post the link my bad.

Anyone have tips for getting smears off blades? I swear whatever I wipe my blades off with, I still leave streaks. On that one you can see them going horizontally, the grind Mark's are vertical. I used isopropyl alcohol. I think mineral spirits left it too the last time I tried. Maybe windex?
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Hoteswright has often mentioned wd40. I’ve had good luck with it also. Make sure your towel is clean.
 
I've thought about it some more and concluded that what I do is knife making. Anything less is modding at best. Anything more, like making your own sheath, or doing your own heat treat, is just silly.
 
Blankblank said:

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com www.reddit.com

I forgot to post the link my bad.

Anyone have tips for getting smears off blades? I swear whatever I wipe my blades off with, I still leave streaks. On that one you can see them going horizontally, the grind Mark's are vertical. I used isopropyl alcohol. I think mineral spirits left it too the last time I tried. Maybe windex?
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Liquid dish soap and a clean paper towel. Wash your hands with the dish soap first to limit fingerprints/skin oils from contaminating. Windex works ok, but has some additives that will be visible. Always dry in the direction of scratches. Oils may work, but I don't like using oils.
 
Richard338 said:
I've thought about it some more and concluded that what I do is knife making. Anything less is modding at best. Anything more, like making your own sheath, or doing your own heat treat, is just silly.
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6uYqe7X.jpg
 
If I may go down the rabbit hole a little....

I think the question fundamentally amounts to "what is a thing in itself", which we can debate about endlessly. X is X in terms of how you define it. X is also X in terms of how a collective group defines it. Who's ultimately right? Same problem.

The nature of X in relation to an "other", singular group, person, etc, will be consistent, but only with respect to a predetermined set of axioms defined by the group being used as a benchmark. If you compare the consensus of what the nature of X is defined as, within a specific group to another group that has different axioms, you will potentially, in extreme cases, be faced with an insoluble problem, because you won't be comparing the same thing at all, and likely if you're doing this from within a pertinent group, won't even know it.

A thing is whatever you want it to be. That changes with respect to the constitution of that which defines it, and its goals, aversions, and so on.

I think a more concise way of getting an answer would be to ask what a thing isn't.

If you ever watch a good discussion between two academicians, the first thing they'll do is define for each other what their own personal interpretive axioms for a given subject are, and explain the basis for those axioms in terms of ends or desired results, and then define the axioms they use to establish those. The discussion can proceed, provided there is at least some consensus.

You'll find that the general consensus surrounding what a "thing" is, for most people, is a construction based on a loosely (if at all) defined set of inferences, and notions, subject to the limits of their range of personal experience with that given thing (including all of the other inferences about the given "thing" that they have picked up from others (who may themselves only know it through second hand, or worse, information) that they have accumulated, and likely aren't even cognizant enough of, to assess critically.

Personally, I try not to reason with people who's understanding of a given subject is concretized by an exposure garnered exclusively through T.V. Like discussing firearms with someone who as only ever played Call of Duty.

Just enjoy doing what you're doing. It's complicated enough without without segueing into existentialism.
 
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You're wasting computational cycles that could have been applied to your knife making in order to satisfy a concept that isn't value add because it is solely ego driven.
 
kuraki said:
You're wasting computational cycles that could have been applied to your knife making in order to satisfy a concept that isn't value add because it is solely ego driven.
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I might be wrong here ..... but I took Huntingsgr's comment to be humor. Funny thing about it is that most of what he wrote has good foundation in philosophy ..... but I think the very fact he wrote about it in such detail is his way of pointing out that ..... there really is not a lot of value or point in trying to analyze the question too deeply.....
 
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