Where do thy come from and where do thy go

JTknives

JTknives

Joined
Jun 11, 2006
Messages
8,651
I have noticed over the years that i have been a member here that it seams like we get bursts of new people here wanting to make knives. But it also seams like there is a trend of all pumped up and buying tools and then poof there gone. is it that thy thought it could be an easy way to make money and found out the truth. Around this time there seams to be a lot of hand made knives listed for sale that are way cheep. I am in no way knocking new people at all. I love passing on what i know to others.
 
JT...... it's like I tell all new makers, we should be called knife finishers. A lot of people start, very few finish, fewer start a second knife.

Yeah, I see a lot of people that see the price on a high end knife and figure, it can't be that hard... well it is. Look through the for sale forums and it's obvious. :rolleyes:
 
I didn't notice this, after reading what JT said I did look at the for sale forums, man, those are real cheap :eek: even for my country they are. How can someone sell those that cheap and maintain their business, I'm not sure? :confused:

Emre
 
Maybe some didn't give up on knives. They gave up the internet. A guy makes knives for years, finds the knife forums, and is considered a newb by someone who's been glueing slabs onto store bought blades for a couple of months.
 
I figured it was the recession and underemployment rate. While knife sales are down, sales at knife material suppliers are up. I think a lot of people found themselves with a lot of extra time on their hands and gave it a stab.

...stab... heh heh...
 
JT,
Some of us are still out here lurking, reading BF regularly and trying to fit in some knifemaking in between the rest of our commitments. We may not say it enough, but we really do appreciate the help and guidance that all of you provide. I wish I had more time to commit to it as I really enjoy it, despite my lack of proficiency.

I have many "WIPs", but they are progressing so slowly or become abandoned when they don't meet up to my "standards". I sometimes show them to friends, but I don't want them to be crayon drawings on the refrigerator. Also, there is the issue of a WIP which has been in progress for a year (or stalled for 20). Yes, I do have a blade ground by Bob Engnath that I started polishing 20 years ago that I set aside until my skills can do justice to the blade (a very nice clay hardened wakasashi). Maybe someday...

Yes, I have a lot of tools which don't get used very often. And sometimes I get more caught up making tools (Forge, HT oven, Tempering Oven, etc) because I think I need them. And I probably have a lifetime supply of Aldo's 1084. But I think I understand it. It is like playing a nice musical instrument with limited skill and limited talent. You can enjoy practicing by yourself even though others probably would not enjoy your "music".

In my case, perhaps it it the unfortunate consequence of being a Quality Assurance professional who has loved looking over photos of thousands of great knives, knowing that mine will not measure up.

But, please don't stop helping us. We are still here, very much appreciating the opportunity to hang out here with you guys. Maybe someday I will finish something that I can show you guys.

Many thanks from an eternal apprentice. -Doug
 
You shouldn't forget about major life events as well. I'm not going into all the details but I am just now in a place to start making knives again, after a 5 year period. In that time I have had to turn down two articles from major magazines because I no longer had a shop, and was living out of my truck. Many people lost everything including there homes, and family's. I had hoped to have my shop up and running before the shot show here in Vegas, but now it is looking more like March before I can starting making knives again. Even then I probably won't post anymore than I ever had before. I'm a part-timer and like it that way. Then you have those that just try it out, and realize it's not what the fantasized it to be, and moved on to something else.
 
I've been on bladeforums a while but still new to knife making.I started out last summer by making a dozen or so scandi knives with pre made blades by Lauri, Helle,and Frosts.

I met a local maker and he has taken me under wing so to speak.Next week I'll be heat treating 4 hunters and a bowie.If all goes well I'll have some pictures to show.In the mean time I visit here nearly every day and try to learn as much as possible.

I'll be building my shop soon and collecting tools as extra money allows.I have purchased a used Bader2.It needs a little repair work and a Platen.But when I get it together I'll only have about $400 in it.A forge is next but I expect to have everything near the middle of summer.
 
The search for information is a pretty big motivator to post. It's easy to lurk or not post at all once you have the information you need. There's probably only a select few knife makers in the world who are fanatical enough to continue to post on the forums and teach others - us newbs appreciate those who do. But I think we'd see a lot more gear for sale if peoples interest just fizzled out.
 
Well I haven't posted much in the last couple years, but I do try to stop in once in a while. For me it's getting my place in shape and finishing up my house. I got the shop build and have done a little work, but haven't gotten anything finished yet. I work overseas 28 and 28, and on my time off last time in I think I had about 2 days to work on knives.
 
360joules said:
The search for information is a pretty big motivator to post. It's easy to lurk or not post at all once you have the information you need. There's probably only a select few knife makers in the world who are fanatical enough to continue to post on the forums and teach others - us newbs appreciate those who do. But I think we'd see a lot more gear for sale if peoples interest just fizzled out.
Click to expand...

Well said.
 
I think a lot of guys hit periods where their knifemaking journey becomes a more focused and personal pursuit. They have absorbed as much info and advice as they can and have to figure how it all works with their individual skills, methods and equipment. You get to a point of confidence and familiarity with your equipment where you can answer most of your questions with your own hands.
 
Justin King said:
I think a lot of guys hit periods where their knifemaking journey becomes a more focused and personal pursuit. They have absorbed as much info and advice as they can and have to figure how it all works with their individual skills, methods and equipment. You get to a point of confidence and familiarity with your equipment where you can answer most of your questions with your own hands.
Click to expand...

As one of the resident newbies I guess I'll chime in here with my own opinions.
Justin has a good point, at least from where I stand. I've been reading the forum for a while now but only just begun posting. I don't like asking uninformed questions so I read and read until I feel confident that I know what to ask in the first place. I, too, have all the basic equipment, though I'll admit that it wasn't all acquired for knife making only, and have forged out a couple practice knives and one in O-1 finished to completion. Now that I have some confidence I'll make more and post more and I'll certainly have more questions as I get along further.
However, it should be noted that I've taken this up as a hobby and not as a potential business. Who knows, maybe in the future things may change, but for now it's just something that I enjoy doing. I like the art of blacksmithing and knifemaking fascinating as well as the history of it.

Mark.
 
Being new to knife making I can say that if one thinks that this is their ticket to easy money boy they should really look at who makes knives that go for a few grand and such. Those guys have decades of experience and knowledge and they make knives that are far superior to anything a noob can do. I am still on my 1st knife. Knife making is HARD. Any idiot can make a blade that will cut, to make a good knife where both sides match, the handle meets the blade with no gaps etc is very complex. I have access to a FULL machine shop, got everything under the sun in it, and even with all that it is not easy by any means. I have learned real quick it takes time and lots of it, most people who like me have kids, a mortgage and a job just don't have the time to make very many knives. I am going to have it as a hobby, that when I actually get a few hours where I do not have anything to do I can work on a knife. My 1st knife is not even half done and I have tons of time into it, it probably won't be done for quite some time to. I can see how people would be all excited to make all these knives then reality sets in and they realize they just don't have the time and in some cases the willingness to put forth the effort.
 
The best thing I can say about the high dollar knives comes from a professional musician friend, Ziggy Luis, "they don't pay me for the performance tonight, they pay me for all the weekends I sat at home and practiced, they pay me for all the times when my friends went out and I practiced with the band. THAT'S what they pay me for, the time I've lost becoming this guitarist."

After a good bit of experience you can make a better knife faster than you did at the start, should you lower your prices? No, now people pay you for a great product and your experience and your hard earned reputation. One of the reasons I'd about puke if someone had a failure with one of my blades, my reputation (such as it is) is all I really have to allow me to ask the prices of my work.
 
Could be that they started spending more time actually MAKING knives instead of writing about it:eek:
 
Still here still trying
Even sold a couple,
I am no here for the money though
Thank you for all you tips and help guys
 
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I have been lurking for a year now just reading and absorbing. I love to make slipjoints and have made seven now this past year. I think when I sell one and break down the number of hours in making one it works out to $2.00 per hour. I really don't care. I love to make knives. I love getting lost in knifemaking for hours. I'm 37. My goal is to be really good so when i'm 65 and retired I could make $3.00 per hour!
 
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