Who would buy a WIP book by Bruce Bump and Nick Wheeler?

Tom Lewis

Tom Lewis

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Last night I went through Nick Wheeler's WIP "Stuck in the metal with you". As I was printing off copies of the WiP I happened to think, "If this was all in a book, things would be a lot easier."
I have made knives for over thirty years and own every "Knife making book" ever printed. None of these books would even come close to a book of Bruce Bump and Nick Wheeler's WIP's.
Both Bruce and Nick have the talent to take good pictures and give good explinations of what they are doing. Not everyone can do that.
It seems to me that any knife publisher would jump at the idea of a book like that, and knifemakers would all want one.
Also, Bruce and Nick, you could get a monthly royality payment in the mail every month for the rest of your lives, along with doing knifemakers everywhere a big favor.
Think about it.
 
I'm not a knife maker, but I would certainly buy a copy! I really enjoy learning how knives are made and the tools involved!
on top of that the two makers mentioned make beautiful knives so it would be fun to just look through:)
 
The quick answer is yes. But as much as I am interested in Mr. Wheeler's WIP and work in general, there are quite a few very good WIPs in the archives. I would be interested in seeing a handful of the best of these WIPs compiled into a book or even re-done as videos. I would like to see a lot of detail in the descriptions and very clear color pictures. If there were more WIPs than could reasonably fit into one book then perhaps a series of volumes would be nice. They could all be published by Blade and royalties would go to the appropriate parties.
 
I have learned so much from them, I think it's something that many other new makers (or well-versed also) would appreciate.

It's much easier to read off a book than from a monitor too. Great idea.
 
Yes

I"ve said that before, that I"ve learned more from those WIP's than most books I've paid for.


I think Steven Janik has already done something like that in Knife Dogs by editing BB's posts together and doing a self published / published on demand book.
I don't know which WIP it was and cant find a link right now.


I think self publishing control is good in one respect in that you maintain control and quality.
I wouldn't rush to use Blade as a publisher, as I'm really disappointed in the editing of "Blade's guide to making knives"
It's so rife with editing errors that it's completely useless.

Self publishing is bad in that it would be very time consuming and just never get done if it was all don't by the maker
; also the printing costs are very very high. - my memory recollects $100 for a 100 pages in printing costs, no allowance for shipping, markup etc

Based on past works, perhaps Darom would be a good partner in this.
 
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I've suggested this in the past, but many don't realize the amount of time that Bruce and Nick and others put into detailed WIP's. It truly is a sacrifice that they make for the benefit of all of all of us.

I would buy a copy without hesitation.

--Nathan
 
I would definitely buy. I think it's safe to say that just about all of us here are better at our craft because of their fantastic WIPs.
 
As a book publisher I know how tricky it can be to actually make money on books these days, but on the flipside it is extremely easy to pull off. If someone decides to pursue this and wants some insider info please send me an email.
 
Tom- Thanks for starting this thread, it is much appreciated. :)

Sometimes I wonder if I'm just pissing in the wind with my pictures and babbling, so seeing this thread and the replies sure is nice. :)

The idea of a book never used to interest me at all, but nowadays it strikes me as a neat idea. The biggest hurdle is probably the fact that I know NOTHING about what it takes to publish a book. I've never even googled it, LOL.

The next, is deciding what you put in a book. It seems like most of the books I have usually have some "holes" in them. I don't know.... I don't suppose it's even possible to put a book out without it having some holes for some readers.

A lot of that depends on a readers adaptability...

Ya' know, guy 1 sees that he has NONE of the tools I have, but he figures out how to transfer the ideas and thinks the book is very helpful.

Guy 2 sees me grind the clip on my KMG and thinks, "Well crap, I have a Bader III!!!How am I supposed to use this information?!?!? This guy is an idiot and his book is garbage!!!"

In a perfect world, I would love to put together a big book, or series of smaller ones, that covered everything from building a knife completely with simple hand tools, up through something with mosaic steel, fancy handle, etc.

If nothing else, the kind words in this thread really made my day. Thanks guys!!! :)
 
Nick, having read a lot of your work, I think you would be very successful tackling any one of the processes previously addressed. You seem to have a natural ability to explain things so that everyone understands it, and a way to make even the most complicated process like reading a well known family recipe. You would do well with a series approach I think. Start like you said, how a new maker would and progress issue by issue in that series. A volume library if you would.
I have always found this allows the introduction and specific address of each step in a process so that nearly anyone can follow along. The problem with most of these that are out now is the fact most of the writers couldn't seem to explain putting a belt on the grinder in a way even a seasoned vet would understand. You also have an eye for good illustrative pictures. Most people struggle with just where in the process they should take the picture to best illustrate the point, whereas I always seem to be able to read your narrative and easily see it in the photo.
I think this is an excellent idea. And on top of that, thank you for taking the time you do to put out your excellent WIP's. Like having a hammer-in demo in your living room.
 
I wanted to explain what I meant about the books I own having "holes" in them.

Just as one example. I bought the Loveless book many years ago (when I was about 15 or 16). It's a really neat book and it's still in my little library. It has a lot of great information in it by THE biggest name in the custom knife world.

However, as an 18 year old kid with a shiny new Burr King (purchased after 6 years of using a hacksaw and files)... I was SOOOOOOOOO EXCITED to finally start hollow grinding like the big boyz in the magazines!!! :eek: :D

And since Loveless was very well known for full height hollow grinds on his drop point hunters---- surely his book was going to set me straight.... Right???

But..... there's like 2 pictures in the section on hollow grinding the blade. And to be brutally honest, it wasn't until after I taught myself how to hollow grind, that I went back and even realized what those 2 pictures were supposed to be showing.

So FOR ME.... there is a big "hole" in the hollow grinding section of the Loveless/Barney book.

Hope that clears up my musings a little. ;) :)
 
Nick, the Loveless book was my first "How to make a knife" book. Another "hole" in that book is how to clean upn the solder residue from in front of the guard after it's soldered. I suppose all how to do it books have some "holes."
Concerning your book, you already have done most of the work with your WIP's. Maybe contact Joe Kertzman and see what he thinks about the project.
 
Count me in. I would buy it in a heart beat. I was off for a knee surgery last year, and read through the Wheeler's Steel WIP, and I was hooked. I think Nick is a visual learner, which is highly correlated with the ADHD he says he has. Visual learners make great teachers, as they connect the dots intuitively. http://www.giftedservices.com.au/visualthinking.html Also read "I think in pictures" linked at the bottom of the page. In California, they did an experiment teaching math without written words to teach. The math scores tripled compared to traditional teaching. So, to make a long idea shoreter..ish, Nick should do a book. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VLje8QRrwg (ted talks video.)
 
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Ah man... this thread already got moved to ATG? The place where threads go to die... I thought a thread about a book about knife making was Shoptalk material. :confused:

Tom- I would want to change some things since I have changed some of my processes, but I think you're right- those threads would be a starting point.

I'm definitely a visual learner. Whether that makes me a good teacher or.... um.... wait.... what were we talking about? Hey look, there's a squirrel!!! ;) :D
 
I think a series of smaller, single subject books. Possibly showing different makers and how they do it.
Like one for handles, another guards, hand finishing, and such.
 
I think as good as Nick is at doing videos they should do a series of videos.....(versus a book) Pictures and text are nice, but video is really hard to beat. It's probably the closest to actually being there in the shop as you can get. Video editing is not that hard and I am sure there are even folks here that could help out (if needed). Sell the videos or (downloads of the video) for a nominal price. -Larry
 
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