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Why did you become a knifemaker?

I was tired of having money in my pocket. So I bought all this equipment and materials and started grinding away anything that did not look like a knife and discovered that in every piece of steel was a knife looking to get out. But the real reason is that I like knives and I like working with my hands , so when the doctor told me to take up a hobby to relieve stress it seemed like the right thing to do. 20 years later, I find that I still like it and enjoy alone time in my shop.

Marcel
 
I starting making knives when I bought a few custom knives and looked at them and thought, I can do this.
I have made a few and like doing it.
I'll start selling them soon.
No knife is finished until it is sold. FMBarron.
 
I have always been a knife nut. I took a vacation and decided that as a souvenier I was going to buy a knife. I looked and looked and could only find cheap garbage. I stumbled (literally, I was in a bar) across the card of a guy who made knives. I called him up, bought a knife, did the same thing the following year, and then decided that I could do what he was doing. I researched knifemaking for about 3 months before even trying, (mostly here) and then I made the worlds ugliest knife. I realized that it was not as easy as I originally thought. I stuck to it, and I think I have improved (I hope). I still meet with the guy once a year, this year, we are going to forge a sword.
 
I guess I am the old school that when I started shooting blackpowder I wanted the outfit with it. Made the pouch and small items then needed the patch knife . I guess this was making up for smoking for 16 years. Never smoked again and 24 years later still making knives. TOO many Davy Crockett and Tarzan shows didn't help.
 
I started making knives 2 months ago, I still have yet to get them to the heat treater. My arms are sore as heck from hand rubbing the blades for heat treat prep! I am trying to get them done for Christmas gifts. Once I come up with a solid system for sanding and polishing after grinding, things will go faster. For right now I am doing stock removal.

My goal is to do a lot of work with 154CPM and S30V. I decided to grind my own cause not many big knife producers were making the style of knife I wanted in the steel I wanted, and if they did, it was expensive as heck. When you make your own the only expense is time and sweat. There is more freedom with design, the only limitations are what you can dream up. I cant wait to get my first knives back from heat treat and finish em. I figure I can try to make any fixed blade I can design for the most part, and only buy folders till I get the nerve up to try building my own folder.
 
I can think of 3 major influences that got me into knifemaking.
When I was in 5th grade all of us 5th graders took a week long feild trip to Ashokan (yes the Ashokan) We had alot of fun everyone made a broom,a tin candle holder and we all got to forge a fire poker.That was my first encounter with forging and to this day I can remember how thrilled I was to participate.

Fast forward to the summer of 2000 and my friends dad had a machine shop,I made an ugly knife/short sword.One of my friends pointed me to blade forums......Then I bought a knife from Bruce Evans,man those tutorials look like alot of fun ;) Thanks Bruce

Last summer I was working at the rennaiscance fair and made the aquiantance of a blacksmith Mark Kirkendall Seeing him work rekindled all the enthusiasm of a young 5th grader inside of me.I built a forge,started collecting lots of hammers, tong's and the like and here I am 1 year into making knives and having a blast :D
 
I saw some Randalls at Fort Bragg and was in training at Fort Knox with Dan Dennehy's son. Prior to that, i had no idea that a number of guys made custom knives for a living. A bit later I saw an article on Bill Moran and Bill Bagwell and damascus. Bagwell had the point one of his damscus bowies driven into an anvil. Strictly showmanship, but i was pretty impressed by that picture. Prior to all of this, i was happy with a good old Gerber Mark I and little brass frame folder. Seeing those got me interested in custom knives. A trip to the Guild Show in Orlando about 12 years ago where I met Jay Hendrickson, Joe Flournoy (and bought one of the last of his JS knives...might have been one of his MS test knives because he had just gotten his stamp a couple of months before) and Robbin Hudson got me interested in making forged knives, but it took a while for me to start. Like Spring of 2005 :p After that show, I never had any desire to make stock removal knivesor folders. I joined the ABS 2005 to meet chicks, but discovered too late that Audra Draper was already married:eek: lol.
 
I was sitting around the house and needed something to do.
I wanted to do something with my hands. I needed something I could do in a small workshop with basic tools and I wanted to work with interesting materials.
After a few weeks I remembered seeing a book on the internet by David Boye.
That's what got me started.
 
Mass produced knives don't have optimal heat treat for edge retention. I mainly use my knives for cutting a lot of cardboard and shredding paper, I used to like my Spyderco Manix's edge retention, until I made my own knife out of CPM S30V and had Paul Bos heat treat it to a solid HRC 60. Cuts unbelievably well and really holds an edge. (I'm not saying Spyderco's heat treat is bad -I just wanted more emphasis on edge retention than toughness -same opinion goes for Reeve's sebenza).

Plus, after I started making knives, the possibilities are endless. If I want a certain type of Santoku, I can make my own. If I want a big chopper made from O1, I can make it. If I want a deep hollow grind in my hunting knife, I can sculpt my own. Design, creativity and freedom are the best parts of knifemaking. :)
 
I got interested in knives at about age 8, when Granddad gave me my first pocket knife for Christmas. Years later ( about 1997) in a book store, I saw a copy of Blade Mag and was astonished by the knives people were making, especially the damascus. I had to learn more about it. In 2001 I took the Intro to Bladesmithing course at Old Washington Arkansas. Many pre-conceived notions and myths were blown out of my head at that time, ;) but that fueled the fire even more! Going one step at a time now. I make a few now and then when I have time (which is never enough!). I'll never give it up! Ever.
The short answer to the question: I couldn't stop myself. I HAD to scratch that itch. :D -Matt-
 
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