Can I put My Name On It

[xspook2158]

If I make a knife from a Kit can I put my name on it ?

[xspook2158]

What I meant was if you made a knife from a Pre made blade, would you put your name on it

[SVanderkolff]

Nope

[frankc]

Only the makers mark should appear on the blade. In the event it does not have one, I would still not put my mark on it.

Whatever you yourself fabricate may be marked by you such as the sheath or handle. You are basically signing only what you are responsible for.

[Ray Rogers]

This question has come up many, many times before and often generates some spirited responses (try the Search function to find these threads). I think the overall feeling is that it is important that any potential buyer or owner of the knife can tell that you didn't make the blade. So, if you can put your mark on the blade and still make it understood that you didn't actually make the blade then go for it. An example might be something like "Spook's Kit Knives" or "Assembled by Spook".

Honesty is what we're shooting for here, truth in advertising. If you can find a mark that provides the facts then you're good to go ...

[cnccutter]

good question Jeff.

its very important to you as well as your future customers that it is very clear if a knife is from your province or a knock off. a lot of us have eased our way in to making knives and not thought seriously about it.

think of it this way, do you think a collector would value a knife by Randal, Ron Lake, TMD or any other knife maker as a collector piece if they thought it was just a production blade?

happy grinding
Erik

[huntforlife]

No problem with it if whoever is buying it knows its a kit knife.

[xspook2158]

Guys, Thank you for your response.
I was thinking that as long as I stated I did not make the blades that no harm would be done in taking credit for the actual work that I did on making the knife the way I wanted them too look.

I have been tying flies for over 35 years and people buy them because I tyed them, not because my name was on them or that I had invented that style of fly. They buy them because they say they respect my work.

You guys have given me a lot to think about especially if I ever want to make a knife from the ground up.

Jeff

[Doug Lester]

Actually, putting handles and guards on finished blades is more traditional than that doing the whole thing from start to finish. Back in the day of the guilds, division of labor was stricktly inforced. The men who assembled the knives and swords were known as cutlers and were often considered to be the senior guild. The bladesmiths, grinders, polishers, and, where they existed, heat treaters worked under their direction.

If you wanted to get a stencil that said something like "xspook-cutler" and etch that into the blades that would be fine. Getting one that said "made by xspook" would be misleading and accept credit for making the blade. Also, if the blade is stamped with the maker's mark, do nothing to hide or disquise it.

Doug

[xspook2158]

Doug, Thank You !

I would never hide a Makers Mark..

Jeff

[Smokey Joe]

Xspook--I'll take slight issue with your comparison of fly tying and kit knife making, as to who should get credit for what:

When you tie a fly, YOU are doing all the skill-work; the whole fly fishing community understands that the hooks are supplied by Mustad, or the like, in bulk, and form the mere foundation for the lures which you create. So, you take all the credit for tying the fly, as you should.

When you assemble a knife from a kit, the blade is the most important single component of the finshed knife, and, while the handle you add, and the polishing, wrapping, sheath, etc, etc, are not unimportant, most of the skill-work has gone into that blade, for which you cannot legitimately take credit. But you can certainly take credit for having made up the knife, done the final polishing, done a neat job with the glueing and riveting, etc, etc, etc. So, "Made by Xspook" would be a false claim, wheras "Assembled by Xspook" would be not only accurate, but appropriate.