An Introduction

[Airth]

Hello, everyone!

I'm finally starting to get back into knife-making after a 10+ year hiatus. Being military and moving around often, I unfortunately have to keep my supply inventory and tools to a minimum due to weight restrictions. My last trip sent me to Japan, so I had to offload virtually everything as the limitation there was 2500 lbs for a family of three....yikes! Now that I'm back in the US (In Colorado Springs), have some room and will hopefully be more sedentary for a bit, I'm in the process of rebuilding my shop and eyeing the unfinished blade blanks staring at me.

The last knife I sold way back in 1998 was a nickel pattern-welded blade. I don't get credit for forging it--the billet was a bought item that I stock-removed down into a fixed blade, full tang hunter. I finished it out with desert ironwood scales and nickel hardware, with some file work along the spine to provide some finger grooves for skinning. Honestly it was such a vast improvement over my previous work that I was considering not selling it, but since it was a commision blade and I needed to make ends meet from the investment, the knife and I parted ways. Even though I made it as a utility knife, it was downright "purty" as I had buffed the blade to a mirror finish then acid etched it. The steel was nearly black while the nickel stayed almost a mirror finish. Several years later while in Japan, I crossed paths with the guy I sold the knife to. He said he still uses it every hunting season, and it has gutted and skinned a couple hundred deer by now, all while still holding a good edge and looking nearly as good as the day I sold it to him. That was the biggest satisfaction for me--to know I made an effective tool someone uses years later and is still pleased with.

As I've been so out of practice, I expect my first several (hundred) knives to be all crap, but at least I've found this forum and the expertise it has to offer. I hope to be a regular on here, and sorry in advance for the silly questions!

[Ray Rogers]

Airth, welcome to the forum! Sounds like you'll fit right in here......

[gh1]

welcome aborad and ask away these guys are great and they enjoy helping.I see you are in the springs I was stationed there in 69 at Ent afb.I hope you poast often a remmber to show pics.Geroge

[ranger1]

Airth welcome to the fold. We'll help all we can.

[Ed Tipton]

Airth...An interesting post. Obviously, your previous work was with Pattern Welded Steel, and it sounds as though you produced a successful knife.
That's all well and good, but I am curious as to why you would expect your first several (hundred) knives to be crap?
I am sure that some of my earlier creations were probably worthy of that title, and, truth be known, I am still capeable of producing "crap", but when I started to make them, I certainly didn't EXPECT them to be crap. Had I felt that I was capeable of not producing nothing but "crap", I doubt that I would have ever ventured down this path in the first place.
I don't mean to "flame" someone new to this forum, but I just found that particular remark to be curious.
I think of most knife makers as being proud, strong, adventuresome, and perhaps just a tad over-confident in their first approach to this craft. And, after learning through a series of mis-adventures that it's not as easy as they had at first thought it might be....they perservere through all the misadventures until ...at last...they emerge from the darkness as competant knifemakers.
I could be wrong, but I just don't think that most of them started out thinking that their first several (hundred) attempts were going to result in "crap".
I'm probably making too much of what could be either a misunderstanding or a mis-statement, and if so, please forgive me, but I just thought the comment deserved a response.
Perhaps your comment came from a more informed approach and was meant to simply be acknowledgement that while this is lots of fun...It ain't easy...and there will be thorns among the roses.

[combs6136]

Welcome to the fold.....I have been doing this for years and still make a crappy one every once in a while....But, it goes in a scrap drawer...Good luck and welcome to the fold...Great people here....carl

[Kostoglotov]

Welcome Aboard

[Doug Lester]

It helps to have other people look at your work. To the "average" maker a little blemish on a knife that others have to search for stand out like a red flashing light. We all have drawers or boxes that hold the blades that aren't worth finishing and a great many of us add to our little collection on a regular basis. If you make knives you are going to screw up once and a while. The only way to cut down on this is to practice, practice, practice.

Doug Lester

[Airth]

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone! I'm looking forward to being a regular on here.

One thing about me that is hard to capture in written text is I can be quite facetious. When I say it may take several hundred knives to get where I want, I'm talking about the level of quality I see in the pics of this forum and a few of the shows I've been to. I want to get into forging as well, but have to ease into it due to limited resources and having to do things, like eat and make house payments. Of course I know the first knife I produce after so long will be glorious..it will glow brightly, bend light and make angels weep, and my lovely wife will prompt me to dedicate the rest of my days and our entire budget to the craft.

I'll let you all know how that goes!

[Ray Rogers]

I was right.....you'll fit right in !