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With the FiF show, everyone thinks they are the next champion! LOL. Knifemaking is the path to bankruptcy!! LOL! I am waiting for all of the deals on stuff these guys buy up and then decide they aren't going to continue with it and stop!
I've heard that knifemakers can make a small fortune... as long as they start with a big fortune :)
 
Know how to make 1 million dollars making knives? Start out with 2 million and keep going till you have 1 million left. ‍

So true that it hurts. And if you start out on a shoestring like most of us, the secret to getting profitable is to only steal operating cash from the joint bank account a little at a time. Don't buy belts and steel in the same pay period. Make a big deal to your wife every time you make a sale.
 
With the FiF show, everyone thinks they are the next champion! LOL. Knifemaking is the path to bankruptcy!! LOL! I am waiting for all of the deals on stuff these guys buy up and then decide they aren't going to continue with it and stop!
Ya, I kind of wonder how many people are influenced into starting this by that show, only to find out that it’s not easy to make a decent knife.
 
I also think that people see the work done on the first two rounds of FiF as normal quality and don't understand the difference between a fast quick knife for the show to hopefully pass the test (which often look very poorly made) versus what people really expect from a custom knife. It would be nice for them to show a couple quick pics of what the maker usually makes and how it looks when they introduce them to give an idea of what they can really do w/o the time constraints and parameters.
 
I also think that people see the work done on the first two rounds of FiF as normal quality and don't understand the difference between a fast quick knife for the show to hopefully pass the test (which often look very poorly made) versus what people really expect from a custom knife. It would be nice for them to show a couple quick pics of what the maker usually makes and how it looks when they introduce them to give an idea of what they can really do w/o the time constraints and parameters.
I want them to show them sitting there staring at the tempering oven and twiddling their thumbs. :) So much of that TV show is entertainment. But that is the point. Personally, there are very few blades on that show I would be interested in reproducing, ever. Let alone, under such pressure. I really have no interest in blacksmithing either. I don't want a forge, and I don't want to swing a hammer more than a few ounces, or make billets of steel. I am much more interested in the "machinery" of knives. From friction folders, to slipjoints to lockbacks, maybe automatics someday, and those ratchetty sounding spanish ones too. I sure enjoy FiF the show, but it has very little to do with my interest in blades, repair, restoration, and re-creation. So I might just be a cat of a different color, or perhaps a strange breed of horse... :) But it seems that the interest the show brings is raising up much more in the way or suppliers. I have seen where apparently now Princess Auto now carries handle material and the such... Don't know for sure, I haven't been on that side of the line in a long time.
 
Ya, I kind of wonder how many people are influenced into starting this by that show, only to find out that it’s not easy to make a decent knife.
Not a big problem. They just sell their not so good knives that are "rustic forged looking" for next to nothing and crash the market. :p
 
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I've never had luck making a "rustic" looking knife. I either have to go all the way with finishing it or it looks like Ray Charles made it with his feet.

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I'm not sure what to think about the guys who get big bucks for their "rustic" knives. ESPECIALLY The guys that essentially pass off a mill scale finish on the flats as some kind of evidence of "hand forging." There are a some makers guys who have "forge" in their company name. Closest they get to forging is beating up on the cold steel with a ball peen hammer or some kind of patterning die to get that "rustic look." ;)
 
I'm not sure what to think about the guys who get big bucks for their "rustic" knives. ESPECIALLY The guys that essentially pass off a mill scale finish on the flats as some kind of evidence of "hand forging." There are a some makers guys who have "forge" in their company name. Closest they get to forging is beating up on the cold steel with a ball peen hammer or some kind of patterning die to get that "rustic look." ;)
Getting a GOOD texture from a ball pein is a HUGE pain in the butt. I think if I was going to do that a lot, I'd regrind the ball pein to have a much larger radius. Even something like a 2 pound ball pein is a bit too "sharp" in my opinion. I've used the corner of a rounding hammer with decent luck. Not on a knife, though. I was texturing some copper for a bird feeder roof.

Leaving forge scale is just lazy. Even with basic tools it's easy enough to get off.

On a budget, I'd grab a Harbor Freight angle grinder and a steel wire cup wheel to take the scale off.

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Getting a GOOD texture from a ball pein is a HUGE pain in the butt. I think if I was going to do that a lot, I'd regrind the ball pein to have a much larger radius. Even something like a 2 pound ball pein is a bit too "sharp" in my opinion. I've used the corner of a rounding hammer with decent luck. Not on a knife, though. I was texturing some copper for a bird feeder roof.

Leaving forge scale is just lazy. Even with basic tools it's easy enough to get off.

On a budget, I'd grab a Harbor Freight angle grinder and a steel wire cup wheel to take the scale off.

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Why mess with Harbor Freight when you can just go to the supermarket and grab a gallon of store brand white vinegar? ;) Assuming best practices when forging because you are planning to not grind away all of your mistakes, overnight soak in vinegar and a session with the scotchbrite belt will do you good in most cases.
 
I'm not sure what to think about the guys who get big bucks for their "rustic" knives. ESPECIALLY The guys that essentially pass off a mill scale finish on the flats as some kind of evidence of "hand forging." There are a some makers guys who have "forge" in their company name. Closest they get to forging is beating up on the cold steel with a ball peen hammer or some kind of patterning die to get that "rustic look." ;)
Well I won't claim it. And have no interest in doing it. The way I see it, I don't have to raise chickens to make an omelet. Or work the oilfields to drive a car. No intent of swinging a hammer bigger than necessary to peen a pin. :)
 
Not a big fan of "rustic" period. Guitar makers do "relic-ing". I have no love of the relic'ed guitar, and rustic knife better be knapped flint and you need to be wearing a loin cloth while making it.
 
I like brute de forge. But people who are good at forging don't leave hammer marks in the work. In fact, I ain't good at it and it's still easier not to leave hammer marks than it is to leave a well-done finish with hammer marks, like @52 Ford said it's a pain in the butt to do a good ball pein finish.
 
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