Where do you see knife making going in 2016?

I think it comes down to if you are an optimist or a pessimist. You say it will draw more people into handmade knives, I could say it will make people think there is no difference between handmade and factory because they bought a shitty knife
 
I felt the same way until I read it in a thread, (I believe it was about "forged in fire"). It got me thinking about it, and I see your point and agree, but in the long run, it will create knife nuts, and one day they may end up here. In the meantime we have to deal with " prybars and RR spikes being the greatest steel ever" conversations!
 
I knew a guy that knew a guy that knew a guy who was the best, HE said he knew a guy that said RR spikes are best if pulled by a prybar on a full moon.
I apologize for the drift, but in 2016, I see an increase in misinformation from tv shows and internet sensations lead people here.
 
Any steels you guys see rising in popularity? I have seen more people using AEB-L, but do you think 2016 will be the year of carbon, or of the super steel
 
I think AEB-L will become more popular. Possibly more people doing small EDC fixed blades. They are cool and make sense from a usability point of view.
 
I think that soon styling will begin to return to traditional styles.
Modern designs have morphed into absurdity than makes Gil Hibben look tame.
There isn't much more that can be done, except a return to classic sanity.
An old guy.
 
hellspawn415 said:
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!
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I noticed that.
I mentioned to John Heinz how he could have done better and it was met with hostility

To be fair, prybars could be 1060, 1060, 1085..but who knows.
 
Lo/Rez said:
BMW used to have a motto....form follows function.
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As a guy that has ridden what some folks consider to be the ugliest motorcycle of all time, a BMW GS all over the world, I really appreciate this way of thinking. Unless it's purely art, a tool needs to work well for it's intended purpose first and foremost. There is a type of beauty in something that just works really well.
 
I think in the future, the current obsession with 3-5" fixed blades will wane...

People must be really desperate to project an image of "Bushcrafty" wisdom these days...

If you have a 3-5" blade, put it in a folder and call it a day I say...

Gaston
 
I think Scandi grinds will eventually fade back into obscurity. Other than for those who actually use them.
 
My wife has been selling small fixed blade knives like B&T's for about three years now..Every person who has bought has liked the steel for that purpose.. Never have changed what we do but we make as many tools as knives. I do see more people wanting carbon steels and nice wood handles now though as someone mentioned.
 
What I see as a trend is still folders .. folders and folders . That's the big trend and most people who do this for the money have either started to learn or are thinking about learning. The past couple of years now a LOT of guys are making chefs knives .. And why wouldn't they . People who are into cooking love nice kitchen ware from knives to blenders etc.

If you want to talk about wood .. Wood is great . But finding it is a whole other thing .. consistently very hard. People always love a real nice wood on anything but tactical style or fantasy knives . Will that continue ? I say yes .

The tactical folder market is still going crazy .. I have to step away from that market . .As a collector what market I would love to see expand is the slipjoint genre . I would like to see a new twist on one of the oldest knife styles with old time guys mixed in with some younger ones .

We are in exciting times right now. New makers learning curve got smaller with the internet providing you with not only text but video on how to do just about anything .

As far as steel goes where that is going depends on what market we are discussing . Bushcraft guys love the carbon steel will that change ?? I don't think so . Kitchen knives we use carbon steel in my house but that can go either way depending on who the buyers are. Folder guys love stainless and everyone has a different favorite and some use the same old 154 cm .

I personally have been using stainless more and more and I have moved on to different carbon steels than what I have used in the past. Even though wood means a lot to me I have been buying a lot of G10 lately . I like it better than Micarta . Gives a cleaner fresher look .

So here we go into a new year. I always love to see whats coming up. I am going to NYCKS next week and I am hitting a local one tomorrow so maybe I will have more thought later.
 
james terrio said:
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. :)
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Ha! Free range kale!! I love it.
My latest dietary adventure is grass fed salmon.
 
lessismore said:
I knew a guy that knew a guy that knew a guy who was the best, HE said he knew a guy that said RR spikes are best if pulled by a prybar on a full moon.
I apologize for the drift, but in 2016, I see an increase in misinformation from tv shows and internet sensations lead people here.
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My favorite YouTuber, Trollsky, has a video of making a knife out of an old wrench. I don't know enough about the quality of that steel, but I must say, the knife came out damn cool. Maybe I 'm just a sucker, but I was impressed. Trollsky does some good work, IMO.
 
Sprayman said:
Ha! Free range kale!! I love it.
My latest dietary adventure is grass fed salmon.
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Is free roaming the same like cage free?
Sometimes there are only organic eggs or cage free or free roaming. Which one is better?
Too many choices.

Organic knife handles would be something I haven't seen yet. Maybe 2016?
 
Sprayman said:
My favorite YouTuber, Trollsky, has a video of making a knife out of an old wrench. I don't know enough about the quality of that steel, but I must say, the knife came out damn cool. Maybe I 'm just a sucker, but I was impressed. Trollsky does some good work, IMO.
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There's some insanely talented people making things out of all sorts of materials, no question about it. My comment was a joke about the misinformation that's out there. Example being RR spikes being great knife steel. That misinformation will lead people here, and that's a good thing.
 
12345678910 said:
I noticed that.
I mentioned to John Heinz how he could have done better and it was met with hostility

To be fair, prybars could be 1060, 1060, 1085..but who knows.
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You know I have to throw this out there for informations sake. Ive been dealing with recycled steel for years and years(I was a blacksmith long before I ever made a knife)..Ive actually collected a good amount of information on certain manufacturers items like files,hammers hand tools etc..Now before anyone calls me a heretic Im not saying that someone should go out and buy prybars to make knives with but.....Ive seen many prybars that were in the 1060-1080 range.of course not all are.Ive personally seen the specs on one that was 1070 carbon steel..I have/had a big very old spud bar that I made many axes out of years ago..The reason I remember it was because of how hard it was..I remember having to temper it past 450° before a new file would even start to scratch it..I didn't have a HT kiln at the time and my oven would not go much higher:o so I had to temper past a dark blue to get it down to axe hardness...It was way harder than 1060 or 1070 steel I can tell you that..
 
Where is knife making going?
I think thin is still in.
There's less and less 1/4" thick smaller blades and more and more thinner blades.
I predict this trend will continue for a while
 
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