Where and when is your best brainstorming?

D

Don Nguyen

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Oct 4, 2011
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In what situations do your good ideas come to you, or where/when do you do a lot of good knife thinking?

Honestly, every morning for 15 minutes, I sit on the toilet before brushing my teeth, just thinking about designs, constructions, efficiency, shop investments/set ups, etc. I'll think about it throughout the day, all day, but on the toilet is where I think so vividly. Something about barely just waking up and being in the half dream state allows for me to just visualize well. I'm not even trying to sit there for 15 minutes, I just end up doing that. I hope I haven't scared anyone off.

Either that, or during class. I try really hard to concentrate in class but during some moments my mind will drift to knives, and for some reason I think so clearly during then.

If this is the wrong section, please feel free to move/delete it. I just would like to hear what other makers had to say about their brainstorming.
 
Funny you mentioned the during class thing. Read about a study that found something along the lines of after doing really brain dead stuff at work then drifting off into wonder land actually boost the creative process during the day dreaming portion.

Anyways I usually do my design stuff while at work because my job is either balls to the walls or sitting there wondering if you ...... well lets just say gotta find creative stuff to think about so ya dont lose it.

This helps also because when I am at home working on stuff and have all the options for designs and handle material and all that around it becomes system overload. Far easier to stick to a plan I had gotten put together earlier that day or written down from before. Then I can just focus on doing vise trying to adjust the plan as I go.
 
for me it can come at any point during my day or night. I work in the shop 'til the early hours of morning pretty often, usually never end up working on what I intended to do. I use a few mental clarity excercizes and I know how to get into the "zone" pretty easily, so I often times just go from there when I have time. I carry a notebook and pen at all times, if I see a car, a leaf, a sculpture, a skateboard, a dog leash or a spilled cup of coffee I might see a curve, or a color, or encounter a feeling that I draw out really quick. sometimes its a knife I draw or sometimes just some specific swirls and curves that are gestures of flow to suggest a knife shape. Othertimes its just a small portion of a knife that was inspired and the rest is spawn from that.

Or i just look at pictures of knives all day, that works too.


-Xander
 
quint said:
Funny you mentioned the during class thing. Read about a study that found something along the lines of after doing really brain dead stuff at work then drifting off into wonder land actually boost the creative process during the day dreaming portion.
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This is pretty interesting. I remember when I was working part time doing auto details, my brain was in such a dead, meditative state that my imagination and whatnot was really through the roof.
 
I have an hour commute, each way. I find it's hard to listen to the radio or music or audio books cause I've got a knife or gun process/modification that I'm working on. I often have dreams about tricky solutions. I know that if I wake up before 4 or 5 I should try to remember what I was dreaming, sometimes it's a solution. That's a recent thing. I've flat out solved problems I hadn't been able to find hints to after a lot of research.
 
Sometimes, I think of things and try things, late at night.... after my wife has gone to sleep.... LOL
 
Usually when I'm in bed, right before I fall asleep. That's when the name I've been trying to think of all day suddenly pops into my head, or the solution to a problem I've been working on appears.
 
Mine usually come while driving, grinding, or when I am supposed to be listening to my wife.
 
At work, When I'm not yelling at our temporary associates , I find myself thinking of my next knife purchase or other ideas, Also I have that ability to turn my ears off when the wife starts her griping so yea working and when I'm getting my butt chewed by the wife are my main 2.
 
I used to keep a pad and pen next to my bed.
Seems like a lot of good ideas came to me when I was sleeping.
If I would write it down immediately on waking it would be remembered.
If not, it was usually forgotten.
 
You guys can stop thinking about knives?
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I'm with Daniel, but it does seem like my most productive ideas come when I am doing something completely unrelated to knives.
 
I think up ideas at all sorts of times. My favorite are when reading or watching TV, driving, and laying in bed. The big thing is remembering them later on (age don't make that any easier). I buy the small steno pads in bulk and have them everywhere. In the car, by the TV chair, at the computer, the desk, in the bathroom, etc. When I have an idea, at the minimum stop what I am doing and draw or write a quick note that will remind me what the thought was. I add the details later, but as soon as I can, as some details slip away. Some of these ideas never get a second look, and some are a head slap type when you say, "Wow, why didn't I think of that before."
 
Almost all of my designs are so simple that there's just not a huge amount of major brainstorming involved. In general terms, most useful knife patterns were developed centuries ago, and the best we can do is refine them.

The really fun part involves exploring details like... would this steel be better suited for this use? Should this edge be thinner? How much can I take out of this tang for lightness, without sacrificing too much strength? Does it really matter if I pre-groove the stitching-line on the back of the sheath (turns out... definitely yes). How come no one makes "this" style of knife with "this" type of grind? (often, there's a very logical reason for that - it doesn't work very well. But sometimes, that question leads to a successful niche that few if any other makers are addressing... mainly because they're just doing it the same way everyone else does and never asked why.)

Craftsmanship and technique is an ongoing learning experience. There's a grey area between making do with the tools on-hand, and investing in or developing new tools/processes. Having an idea in one's head and actually making it happen provide lots of opportunity for reflection and study.

On the other hand...

Sometimes it's helpful to sit down in a quiet place with no particular idea or goal in mind, and just start fiddling around with pencil and paper. Every once in a while that can lead to something really cool. Regardless, it beats staring at the TV. :)
 
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First thing in the morning On the Oval Office lol.
I'm not a knife maker but I still think about it anyway.............he he:D
I have a art program on my iPad that thing has many many weird drawings from 3 am I have no idea what they are but I'm positive that there ingenious:p
 
I set the task in my mind while meditating before bedtime and then let the idea stew in my subconscious while I sleep. You can use the same technique to program your dreams. The human mind is an amazing piece of machinery.
 
I never stop thinking about knives...period! I used to dream about my job and its challenges, since ive been making knives the last couple years it dominates my dreams, it doesnt help that i usually end every day on a grinder, or in some sort progress on a build, or a new jig or fixture... Im to cheap to buy! I spend lots of time scouring my blade annuals making notes of materials and matches that really appeal to me. I can tell alot of makers by just a glance at a grind, or a combination of materials and its only recently that ive started to notice this ability, but attribute this to acute saturation of my brain with shop dust, and knife porn!:D However in all seriouness a creative burst of brainstorming ability could come at a moments notice!!
Greg
 
I generally do my best thinking and ideas while laying in bed trying to go to sleep oddly enough.
 
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