What is your "Philosophy" when it comes to Making Knives?

to finish one, dammit.
 
For me, it's twofold.

If I am making a "working" knife, well of course I strive for a knife that will be designed for the task at hand, performs well and last forever.

But I am slowly drifting towards more artistic pieces. While I still want them to be functional knives, fully heat treated and all, the emphasis is on the visual aspects. I am aiming for the "wow" factor mixed in with a little bit of "never seen it done quite like that". :cool:

Of course, the fact that I am not selling knives (not yet anyway) has a lot to do my philosophy I am sure.
 
My main goal has be focused mostly on performance I started out making knives just for myself.that evolved into selling . now performance is still a main focus but fit and finish is second and the more I make the more particular I am about it .
 
My philosophy is pretty simple: I love knives. I make knives because I love them and because this way I can own the knives that I want rather than having to rely on what others make. To this end, I want to make knives that have whatever look and feel has been keeping me up at night, and perform suitably at whatever task they were intended. Nobody uses my knives for serious work on a daily basis, so I can get away with not being as obsessed with performance as a lot of knife makers are. If I were to be in a position where this were the case, I imagine my interests would change, as they have many times already. Not having customers to worry about keeps it fun for me. If someone sees one of my knives and wants one like it, I make them the best knife that I can for the money they're willing to pay. If nobody wants to buy my knives then it means more knives for me. I don't have a desire to learn more skills for the sake of learning alone, but I learn new skills when my interests require it. If this felt too much like a job to me then it wouldn't be as fun.
I could psychoanalyze myself or tell a cool story about why I do what I do, but this is really the heart of it so far as I am certain.

- Chris
 
I figure a pretty knife that doesn't cut well isn't much of a knife. I also figure that a knife that costs as much as ours do should cut better, feel better in the hand, stay sharp longer, and look better than a factory knife. That's pretty much my philosophy.
 
I have been mulling this over, agreeing with a lot of what others have said, but I have to say that in the end, my philosophy is that I want to make knives that please myself and please my customers, whether they are looking for performance, feel, fit and finish, particular design elements, etc.
Most of what I make these days are modern style field/utility knives, but I also make reproductions and re-creations of historical pieces occasionally, and both my intent and the customer's expectations may be very different between the 2, so I'm not sure the same philosophy even applies, although I do believe it should be the goal of any craftsman to bring the best of their workmanship to every piece they make.
 
My goal was to make a knife that others said I was incapable of making(you know who you are).
My goal is to make a knife that I shouldn't be able to make at my level of experience.
My goal is to make a knife without the flaws I see on other knives.
My goal is to make a knife that others will like.
My goal is to make a knife that I will like.
My goal is to have fun.
 
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