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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 03-11-2005, 03:45 PM
Danvh Danvh is offline
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Sole Authorship

I have noticed the term "sole authorship" in posts. What does this term mean? How do you determine "sole authorship"
Thanks
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  #2  
Old 03-11-2005, 05:04 PM
DC KNIVES DC KNIVES is offline
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Danvh, welcome to the forums.essentially " Sole Authorship" means you doing all the work.The problem is there are no real set rules. Most consider doing the blade,stock removal or forged, the Heattreat, the handle, Sheath. and any other embellishments such as scimshaw or engraving.Could be any combination, but geneally farming out various parts of the construction is not considered " Sole Authorship".You will find it is important to some and some could care less as long as the end product is nice.I think it is mostly up to the maker to decide what he wants to do.Realize, that with every process requires new skills and new tooling. Its hard to be talented in so many areas and facets of knifemaking even though some here posess those qualities (certainly not me).
So bottom line is find what you like to do and do it.You can try the other stuff but if its not your cup of tea, there is plenty of help here to fill in the spaces.I hope this helps.Dave
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  #3  
Old 03-24-2005, 01:14 AM
Jason Cutter Jason Cutter is offline
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Welcome. Thought I'd add something since this is one of my favourite topics.

Sole Authorship means that the end-product is a result of your own work and noone else's. It does require that each of the essential steps in making a knife is attended to and often, sole authorship is an indication that a maker has achieved the knowledge and experience to complete the crucial steps in making a knife.

As mentioned, there are no set rules and every maker's definition differs slightly. If you wanted to take it to an extreme and ridiculous degree, then I guess you could also mine your own iron ore, make your own steel and grow your own trees to harvest wood for handles.

But the basic concept is that from the basic unformed materials, you are able to manipulate, form them into usable parts and assemble them into a functional knife. The basic areas you'd need to attend to are :-

1) Profiling a blade
2) Shaping a blade with bevels, tapers and contours
3) Heat treating the blade
4) Finishing the blade
5) Forming and attaching the handle material
6) Finishing the handle material

Many seem to allow for the fact that many makers outsource their knife embellishments like engraving, scrimshaw, to other specialists and have sheaths made by expert leather / kydex workers.

The most important component of all is honesty. You can do everything yourself, or you can have everything made by different people. As long as you tell the customer so they can make their own informed choice.

Cheers. Jason.


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Old 03-24-2005, 06:09 AM
Danvh Danvh is offline
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Thanks for the information guys, as always the forum comes through.
Dan
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Old 03-24-2005, 07:41 AM
george tichbour george tichbour is offline
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It is pretty much accepted that heat treating of stainless alloys and cryogenic treating may be done by professional heat treaters. This is a quality concern not an artistic one so use of a professional is a plus.


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Old 03-24-2005, 10:23 AM
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Osprey Guy Osprey Guy is offline
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After spending a lot of time in these forums over the past three years, I had come away with a somewhat different take on "sole authorship",...and especially regarding the heat treat aspect of this discussion. But then as Jason says, there are no set rules or definitions...It's all about honesty.

I've read how many, many makers feel that heat treat is so specialized that it should only be performed by those expert in the process.

Then there are those who feel that all they need is a digitally controlled Paragon oven (I don't own one yet, but it's on my wish list)...They wrap the blade in foil, put it in the oven, which based on the punched-in formula, knows how long to run and at what temp, and then the blade is removed, quenched in the appropriate medium (often air) and put into the kitchen oven for the required amount of time.

On the downside, I also have heard of guys who hit the blade for a few minutes with a torch, quench it in air or water (regardless of the steel type), and then throw it in the oven for an hour, and because the steel is now hardened and will hold an edge (for a very short while) they honestly believe it's been properly heat treated.

I've also heard of guys who, because they are making "art knives", which will never be used, feel there's no need for a proper heat treat. But they made everything on the knife and feel perfectly justified in calling it "sole authorship."

And then there's a whole lot of variations, many of which involve differential quenching, etc.

I recently posted what I refered to as my "first sole authorship knife" in the Display Case...my "Persian Fighter." I honestly feel that I am entitled to call this sole authorship...even though I didn't do the heat treat. I gave credit for the heat treat, because I think the eventual customer is entitled to know that it was heat treated properly (even though it's unlikely the knife will ever actually be used,...but then that's another discussion).

Other than that, I did everything on the knife, including all the considerable amount of embellishment (which I do happen to feel is required for sole authorship...It's often the very reason makers will use the expression "sole authorship"...as if to say "not only did I make the knife, but I did all the embellsihment as well").

The discussion can most likely go on and on...it's one of those subjects for which there is not going to be a clear consensus.

How about the guys who think you must make your own screws, otherwise it simply doesn't count?...You get my point.

There can be a whole lot of back-and-forth about hand-made, custom-made, sole authorship, etc, etc, but I still feel Jason said it best when he talked about honesty...with yourself, your craft, and with the public.


Dennis Greenbaum

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Last edited by Osprey Guy; 03-24-2005 at 01:24 PM.
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