Where'd you learn to make knives?

I always loved knives. I loved them since elementary school when I bought a Buck folder from a friend at school for 50 cents, maybe before that. Growing up I would go to gun shows with my Dad and brothers and walk the rows of tables. Then we'd pass the knife table with the good stuff (not the import crap) and there I'd stay talking to the seller and asking questions as my family disappeared down the aisles out of sight. I'd tell him about my plans to make knives some day. One year the purveyor said that if I wanted to make knives I should talk to this knife maker a couple of hours from me. His name is Joe Szilaski. Well, I was renting an apartment from a particularly distasteful man and his mommy so a knifemaking operation there was a no go. Five years ago I bought my own place and since I'm the boss here it was time to try it. I tried making a knife with files but that sucked dirt and I lacked a game plan. Well, I finally looked up Mr. Szilaski and took a forging class with him. It was the best thing I could have done. As most of you know, Joe isn't just a knifemaker, he's a Master Smith as well as a great teacher and a funny guy. I've taken a couple of other classes with him covering other knife building skills and each one was money well spent. Those classes gave me the foundation and game plan I needed. I supplement those classes with the knowledge I've gained here and through other research. I'm slow as hell but I'm very cautious and try to be as meticulous as I can be. Thank you to the folks here who have shared their knowledge. Whether it is a WIP or just posting examples of their exceptional work there are so many invaluable lessons learned.
 
There were no forums when I started, and did not know of any books, so had to learn on my own. I did not realize that there was such a thing as knife grinders, could not have afforded one in any case. I used files and sandpaper only to make my first knives, and enjoyed the process. When I went to my first knife show, I was exposed to all the hunting knives on the market, and quickly realized that I could not compete with that market using only hand tools. Not wanting to change the way I worked, I decided to create more intricate work. Not having any makers close by, I worked in isolation. This was not a bad thing, it let me develop my own style unaffected by other makers work and accepted styles.
I believe it is more difficult to develop a unique style for new makers these days because of the massive amount of exposure to current work shown on the internet.

Wolfe
 
Self taught with input from books, the internet, other makers, then refined by R.W. Loveless and Jim Merritt. :thumbup:
 
When I was in the 8th grade I did a school project on knives and started making some out of old files. They were pretty rough, but considering my age and my tools, some of them were pretty decent. I quit making them because my tools were inadequate and I didn't really have any guidance or resources, and I didn't think I could afford the equipment I needed. Turns out I was wrong, just didn't have any good information to let me know different. I always wished I could make knives, just didn't think I had the means.

Fast forward 15 years or so, and I had just come back from Africa, had a career change on the horizon and a kid on the way, and my brother Jason started making knives. His interest was also kinda rooted in my 8th grade experiences, but this time there was the internet. He made a few with files, and then got a Craftsman 2x42. It took about 6 months before I noticed he was making more than he spent, so I set a budget and got some equipment myself and began making my own again. I learned a lot of the very basics from my brother, and from then on it's been about 90% internet research (here on BF and on Knifedogs) and experience.

I had some interactions with Adam DesRosiers, Mike Quesenberry, and Dave Lisch at the 2013 ABS Expo in San Antonio that helped me really up my game. I've talked to Mike since then, and he's helped out a lot. And then I moved to Canada for a year long work assignment and spent a weekend at a hammer-in with Bruce Bump and Steve Culver. By that point, the new things you learn are relatively tiny, but the small incremental gains are the toughest to get once you've got the basics. Watching Bruce hollow grind took some of the magic and mystery away, and Steve has a way of approaching tasks that applies a unique kind of genius. I learned a lot during that weekend, just by absorption. Also during that year, I became friends with Jim Clow, the guy who hosted the hammer-in, and he taught me how to make damascus. Over several long weekends, I became very comfortable with forge welding. Through Jim I met Ed Caffrey, who taught me a lot more about forge welding, and got me started on forging blades. I don't do everything the way he showed me, but his help sure shortened my learning curve.

Since then, I've gone back over all the tutorials and WIPs that Nick Wheeler and others have so kindly taken the time to post, and I find that I see new things I had missed, or understand the reasons behind things that I didn't before. I guess everyone knows this, but experience gives one new and better eyes. I don't do this for a living so I've decided to really push myself this year and make stuff I havent before, which has of course taught me a lot as well. Next weekend I'm going up the road to Bob Merz's house, where I may work on a lockback with a guy who does them as well as anyone.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I haven't really learned to make knives so much as that I keep making knives and keep learning.
 
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Started research in 1981-1982 timeframe. Found a book called Knifecraft by Sid Lathem. (Hope the Spelling is correct I'm at work and the book isn't readily available to me). I Called just about all of the knife makers in the book. MR Loveless spoke to me for a long while, He was genuinely supportive. The topic of the time was "what equipment to buy to get started". He encouraged me to call a guy named Buster to get his opinion on grinders and drill presses and buffers...etc.

Its funny that I didn't have a clue as to who these folks were or the impact they would later have on me. I visited the one listed Alaska maker that was in the book and held a real custom knife for the first time in my life. That was it....sold one of my Harleys, bought a Bader BMII 2 hp, Baldor 1hp slow speed buffer and a Sears industrial 1hp slow speed drill press and a Rockwell Delta band saw that I had a speed reduction unit made for to slow it down to cut steel. Then I ordered some steel and handle material from Bob Scrimsher in Texas...(The old folks around here will know the name) and from then on I was running wide open and making mistakes.

One thing that stuck in my mind was that all of the knife makers I spoke to except for one offered to have me come to their shop to see first hand what is done and how. Had I known how much time it would have saved me I would have made more of an effort to do so.



Good thread....

Bigjohn
 
Bigjohn said:
Started research in 1981-1982 timeframe. Found a book called Knifecraft by Sid Lathem. (Hope the Spelling is correct I'm at work and the book isn't readily available to me).
Click to expand...

Sid Latham is the author...I have his book on Knives and Knifemakers.

Bill McHenry and Jason Williams were the first people that I studied with at a hammer-in back in 1995 after a knife show in Rhode Island.

Butch Vallotton had me and my friend Peter to his shop a number of times, and he taught us a lot. I have learned a tremendous amount in thousands of conversations with Matt Diskin since 1995. Ed Shempp has such knowledge on metallurgy that I don't understand 1/10th of what he says.

Then, Peter started studying knifemaking in earnest with Rod Chappel and later, forging with Phillip Baldwin.

Peter taught me a lot, but I have to give it up for the other makers I mentioned.

Don Fogg has had such a tremendous influence on my philosophy that I call him Sensei, and I spent a good day with Larry Fuegen in his shop this past December.

Dave Lisch and Mike Quesenberry have been extremely patient in answering many stupid questions.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I'm learning a lot from all of you guys and gals. Wheeler Whips and vids are great. Murray Carter has some good vids and a Bladesmithing book I thumb through along with a Loveless. Also have 2 of friends in the local area that I like to learn from. One of those guys is Shiva Ki and the other is..... :p He'll get it lol ;)
 
wolfeknives said:
There were no forums when I started, and did not know of any books, so had to learn on my own. I did not realize that there was such a thing as knife grinders, could not have afforded one in any case. I used files and sandpaper only to make my first knives, and enjoyed the process. When I went to my first knife show, I was exposed to all the hunting knives on the market, and quickly realized that I could not compete with that market using only hand tools. Not wanting to change the way I worked, I decided to create more intricate work. Not having any makers close by, I worked in isolation. This was not a bad thing, it let me develop my own style unaffected by other makers work and accepted styles.
I believe it is more difficult to develop a unique style for new makers these days because of the massive amount of exposure to current work shown on the internet.

Wolfe
Click to expand...

this is one of the best things I've ever read in this forum!
 
I never got out of town much as a youngster. Because of that when I first started making knives I had to teach myself. In the local hardware store there was two guys that had already beat me to it. A Mr. Case and a Mr Buck was already making knives and even had display cases for their work. I wanted to make knives as good as they did.

I started selling my hunting knives for $8.00 apiece or a matched pair for $15.00. At the time my son had huge medical bills. I could buy a bar of steel for $10.00 and make a $5.00 profit with a bit of work. I needed the money at the time to buy food.

Down the road, the first real knifemakers I met were Bagwell, Moran and Hastings and they helped me. From there I asked everyone that I met questions. I still have questions. For the first few years of forging I never saw anyone forge nor read as there were no books or internet about it so I had to figure it out as I went.
It took me 2 weeks to make my first coal fire as I had never seen one started. It took days to forge a blade but only a couple of hours to put a handle on. Needless to say both sides needed a lot of work but everyone start somewhere.
Moran and Bagwell had a huge influence in the process that I used and the fact that you test each blade that comes out of your shop. I have watched both and helped both, Moran even served once as my striker while making a billet of Damascus by hand. Bagwell taught me what makes a fighting style bowie work.
I have departed from some of those ways over the years but without that background my life would not have been the same.
 
I am always reserved when contributing to threads of this nature, I don't feel like I have been knife making long enough to have something useful to add. I will say when I was a child I tore apart everything I ever had to see how it worked. I started "regrinding" my production knives (read "ruining") because they were too long, fat, ground too thick, ex., you get the message. I learned how they worked and I finally got some tools and made lots of mistakes, but with help and information I received from these forums, I am where I am now. (not sure where that is:D:confused:)

**case and point, my reply is right under Mr. Fisk's, I don't even inhabit the same would as most of the talent posting here.
 
Self taught and learned from makers such as David Boye, Don Fogg, Robert Loveless Charles Och, and other makers who had published books. There was no internet, computers were early with Commodore 24 and atari, and we still used rotary telephones on 4 person party lines. Snail mail was the norm, so waiting for supplies coming up from outfits like Koval Knives and Texas Knifemaker's required being patient. There were a few knife magazines out there at the time. I remember scouring through Blade and Knives illistrated for information which sparked the flame
 
Collecting for over 25 years, I finally got to a point in my life that I could pursue my obsession of learning to make knives. I am fortunate to live about 42 miles from Travis Daniels. He was kind enough to allow me to shadow him and was instrumental in teaching me how to make a knife through stock removal. I spent numerous hours in his shop doing more note taking and questioning, before making my first knife. He has forgotten more than I will probably ever learn. Now my continued education and studying comes from trial and error, books, videos, forums like this and discussions with many makers like Steve Johnson, Steve Randall, Mark Knapp, Bruce Bump and many others.

I also have the privilege of living not too far from Joel Chamblin. He has been instrumental in teaching me other aspects of knifemaking with slip joints and folders. It is because of Travis and others mentioned that I strive to make a better knife. I also have learned to respect the level of talent that it takes to create the works of art that I see in shows or on the internet.

So now that it has been 2 years and having plenty of drawer knives to show for it and a few worth looking at, I have had more fun than I can stand. I get lost in time when in my shop and my kids know where their father is after they go to bed. One of my main problems is I have all of this information in my mind, and I cannot get onto a design template fast enough.

Thanks to all of you who have taken time out of your schedule to help us new to this obsession. I will be reaching out to many of you to learn tricks, since I am probably doing some of the process the long way. Hopefully I will have a blade good enough to post. Feedback is always appreciated.

David
 
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