Where do you see knife making going in 2016?

[Greenberg Woods]

Any predictions? Any ideas as of what the new thing will be in the coming year, or are there any general trends you have been noticing? Im interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[Frank Niro]

I see more and more makers going to having their parts cut by someone else and or the use of CNC machines and such and they becoming designers and assemblers. Usually there isn't a declaration of this having been the way the knife was made. Some of this work is extremely well done but still allows for lower prices. It is just an advancement in the method of making just as when milling and surface grinding machines became very common. The competion will shift more to other makers rather than with the factories. Material costs will continue to increase.
Frank

 

[Greenberg Woods]

I agree on the material costs. One thing I have noticed goes along with my job. I worked in a high end furniture shop, and now work with an exotic wood distributor. it really seems that gone are the days of synthetic counter tops and linoleum floors. I remember hearing from a lot of makers that back in the daay a lot of people would want a knife handled in the Corian from their counters. Now we are shipping out TONS of wood slabs for tables, Matching parota lumber for the counter tops and then textured oak and maple for the floors.

It seems wood is becoming the big kitchen/ dining room fixture, and so it seems more people want wood handled knives. What i have seen in the for sale forums in some of the chef knife forums I go on it seems synthetics are loosing more and more ground to mostly stabilized woods, but the classic "and newer" exotics are really becoming more of the market.

 

[MarkJeffrey]

I'm a full time tattoo artist by day, and when it hit TV and got "cool" it pretty much went to hell. And by hell, I mean it was stripped of what it really was and turned into some sort of trendy fashion show for people who would have never wore one otherwise. Now.. business picked up yes, but for everyone though, including those that don't work nearly hard enough or take pride in what they do. I feel like knife making could go the same way. An abundance of new makers that really don't care about knife making.. just that knife making was on TV and they can make money doing it. I would understand some of you maybe not making the connection, tattoos are not for everyone, but this has happened with a lot of things over the past 10 years when so called reality TV took over.

 

[The Burgh]

Not a prediction, but two hopes...

I hope that the fascination with plain, boring, slab-sided titanium knives folders/flippers have peaked in popularity, and more design, textures and varied materials ascend.

And I hope that Kizer is corporately able to sustain their explosive growth in new-product introductions and establish a US service center.

 

[Greenberg Woods]

I have to agree, there is going to be a big influx of low quality junk with overly flashy ads and the words "artisan" are going to get thrown around a lot. I do think that the people who really use their tools will be able to see over the marketing B.S.

For you, yea a lot of people are getting crappy tattoos, but I assume you still get clients who want a tattoo that looks good. Same thing at my work. Everyone and their cat thinks they're a wood worker, but some people really do know and want quality.

 

[drysideshooter]

I think Frank said it very well, and I also think his byline at the bottom of his post is spot on.

I believe people want high quality and something that not everyone else has. I am a builder, and I have seen a higher percentage of buyers moving to quality over things like cheapest per square foot pricing. Some will still buy tract homes, but some want something more custom, if higher quality, with fixtures they don't see in the neighbors homes or at Home Depot or Lowes.

I liken that to the folks that will buy something like a Buck knife. Great buy for the quality and will get the job done. Almost anyone can buy one. Then there are folks willing to pay a bit more for something different that they perceive to be higher quality and more rare. Something nobody else in deer camp will have, or a chef's knife or camp knife none of their friends have. Something that feels different and makes them feel different than holding a mass produced production knife.

Where I also agree with Frank is I don't think most folks care about the mechanics of how it was made. Maybe some folks really want a hand forged knife but quite a few just want a quality product that looks and feels good. I don't think if it was cut out on a water jet or a mill or material was removed with a grinder really matters to them. Certainly there are those that hand made artistry with engraving is what moves them and there are great examples of such artistry from makers here that have waiting lists.

When I go to a gun show or other shows where knives are being sold, what I see selling a lot are reasonably priced, very useable, nice knives. Unless some of the makers are much better at grinding than me (not hard) I am pretty sure some of what I have seen has been purchased blanks finished by the craftsman. Some of the blades are far too consistent to have been profiled by hand, in my opinion.

I know that's a whole other ball of wax. Folk selling "custom knives" made from blanks. If a maker is honest about it I'm not sure it matters to many clients.

 

[james terrio]

It seems wood is becoming the big kitchen/ dining room fixture, and so it seems more people want wood handled knives.

I think you're absolutely right. It goes right along with the rising "trend" towards organic food, locally-raised produce, "farm-to-table" etc.

I would not be at all surprised if "carbon" steels come back to the forefront in the personal kitchen-knife market. That's been true for at least a decade in the bushcraft/survival arena.

There's a lot of attention being paid to hand-crafted anything these days, and there's no question that forged knives or even stock-removal knives made of "classic" alloys address that market.

Personally, I prefer modern powder-metallurgy alloys and synthetic handle materials for my own knives. But I would be a damn fool to ignore the fact that so many people just plain love simpler steels and "natural" handles.

I have been known to chuckle at bearded hipsters and bored, rich housewives spending a lot of money on free-range kale ... but the fact is, those folks are willing to pay for really good cutlery, from independent knifemakers and small shops. And I don't see that "trend" going away anytime soon.

I really don't see a downside to that "trendy factor", because the clients who have supported us all along are still on board, too.

Frankly, I think 2016 is going to a very good year for anyone who has their skills together and can put really good knives in front of a lot of people.

 

[Greenberg Woods]

I was thinking about this because one of my favorite Youtubers, Mattais Wandel made a video about making a chip carving knife, and the commenst were full of "as an amataer/ novice/ apprentice knifemakers i really feel like those grinds should be cleaned up."

While Im a big fan of how Mattais does things "he really has an engineer's mind," another youtuber named John Hienz is just terrible. He made a knife out of a prybar and sharpens it on a carbide pull sharpener an insists its the apex of hand crafted blades, and people are following him! Just yesterday on etsy I saw someone proudly proclaiming his knives were made from pry bars!

 

[james terrio]

...made a knife out of a prybar and sharpens it on a carbide pull sharpener an insists its the apex of hand crafted blades, and people are following him! Just yesterday on etsy I saw someone proudly proclaiming his knives were made from pry bars!

Ignore that kinda stuff. There will always be a "venue" on teh interwebz for loudmouthery and utter baloney sausage... and it will never overcome serious craftsmanship.

Why? Because the kind of nitwits and trolls who spend all day kissing those kinds of behinds on youtube or instagram or even the forums, very seldom actually buy handmade knives. They're all hat, no cattle.

 

[Greenberg Woods]

And on the wood thing, I remember stacy talking about it and its really true about Black Palm. It just moves knives! Holy hell! I have some both bias cut and flat sawn, and i cant keep either the blocks or the knives with them for very long.

 

[Matt Rochester]

I believe this country is shifting back to folks cooking at home. We went through a period where people ate out more than they did at home. With all the organic and fresh food trend that's going around people are learning to cook again. Folks that will pay double for "grass fed" beef or organic broccoli will pay good money for a handmade knife. I have only been doing this whole "knife making" thing for a year or so but I am seeing a lot of interest in the kitchen cutlery. So, if you don't make kitchen cutlery yet, get started!

 

[S.Alexander]

CURLY Koa is still hot. I think that will continue.

For myself... I will make a folder one of these days. Maybe next year... Hopefully.

 

[115Italian]

The custom side of knives is getting very over the top. Very outrageous deigns, which seems to be transferring over to the production side. Not sure if I'm getting too old to like the new stuff. I would like to see more knives with g10 scales but with new types of texturing to it.

 

[S.Alexander]

The custom side of knives is getting very over the top. Very outrageous deigns, which seems to be transferring over to the production side. Not sure if I'm getting too old to like the new stuff. I would like to see more knives with g10 scales but with new types of texturing to it.

Over the top? I've seen some crazy designs on YouTube and maybe instagram, but for the most part not on BF.

 

[115Italian]

Sorry. I misread the thread. I'm new here. My apologies. I didn't t mean to insult anyone. I thought it was a general question.

 

[TinyDog]

I'm a full time tattoo artist by day, and when it hit TV and got "cool" it pretty much went to hell. And by hell, I mean it was stripped of what it really was and turned into some sort of trendy fashion show for people who would have never wore one otherwise. Now.. business picked up yes, but for everyone though, including those that don't work nearly hard enough or take pride in what they do. I feel like knife making could go the same way. An abundance of new makers that really don't care about knife making.. just that knife making was on TV and they can make money doing it. I would understand some of you maybe not making the connection, tattoos are not for everyone, but this has happened with a lot of things over the past 10 years when so called reality TV took over.

Very Much in the same thought... Our world is seemingly turning to profit foremost. Not necessarily making a profit to make customers happy and enjoying what one does for a profession, , but making a profit regardless of interest.

Sorry about the the negativity of comment, but reality in the coming decade.... TD

 

[S.Alexander]

Sorry. I misread the thread. I'm new here. My apologies. I didn't t mean to insult anyone. I thought it was a general question.

Maybe my view of the knife world is small. I don't see too many outrageous designs out there.

I can say that I am tired of huge overbuilt folders though.

 

[Grayzer86]

I was thinking about this because one of my favorite Youtubers, Mattais Wandel made a video about making a chip carving knife, and the commenst were full of "as an amataer/ novice/ apprentice knifemakers i really feel like those grinds should be cleaned up."

While Im a big fan of how Mattais does things "he really has an engineer's mind," another youtuber named John Hienz is just terrible. He made a knife out of a prybar and sharpens it on a carbide pull sharpener an insists its the apex of hand crafted blades, and people are following him! Just yesterday on etsy I saw someone proudly proclaiming his knives were made from pry bars!

I just checked out John's channel and wow. Cringe. The chisel he used is the same crappy one I had for hot marking steel. Cold, annealed 1084 would blunt it, so im sure its a great heat treat for a knife. I realize there will always be people like that but YouTube and Instagram has me baffled. I constantly see people praised and selling complete junk, and i mean flat out junk, that i could bang out in under an hour easily. They sell this junk for 40-50-60 bucks and people (mostly mall ninjas i assume) are eating it up. I figure at the price they sell for, given the time it would take to make them, i could probably make 300-400 a day. comparably I will spend days on a knife, use proper materials, and send out for professional heat treating and testing on each blade, and sell a real knife for 100-200, and sometimes struggle at that. Its glaring enough i actually had a friend suggest that i DO hammer out garbage, and have him sell the junk as if he made it, so as not to have my normal work associated with it. Now let me be clear, I would never do this considering i have no desire to make junk, much less deceive or lie to anyone. It is however frustrating to see a guy sell 300 bucks worth of $50 garbage in a week, while my real knife at $150 sits untouched for weeks.

 

[Redmeadow Knives]

I've heard it said before, that any knife attention is good attention for handmade and customs. Maybe one day the followers praising the "prybar customs" will end up here learning and buying.