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The Knife Maker

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Re: The Knife Maker

#61

Post by willyt »

PonyGumbo wrote: post #56
willyt wrote: post #39

These are nice knives, but is this not also a really slick piece of lifestyle marketing? Also, these knives are quite expensive. I'm not so sure if they are really up there with the handmade japanese knives[1], seems like theres a bit more to it than just sharpening a piece of hardened stainless?[2] Please correct me if I'm wrong. [1] http://www.japaneseknifecompany.com/KNIVES/LAMINATEDSTEEL/JK... [2] http://www.japa…

He's doing stock removal rather than forging (buys steel stock, cuts, shapes, and sharpens it).

Yes, that's what I guessed from watching the video. I understood that you need at least 3 layers forged together to make a high quality knife; two relatively soft and ductile stainless alloys sandwiching a fairly brittle but hard stainless alloy. From memory, my understanding was that the japanese knife makers fold together multiple layers like this because it's a traditional technique which hardens the alloy in the centre of the sandwich, the layers towards the centre get progressively harder, more brittle and thinner and therefore easier to keep sharp. The more layers, the better the knife, up to a point. Also, the more layers you have the more beautiful the swirly patterns look :-)

Re: The Knife Maker

#62

Post by evlapix »

Making something from nothing has always given me the greatest high. This video reminded me that it is that high that got me into software development.

When I was young (and had no money):

  - Made origami
  - Learned sailors knots
  - 3d sculptures of science fiction aircraft from index cards
  - Bow and arrows from q-tips and underwear rubber
  - Sailboats from 2x4's, coat hangers, plastic garbage bags, and fishing line
  - Skateboard ramps (usually bigger than I was capable of using and with
      none of the right tools)
  - A workbench
  - Peg board (hand drilled from scrap wood)
  - Dozens of hand drawn replicas of video game/anime art
  - Repaired the broken fin of a surfboard purchased at a garage sale (never used)
In high school I exploited my auto shop classes:

  - Replaced the rear differential on a 80's Mustang
  - Removed a motor from an early 90's Camaro
  - Built and installed a roll cage in an early 90's Camaro
  - Taped and sprayed flames on a fiberglass replica 32 Ford hood 
      as a demonstration of a new paint line for local body shops 
  - Completely dismantled the engine of 87 honda civic
  - Resurrected an 80's Volvo with 300k miles on it
  - Made a functioning 6" cowl induction hood for my 89 SR5 Toyota Corolla
From there I got a job at a hot-rod shop:

  - Teardown of a 52 Chevy Bel Air
  - Teardown, body work, and assembly of a split-window Corvette 
  - And countless others
In college majoring in Mechanical Engineering (what a joke):

  - Built a marshmallow launcher
  - Convinced a big angry muscle man with a knife to my throat not
      to hurt me, and steal a keg from a party instead
Once admitted to college, I was given a computer:

  - Pirated software
  - Converted drawings to vector graphics
  - Made techno songs
  - Made 3d models
  - Designed album covers
  - Frankenstein'd countless scrap computers
After I dropped out of college I became a restaurant server:

  - Documented everything I could about HTML/CSS
  - Created custom MySpace themes (and never made a dollar for it)
  - Built my profile in Flash to overcome MySpace's limitations
  - Hid all of the generated MySpace content (minus comments) 
      and built my profile from scratch
From there I became a developer. Software has been an incredible way for me to create and learn. Sadly, the projects my employers provide aren't always challenging enough. Additionally, the complimentary benefits of working with my hands versus sitting at a computer have drawn me to other projects:

  - Built an engine lift
  - Restored a 1987 19' Galaxy boat that I bought 
      for $200 on CL (engine had collapsed into the floor)
  - Bootstrapped a prototype analytics app for the last year (not launched)
  - Insulated, ran electrical, and drywalled my garage
  - Built a workshop (bench, storage, etc) in the garage of my new house
  - Buy/restore/sell furniture on CL
Currently I'm restoring a pool table I bought for $100 on CL:

  - Built strong/true cabinet from cheap construction grade lumber
  - Carved, antiqued, and stained the cabinet to make it not
      look like cheap construction grade lumber
  - Built a slate sled for moving the 1" thick slate pieces up to the 3rd floor

Re: The Knife Maker

#63

Post by gaustin »

JabavuAdams wrote: post #51
patio11 wrote: post #33

I'm torn between "This guy clearly enjoys his work, bully for him." and "The handmade movement is an extravagantly wasteful alternative to a factory in China to give rich white people an opportunity to demonstrate their social superiority over people who use functionally equivalent objects produced in an efficient fashion." (c.f. organic food, fair trade coffee, etc etc. This topic makes me positively Marxist. There…

> This really discomfits some people, so they get very creative at inventing reasons Nah, I think you're extrapolating to far. It's just a connoisseur mentality -- the same as for wine, scotch, guns, etc. It can be annoying, it's often untrue, but it taps into the same desire to be self-righteous that's buried in your post, and many of our day-to-day actions. Please don't interpret the previous sentence / paragraph t…

Actually, there are custom gun makers. There is somewhat less room for "handmade" when it comes to firearms, but they still get pretty creative where possible.

I don't know any makers personally, but I do belong to the same blacksmithing club as a guy who deals in authentically custom guns and knives: http://www.hallowellco.com/

I'm not a collector, but I love to go look at the pictures.

Re: The Knife Maker

#64

Post by bh42222 »

cschmidt wrote: post #59
mapleoin wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're saying that fair trade coffee benefits "the white man" rather than the producers in the third-world country? That's exactly the opposite of what fair trade means. Also, hand-made isn't fighting against capitalism, it's fighting against mass-production, sweat-shops and machine-people jobs like the ones portrayed on Chaplin's City Lights or even Discovery Channel's How It's Made .

He's saying that the main benefit of fair trade to the consumer is a sense of superiority or reduced guilt over those who drink "regular" coffee. That sort of benefit always strikes me as a bit of a "luxury good" as well, in the sense that the benefit isn't about the functionality or quality of the coffee itself. There is of course a benefit to the producer as well, in the form of a fair price. I imagine most of the…

What kind of pedantic asshole cares if the main benefit of fair trade is a sense of superiority?

And it's quite something to claim the sense of smugness some people feel is a bigger deal than higher prices for farmers!

Humans are instinctive, not as much as other animals, but still quite a bit. This is no way news. That we are driven by all kind of social trends, rather than pure reason is also damn old hat.

I think I sense of superiority was one of the main arguments behind buy fair trade. So f-ing what!??!? If it gets 3rd world farmers higher prices for the same or safer labor, then seriously so what?

Get off your astronomically high horse people.

Re: The Knife Maker

#65

Post by sliverstorm »

patio11 wrote: post #33

I'm torn between "This guy clearly enjoys his work, bully for him." and "The handmade movement is an extravagantly wasteful alternative to a factory in China to give rich white people an opportunity to demonstrate their social superiority over people who use functionally equivalent objects produced in an efficient fashion." (c.f. organic food, fair trade coffee, etc etc. This topic makes me positively Marxist. There…

Why is the handmade movement extravagantly wasteful? The main resource added in handmade prodcuts is time, and unlike helium, crude oil and heavy metals, time is not a scarce resource we risk using up.

Re: The Knife Maker

#66

Post by sliverstorm »

sliverstorm wrote: post #65
patio11 wrote: post #33

I'm torn between "This guy clearly enjoys his work, bully for him." and "The handmade movement is an extravagantly wasteful alternative to a factory in China to give rich white people an opportunity to demonstrate their social superiority over people who use functionally equivalent objects produced in an efficient fashion." (c.f. organic food, fair trade coffee, etc etc. This topic makes me positively Marxist. There…

Why is the handmade movement extravagantly wasteful? The main resource added in handmade prodcuts is time, and unlike helium, crude oil and heavy metals, time is not a scarce resource we risk using up.

I think it is also worth pointing out that more durable, reliable products do not have to be replaced as often. Not to mention, cheap low-quality goods are in theory functionally equivalent, but in practice it often turns out differently.

Re: The Knife Maker

#67

Post by jmj4 »

mapleoin wrote: post #35
patio11 wrote: post #33

I'm torn between "This guy clearly enjoys his work, bully for him." and "The handmade movement is an extravagantly wasteful alternative to a factory in China to give rich white people an opportunity to demonstrate their social superiority over people who use functionally equivalent objects produced in an efficient fashion." (c.f. organic food, fair trade coffee, etc etc. This topic makes me positively Marxist. There…

So you're saying that fair trade coffee benefits "the white man" rather than the producers in the third-world country? That's exactly the opposite of what fair trade means. Also, hand-made isn't fighting against capitalism, it's fighting against mass-production, sweat-shops and machine-people jobs like the ones portrayed on Chaplin's City Lights or even Discovery Channel's How It's Made .

>So you're saying that fair trade coffee benefits "the white man" rather than the producers in the third-world country? That's exactly the opposite of what fair trade means.

Does Fair Trade really benefit all of the producers in the third-world? What are the side effects of Fair Trade? I think you could postulate that it drives down conventional coffee farmer's profits, since non-fair trade coffee will try and compete on price.

Wouldn't this lead to lower wages and higher poverty for the majority of the farmers?

I have no data to back this up. Anyone know any facts about this and care to share?

Re: The Knife Maker

#69

Post by icebraining »

z0r wrote: post #27
apechai wrote: post #19

Beautiful knives. I hope the handmade movement really takes off. Maybe people could consume less but unique artifacts that have a real story behind them rather than accumulating mountains of mass produced, generic stuff that ends up in a trash heap a couple of years later.

I think it is not mass production that is the issue, but the short lifespan of the things we use. If every tool, every building, every mechanism - electronic or otherwise - lasted forever, or even just ten times as long, our economy and society would undergo radical changes as have never been seen before. (Sorry for what is both an obvious observation and a complete departure from the OP, but I have had this thought…

I don't know; plenty of people I know throw away (read: recycle) functional stuff, just because it's functionally obsolete. Even I, who never bought a cellphone, have a working Nokia 3310 on some drawer. But who'd want it? You can get a better, newer phone for the same price as the shipping fees for a package.

Besides, do we really want unsafe, gas wasting cars to last forever? Electricity wasting fridges or TVs? Isn't it better to recycle them?

Re: The Knife Maker

#70

Post by evlapix »

xbryanx wrote: post #42

It's important to remember that he's not entirely making these tools by hand. He's use mass produced drill presses, sand paper, lumber, and metal alloys. I think what he's doing is nice and pretty, but let's not wrap it too much of a handmade ethos.

Most crafts require tools. Where do you draw the line?

Even with bushcraft you start with a knife and axe which are likely manufactured, not handmade.

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