How Many Knives at Once...

CDHumiston

CDHumiston

KNIFE MAKER
To all the knife makers here, how many knives do you have in the works at once?

I sometimes feel I'm working on too many and maybe neglecting to concentrate enough on each one.

This leads me to believe I may put out a better product with less irons in the fire...

Thoughts?
 
I love doing big batches. 12-15 is my wheel house. I feel like by doing stuff in batches I get better at my skills like bevel grinding because I’m doing the same thing over and over.
 
Kev said:
I love doing big batches. 12-15 is my wheel house. I feel like by doing stuff in batches I get better at my skills like bevel grinding because I’m doing the same thing over and over.
Click to expand...

So, I assume you're talking about batches of the same blade type, correct?
 
CDHumiston said:
So, I assume you're talking about batches of the same blade type, correct?
Click to expand...
Yeah, roughly. I mean they do t have to be exactly the same but similar.

Try a smaller batch, like 4-6. I guarantee you come out of the deal a better grinder.

When I’m not doing batches of the same type knife or I’m forging or whatever, I still do 4-5 at the same time. I’ll grind them all at 36, then 60 and so on. I just get in a much better rhythm. Eve when I forge I have 2-3 in the fire at the same time. For me I learn a ton more that way.
 
I don't have a real system yet, but lately 2-4. Three was tough for me to finish in 3 mos last winter but I had a fourth in the batch.

If I get a request and another comes in around the same time, I'll get all the details I can on the second one asap. That way I can include it with the forging, rough grinding and heat treating of the first. It's easier for me to do that all at once.

I also like to include extra ones, just in case I have problems with one during the build.
 
I think if you send out knives for heat treating then larger batches are the way to go. For me (and emphasis on just what I do) I’m hesitant to do more than four at one heat treat in house. That’s a spot where I felt comfortable with quality control in the quenchening and tempering process.
And I don’t like doing the same knife over and over. Those oyster knives I did became monotonous.
I’m a one off kinda maker - but not always. But I enjoy it more.
 
I agree with Kev about the advantages of working in batches.
I mainly do stock removal AEB-L blades so it is easier for me to set up and do marking, cutting out 3-4 patterns and profiling about 25-30 total blades at once.
Then I set up and bag them all in SS foil and spend a day heat treating.
Since I use LN for cryo it makes sense to do a large batch at one time.
After that I grind a few at the time, and I also find that I do better with my grinding by doing small batches of 3-4 of a similar pattern.
So I always have a bin of profiled, hardened blades ready to grind.
Opaul visited my shop a few months ago and told me "You have a lot of grinding to do". :D
 
I usually rough shape around 25 knives. It will have 2-5 of various shapes. From there I batch them into 3 or 4 to work on at a time. Not necessarily all the same shape.
 
I'm finding that when I work on more than four knives at once I get sidetracked and end up with 10 to 12 knives in various levels of completion.

I do like to do things in steps though. When I get the bandsaw set of for metal I like to cut out as many blades as possible before putting a wood blade back on.

For heat treating I never want to work with more than 4 blades. I just can't keep up with more and heat treating is such a huge part of the process.

I do quite a bit of grinding pre heat treat on most blades. With .06 kitchen knife stock I only cut to shape and drill then heat treat prior to grinding. This is also true with some .08 stock.

I want to start making a much higher quality knife and I'm tempted to just work on one knife alone from start to finish and see if it turns out better when I devote all my time to it.

I'm pretty happy with the knives I've been making the past year, but I want to reach the next plateau...

I just counted and currently have a whopping 35 blades in work. This starts with blades that are just cut out and profile ground, to blades that are partially ground, and heat treated, to blades that are in the final stages of completion with scales on and awaiting polishing.

I'm not sure how I got myself here, but I have to concentrate on these and start working on a more manageable number...
 
It is a lot faster to work with batches and in some respects you can dial in what exactly you want out of the knife. When I get a custom order I tend to make multiple of the same pattern in case I mess something up or the customer ends up wanting another one. On the other hand, I have a lot (25?) of waterjet chef knife blanks that will take me a long time to get to, if ever, so (for me) there is a limit to batches for non full-timers.
 
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I usually have batches of 10 or so "underway". They are same blade shape, bolsters, accents, and handle material. I try to keep them at the same "stage" and move them through the rest of the process. I have a deadline for when these generally need to be finished so I know how I'm doing. Then I start the next batch. I'll also throw in a couple that are different just to mix it up a little.
 
This

I want to start making a much higher quality knife and I'm tempted to just work on one knife alone from start to finish and see if it turns out better when I devote all my time to it.

When I get a custom order I tend to make multiple of the same pattern in case I mess something up or the customer ends up wanting another one.
 
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