What part of knife making do you like the most?

Shaping the handle for the final finished product and seeing a customer smile when they pick it up.
 
I like that when I am into a knife and focused, I don't have to think about anything else besides what I'm working on. I call knifemaking my yoga for this very reason... That is until I scratch a ricasso or burn a pin, then $h!?.. F'!:@... a$$.. mother @&)$!!
Oh yeah and the wife brings me lunch to the garage.
 
Its a little thing but i love when i am squeezing handles together and that litttleeeee line of epoxy just starts to show around the end. Its the thing that tells me, its almost done. That and the first slice through paper.
 
The best part is when the customers come in tears with a broken blade!! I welcome them with a maniacal laugh and kick 'em in the groin to remark the no-refund policy ;)
Jokes aside (i don't even sell knives), the nice part is the magic moment i realize i really like the knife i made...then i start seeing room for improving and it starts another journey.
 
The learning experience? Developing the skills to finish a knife.

This is my first. I have shown it ad'naseum, never finished though. but this is just about as good as I can get it at the moment. False clip point.

first.jpg

Its a start.
 
Doing the final sharpening when the knife comes to life. The look of my customer and smiles when he/she first holds and fondles the knife in their hands.
 
Sandeggo said:
I like that when I am into a knife and focused, I don't have to think about anything else besides what I'm working on. I call knifemaking my yoga for this very reason... That is until I scratch a ricasso or burn a pin, then $h!?.. F'!:@... a$$.. mother @&)$!!
Oh yeah and the wife brings me lunch to the garage.
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Same! once i get into the zone and forget what else is going on in my life that is P%##ing me off... just me, and whatever part i am concentrating on. My favorite times are when I'm working on a one-off and realize it's 2:30 in the morning and I didn't have a clue, nor did i care up till this point that i should be in bed. Then I crack open the whiskey and put my feet up for a few minutes.
 
spending all my money on materials :)
 
Calvin Robinson said:
When I grind the peened heads off my pins and they disappear.
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Thats certainly got to be close to one of the best things Calvin. God I can remember those
years when it was'nt cool at all to spot a halo around a pin, but now thats been a very long time
ago.
Ken.
 
I always wished I had artistic talent. The ability to draw, paint, sculpt or something along those lines. But I was never any good at it and ended up in a mind numbing corporate job. Knife making has given me a medium I can work with and seeing something come to life that will be used is something I find incredibly satisfying.

That said, something that is nearly equal in meaning to me is that I am part of a tradition that is as older than written history, especially when I add in blacksmithing. I am big on history and as my user name implies (it's a play on Augustus, which is always taken...), I feel a kinship with my roman ancestors every time I fire up my forge! After more than three decades I have finally found my passion.

Ad Honorum my knifemaking brothers!
 
One other thing that I was thinking about this afternoon, I love how knifemaking blends trades and skills. By trade I am a welder and fabricator, before that I was a carpenter. With knifemaking I have laminated composites, used carpentry skills, welding and metal fabrication, did some masonry when I built my HT oven, doing more and more electrical everyday, now if I could only figure out how to add plumbing into the mix I'd have all trades covered. So knifemaking for me allows me to blend all trades into one product and it is fun.
 
Another one of my favorites is,after peening the pins,closing the SLIPJOINT and seeing the blade centered in the handle.
 
ron_m80 said:
The learning experience? Developing the skills to finish a knife.

This is my first. I have shown it ad'naseum, never finished though. but this is just about as good as I can get it at the moment. False clip point.

View attachment 518321

Its a start.
Click to expand...

Ron,
It looks a heck of a lot better than my first, There wasn't all of this knife internet stuff to speak of and I was hand filing my first reading and following Tim Mc Creight's Book, Custom knife making. It was such an adventure working in my garage on the first one before I had met any other makers back in 96.

Enjoy!
 
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