Where do the brilliant design ideas come from?

[golok]

From time to time, I come across some knives which are stunningly elegant, maybe even beautiful.

I wonder where do some of these knifemakers get their ideas from.

Even if some of these ideas are a bit far out, I am sure there must be a period of experimentation to make sure that the knife is also functional and practical in every sense of the word.

It has been said that when the human mind is most relaxed, that's the moment when it is most useful.

It is not exactly like thinking out of the box, but it is somewhere along those lines.

 

[Megalobyte]

I agree, i see so many designs that seem truly inspired, and it seems to me, it must come from the image within the maker's mind. They envision a design and set about executing it. Its of course possible that they draw on elements they have seen in other designs, or the new design is an evolution of an existing design, but nonetheless, i am always amazed at how makers keep coming up with fresh designs and looks that are different, and yet still tasteful and beautiful. After all, knives are failry simple objects, there arent THAT many variations available and yet they keep doing it, amazing. This is something i too have pondered.

 

[RHINOKNIVES]

i have never drawen a pattern and then go grind it. sometimes i just grab a bar and start profiling, yes there is a design in my mind and it is revealed as i grind. aotoh, most inventions are descovered by chance while you were looking for something else. or by screwing up! pennicillin was decovered because a researcher left a bunch of prete dishes with a bunch of cultures in them and noticed that some mold that had grow in one had killed the bactria. some of my ideas come after i have messed up a grind. and at about 3:00am i roll over in bed and have a idea how to modifiy it into a new a diff, design. lets hear what some others have to say about this?

 

[Bastid]

I am not a maker (don't even play one on TV), but I have a few friends that are. In hanging around with a few, I am always amazed at things that inspire them in a knife design. On more than a few occasions, we might be walking around and a comment might be made about an everyday object, the curve of a banister, fender of a car, an architechtual feature etc.

In short what I have seen is a person very attuned to detail taking in shapes and gaining inspiration from everyday objects they encounter.

 

[Phillip Jones]

I sit around with a sketch book and draw knife designs over and over and over until I get something that pleases me. It is then drawn full scale over and over again until I get it looking the way that I envision it. Lost count of just how many small knife sketches I have. Could well be in the thousands by now.

Bastid has it right about "everyday objects". Just looking at them will give me knife ideas. A lot of things in nature are well suited to being knife shapes. Birds wings, animal claws and teeth, clouds and tree leaves all offer knife shapes in some form or fashion. It just depends on an open mind and point of view.

 

[C. Marlowe]

Because close to 98% of my output is folders, each of the patterns had to be "blueprinted" ( good old fashioned way with a pencil, a big eraser, a straight edge, and calculator ). However, the ideas for the designs come while im watching TV, mowing the lawn, and on occasion from a "whoops". Theres more to type, but my brain just stopped -- Charles

 

[Keith Montgomery]

It is in the way that the mind of an artist works. They comprehend things in a different way than most of us. They are able to imagine things and turn them into reality in a way I only wish that I could. I am very left brained and wish that I had the ability to use the other hemisphere more.

 

[Mike Hull]

I'll third what Bastid said.

 

[Clydetz]

I'm definitely not a knifemaker, but I do enjoy putting my ideas on a computer spreadsheet, refining this angle, that curve, what if I did this? After about 3-4 weeks of fooling with my idea (might change drastically or might be the same as I started with) I choose handle material/materials, location of pins, type of steel, ask around if a knifemaker would be interested in my project or even if he has the time for a novice's whim? After I send my proposed picture for his critique, we talk about the project - how about this? Let's try this. I think this would be a better handle material. Now he goes ahead and makes my 'dream knife' come true! The knife is made up of my ideas & his ideas, experience, and crafts-
manship. I can't answer for the knifemaker but when I hold the finished product in my hand, I have a a real good feeling about our knife!
Sometimes when handling a finished knife, I may feel that this should have been wider or finger grooves would have been great or if it just curved a little more at this point. Now the 'idea' file becomes larger!
On to the next project & a new set of curves, angles, ideas to be put on paper & be combined & refined by the "artisan of steel".

 

[ARtsig1]

I am not a knife maker but have dabbled a bit in leather, the kind you use for sheaths , and I always found that my best ideas came as I sat upon the "throne" Don't know why, they just did!