The Knife Maker
thisismadebyhand.com
The Knife Maker
1–10 of 199 posts
Re: The Knife Maker
#2This series really got me thinking about the programmer as a craftsman or an artist. I know pg has written about this before, but I felt the connection for the first time as I watched these videos. I really empathized with these guys: the obsession, the passion to perfect some skill, wanting to create utility for others, the risk of failing or looking crazy, the excitement of using something you've built, chasing perfection. It all clicked for me. I think we've all caught the same bug, in some way.
Check out the other video in this series about a distiller: http://thisismadebyhand.com/film/the_distiller
All in all, this series is really beautiful and really well done. I'm looking forward to what's to come.
Re: The Knife Maker
#3This series really got me thinking about the programmer as a craftsman or an artist. I know pg has written about this before, but I felt the connection for the first time as I watched these videos. I really empathized with these guys: the obsession, the passion to perfect some skill, wanting to create utility for others, the risk of failing or looking crazy, the excitement of using something you've built, chasing per…
Great site. Even the HTML looks like it was made by hand, except the weird obfusticated javascript at the bottom.
Edit: it looks like he is using expression engine for the site.
Re: The Knife Maker
#4I don't totally get the thought that handmade is always better.
Specifically, reminds me of a skit from Portlandia (IFC) about hand made light bulbs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P85vZpYF3Yg .
Re: The Knife Maker
#5A small part of me wishes that I didn't enjoy coding so much, or that I wasn't good at it, or that it didn't pay so much better than woodworking, which I find just as enjoyable.
Re: The Knife Maker
#6The part that struck me was when he said something along the lines of: It takes 10,000 (or 15,000) hours just to get the necessary knowledge. Then, you are at step one. You may or may not be good, but don't know until you've put in the required time.
Also, the immediate authenticity I felt by this man and this story is something amazing. Great way to start my day.
Re: The Knife Maker
#7I don't totally get the thought that handmade is always better. Specifically, reminds me of a skit from Portlandia (IFC) about hand made light bulbs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P85vZpYF3Yg .
It's not that handmade is always, better. It's that handmade is often better when it comes to specific uses. It's similar to the choice you make when you write code when you could have taken something off the shelf to use. Sometimes you need the edge that built to purpose gives.
This is definitely the case for high performance knives. The choice of steel and the geometry of the edge, bevels and belly can be easily customized to fit the specific purpose of the knife. The first couple of knives I have made don't look that great, but since I nailed the heat treat and grind they are the best cutting implements I've ever owned.
Re: The Knife Maker
#8Just watched both available videos in the series and can't help but be inspired. The point that the "art is in the details" of a hand made item really resonates with me with respect to handmade guitars. Factory made guitars, from the big manufacturers such as Fender, Gibson, Martin, etc. are excellent guitars, but there's something about the attention to detail in a hand made guitar that makes it special, makes it art. I really hope they plan a film focusing on an small, independent luthier.
Re: The Knife Maker
#9The part that struck me was when he said something along the lines of: It takes 10,000 (or 15,000) hours just to get the necessary knowledge. Then, you are at step one. You may or may not be good, but don't know until you've put in the required time. Also, the immediate authenticity I felt by this man and this story is something amazing. Great way to start my day.
"10,000 hours of training, according to Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers. Gladwell based this assertion on the work of Anders Ericsson, who studied classical violinists and found that, in every case, it had taken a regimen of 2-3 hours a day for 10 years to develop their abilities. Later research by Ericsson and others confirmed similar results in other fields."
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/on-luck-success-a...
Re: The Knife Maker
#10Reminded me of this post http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2646501 about a guy who created a knife from scratch, starting with the construction of this own smelter.