What is the percentage of knives are for show and for use?

I build a knife to be used and shown. I'm proud of the way my knives perform. But, I'm also proud of the way it looks. I spend a lot of time on the latter. Form, function and style all have to be at the same level. I can't separate the two. However, its up to the owner to do with it what h/she wants. I hear, "That's too nice to be used. I'm just going to display it." all the time and my response is always, "Well, that's your choice, I didn't have that luxury".

So, to answer your question: 100% of my knives are built to be used and shown.
 
MountainBilly said:
No matter how many knives are made for display only, decorum dictates that they were all made for use.
Click to expand...

I think this is a key. The knife is made to be used, it has sufficient blade steel and sufficient construction that it certainly would work for its intended purpose. I don't think collectors would be as interested in expensive knives if they were made from the same stainless steel as a common kitchen fork even if it did polish up well. "Yes it's pretty but please don't try to cut anything with it." That would never fly.

The other aspect of this is that most of us would think there is a line, maybe a really blurred line, between what would be a "user" knife and what would be a "show" knife, but that is in our own minds. The line would be different in somebody else's mind. For me to buy an expensive knife I could not imagine taking it to the field and carving on game animals with it, but another person might be happy to do that. So the buyer determines the use, the maker must do his best to make a knife that can be used for what the buyer wants to use it for. If I was filthy rich and bought a $1k+ bowie for display in my office, what would really make that knife special was if I took it on safari and used it on a Kudu, and THEN had it on display in my office. I would expect a knife of that class to actually WORK when needed to in the processing of a Kudu, and WORK WELL.
 
I think we may need to broaden our understanding of the word "use".

A knife can "cut" in many ways,... not limited to just a physical sense. I think the more ways in which a knife can cut,... the better. :)

If it cuts in one way or another, "symbolically",... it's a knife.
 
All knives I make with steel blades are made for use. Some won't be,.....but they can be.
I make a few that are strictly display pieces, but they would cut if needed to. A gold blade isn't going to ever be used, but the ones I make are sharpened.
 
My wife is an artist. In touring art studios and private collections I was amazed by the tea pot collection I saw at one home. There were hundreds of impeccably crafted tea pots, the artistic equal of the best knives I've seen, just one jaw dropping piece after another in every imaginable style and material.

Here's the thing, very few of them could actually be used to serve tea. The form and associations of the tea pot was the point of this art form, the function was irrelevant. That makes sense. High tea is a highly refined ritual with associations of wealth and upper social class.

Knives on the other hand are primitive and no matter how high the art, to disconnect a knife from function is to lose its essence as a knife.

I think it's also fair to say that regardless of the sex of the artists/craftspeople that the art of teapots is a feminine realm and that of knives, masculine. As a man it is often hard for me to disassociate myself from my functions while most women I know feel a stronger association with style and beauty.
 
I remember when Buster Warenski's King Tut dagger was revealed.

That was amazing
 
I don't know how many of mine actually get used, but all are made to be used. I recently reconnected with a friend I hadn't seen in a couple of years and he showed me a knife he'd commissioned from me. It was an upswept bowie with a large 12" blade and copper guard and sambar handle. The copper had taken on the brown look copper does, and the blade had a nice patina from use skinning out and quartering game and being used as a butcher knife. It was well taken care of, but you could see the signs of use. I for one couldn't be happier as I thought this one would never see any real use. There are some I hope never see use, like say a mosaic damascus blade, but I do my best to see that they are capable of use.
 
I'm with Johnathan and Rick and Will and many others... 100% of my knives are built to be used, no matter how plain or fancy. They are cutting tools, first and foremost. One of the slogans on my website and business cards is, "Knives that Earn thier Keep". My intent is to make knives will outlive me and the client, and be passed on to their heirs.

Personally, I'm pleased and proud when I see one of my knives with a high polish that's scratched or stained from use, but still going strong. I'm honestly a bit miffed and perplexed at the very few clients who've bought my knives and never used them... it just seems weird to me.
 
james terrio said:
I'm with Johnathan and Rick and Will and many others... 100% of my knives are built to be used, no matter how plain or fancy.They are cutting tools, first and foremost.
Click to expand...

My experience/exposure is limited to the ABS world, but even the most high-end John White or Jerry Fisk knife is designed and constructed to be used. Immaculate damascus, razor-sharp, convex edge. Now, whether the buyer/collector is going to cut anything with a $5 - $10,000 knife, that's a different story :)

You can draw the same parallel with the nihonto from the Mukunsa sword smiths in Japan. Is a $30,000 katana battle-worthy? Absolutely! Will anyone ever cut with it? Probably not.

By the way, JR Cook carries around a mono-steel bowie that's the same design as his high-end ALT knives (which are damascus, have ornate engraving and etching...). He uses it for the cutting demonstrations -- it cuts through 1" sisal rope like a laser.
 
Last edited:
IMO you can make a knife as a piece of art with the ability to cut. BUT Id say 95% of all knives are made as users! Now if the maker is good enough he might make the occasional user that is so well done fit and finish wise with nice enough materials that a person would rather show then use. That is a true compliment to any maker in my opinion. Loveless was a perfect example of this. He didn't try to make art knives people just loved his style and knives so much that they saw them as art and not as users like he intended.
 
My knives are 100% use. I actually want to get them to the "abuse" level that Rick M. obtained while changing a wheel bearing with one of his. I did hold a $6500 folder (asking) at a show that was amazing and the maker clearly stated that it was not intended to be carried. I thought it would be awesome to carry that knife with dress attire, but I haven't won the lottery yet.
 
Not every maker makes knives to be used (read used to cut, as the OP meant, not esoteric definitions of "use"). My first purchase on BF was a pair of nice knives, one in pearl, one in mammoth. Neither knife was beveled well enough to cut anything. Perhaps because they were such showy pieces the maker thought nobody would use them, but I was quite put off by the fact that I bought knives that couldn't cut, and to me should have been advertised as such. I have heard of other makers who don't put edges on their knives because the don't expect them to be used- although I have no personal experience with them.

I think this is a valid question based on my personal experience and appreciate those who have given their take on the subject without trolling the thread without actually answering what the op asked. I am a nothing knifemaker, but long ago decided that every sale in person I will have the new owner cut something before the sale is over, to show that it is a useable knife. I doubt I'll ever make a knife that isn't a user first, even if it has nicer materials or an odd design. I have no problem with more display type pieces, but feel that even these should be given the treatment to take them from knife like object to an actual knife with a cutting edge. To me if there is no cutting edge it is not a knife.
 
CUTS LIKE A KRIS said:
Not every maker makes knives to be used (read used to cut, as the OP meant, not esoteric definitions of "use"). My first purchase on BF was a pair of nice knives, one in pearl, one in mammoth. Neither knife was beveled well enough to cut anything. Perhaps because they were such showy pieces the maker thought nobody would use them, but I was quite put off by the fact that I bought knives that couldn't cut, and to me should have been advertised as such. I have heard of other makers who don't put edges on their knives because the don't expect them to be used- although I have no personal experience with them.

I think this is a valid question based on my personal experience and appreciate those who have given their take on the subject without trolling the thread without actually answering what the op asked. I am a nothing knifemaker, but long ago decided that every sale in person I will have the new owner cut something before the sale is over, to show that it is a useable knife. I doubt I'll ever make a knife that isn't a user first, even if it has nicer materials or an odd design. I have no problem with more display type pieces, but feel that even these should be given the treatment to take them from knife like object to an actual knife with a cutting edge. To me if there is no cutting edge it is not a knife.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting.

I read my OP several times wondering if it said something other then what I was asking.
 
AVigil said:
Thanks for posting.

I read my OP several times wondering if it said something other then what I was asking.
Click to expand...

Ha! Take it like a man, buddy. We went with it. At least a few folks answered your question.:p

As I understand it, you were simply asking for numbers, percentages, ratios... of knives made specifically for show or use. If all your knives are functional then the answer is "100% users"

You should have made it a poll, Adam. That's how we roll.:D:thumbup:

Rick
 
"I was wondering what percentage of knives do some of you guys make that are just for show vs. use?"

Rick your probably right. I will make the question a poll next time :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top