Recessed Ricasso Accident Waiting to Happen.

Chris Railey said:
That is a good point. Does anyone know of a current magazine containing at least mostly useful information for knife makers?
Click to expand...

There are still magazines in print?

Not to pick on BLADE, but the last time I subscribed to them they sent me like 4 back issues in the same month, then I got one new magazine the following month with a request to renew my subscription.
 
Oh! Ed Fowler....he's been preaching that since BEFORE I got my JS stamp! :) When I went to Ed's place, to test for my JS, I was told, in no uncertain terms, that if I ever made knives with a dropped edge..... then I was wrong. I wouldn't say it of myself, because after he made that statement to me, I kinda distanced myself from him, but I do know he has "disowned" several "students" and/or young Bladesmiths in the years since, because they didn't stick to his ideas of knife design.

I actually admire him for sticking to his guns on his beliefs about knife design, but I don't necessarily share those ideas. Modern times seems to have taught many that if someone disagrees with you, they are "the enemy", and should be completely vanquished, and all traces wiped away. I don't subscribe to that notion either. As I often "preach", everyday I walk into the shop, I learn something new. It's just that sometimes it's not always a positive learning experience. ;)
 
For non-knife making magazines that actually contain real knowledge, though they do sometimes contain knife articles I really like two magazines and yes I get them in print not digital. The first magazine you should check out is "The Backwoodsman". Great articles on primitive or lost skills. Not every article is a winner but there are a lot of good skills taught in those issues. I keep the ones that contain skills I particularly want to remember. The next magazine is "The American Frontiersman". Its a little higher budget than "The Backwoodsman" and it also has great articles on frontiersman skills.
 
Chris Railey said:
For non-knife making magazines that actually contain real knowledge, though they do sometimes contain knife articles I really like two magazines and yes I get them in print not digital. The first magazine you should check out is "The Backwoodsman". Great articles on primitive or lost skills. Not every article is a winner but there are a lot of good skills taught in those issues. I keep the ones that contain skills I particularly want to remember. The next magazine is "The American Frontiersman". Its a little higher budget than "The Backwoodsman" and it also has great articles on frontiersman skills.
Click to expand...
I hope you are right Chris because, to be fair, I hear from folks in other fields that have the same complaints. It would appear that if there was a magazine for underwater basket weaving the people who really understand aquatic weaving would tell you how ridiculous the articles are in their magazines. I have worked on special projects with people who have gotten "well known" artist in other fields, one involved a motorcycle customization. Not knowing the field, they went with some "famous" guys from TV. But after seeing some question raising things, they were told by truly knowledgeable custom folks that those "celebrities" are the laughing stock of anybody that really knows the craft.

When I help scout new talent for the Ashokan Bladesmithing seminar, one thing that actually plays a huge role is how "well-known" they are. If I see somebody putting forth very good information, I will suggest we look into them and will qualify it with "and I've never heard of them before" as an indication that they may actually know what they are talking about. Invariably, we have found, that those with the most coverage in the magazines, or other media, will be the least knowledgeable about anything except how to promote themselves. The scary part is how it can even be negatively retroactive when seemingly knowledgeable people start believing their own press and need to be replaced when they seem to get dumber about anything but promoting themselves. Sad but true.
 
Kevin R. Cashen said:
I hope you are right Chris because, to be fair, I hear from folks in other fields that have the same complaints. It would appear that if there was a magazine for underwater basket weaving the people who really understand aquatic weaving would tell you how ridiculous the articles are in their magazines. I have worked on special projects with people who have gotten "well known" artist in other fields, one involved a motorcycle customization. Not knowing the field, they went with some "famous" guys from TV. But after seeing some question raising things, they were told by truly knowledgeable custom folks that those "celebrities" are the laughing stock of anybody that really knows the craft.

When I help scout new talent for the Ashokan Bladesmithing seminar, one thing that actually plays a huge role is how "well-known" they are. If I see somebody putting forth very good information, I will suggest we look into them and will qualify it with "and I've never heard of them before" as an indication that they may actually know what they are talking about. Invariably, we have found, that those with the most coverage in the magazines, or other media, will be the least knowledgeable about anything except how to promote themselves. The scary part is how it can even be negatively retroactive when seemingly knowledgeable people start believing their own press and need to be replaced when they seem to get dumber about anything but promoting themselves. Sad but true.
Click to expand...
Most of the articles in The "Backwoodsman" are written by practitioner level people. Normal rednecks and such who like using the old ways and their knowledge is based off of been there done that, not so much academic in nature. I guess what I am trying to say is you will find no articles by Bear Grylls in that magazine. I also do not remember any big names in the "American Frontiersman" I think I recall an article by Les Stroud in one issue but to tell the truth, Les Stroud knows his stuff.
 
Chris Railey said:
... I guess what I am trying to say is you will find no articles by Bear Grylls in that magazine...
Click to expand...
:) That is good to hear, watched about 5 minutes of that joker once in order to spot that he would do any ridiculous thing for the camera just for shock value, regardless of how dumb it actually was. Sad thing is, people could get hurt copying such an "expert". I also got the same impression that Stroud seemed a bit more pragmatic and real about his approach.
 
For what its worth, I think design and build is completely up to the knife maker. Not everyone's idea of the perfect knife is the same which is a good thing.
But I have to admit - I like dropped edge knives.
 
I like knives just about any way they're made so long as it's functional. I don't reckon I see the functional handicap of the dropped edge. Maybe the opposite for many purposes. Kinda hard to argue with some of the simplest examples.01874116-566B-4430-B29B-62D660178235.jpeg
 
I subscribe to Blade Magazine as well and while I read the articles I read them with a jaundiced eye. The reviews in particular strike me as being very similar to reviews for guns in the gun magazines. In other words no one gives a bad review unless a bolt falls out, or in the case of a knife a scale falls off.

A few articles are good. But like anything else I read them all with a critical eye.

However I find the photos of knives by various makers to be informative. I look at them for design ideas and a lot of them simply for their beauty.
 
You guys that lust after photos are perverts
Click to expand...
Hi...My name is Ed, I have a problem that I would like to share with the group......
I am addicted to knife and Labrador porn. :p
kindpng-844786.png
 
Sean Jones said:
...The reviews in particular strike me as being very similar to reviews for guns in the gun magazines. In other words no one gives a bad review unless a bolt falls out, or in the case of a knife a scale falls off...
Click to expand...
Interesting that you noticed that, since such is often the case in any trade publication. Let me share a story from the Underwater Basket Weaving Community that may, or may not, be true.

Years ago, the underwater basket weavers had a magazine called “Weave Under Waves”, not sure if it is around anymore, that allowed an actual unbiased review by an independent author. The author tested baskets in use that were made by underwater weaving PhDs. Most of the baskets performed so poorly that alarms were raised and phone calls had to be made to see if the article should be printed. When the article made it to print, it was so prettied up that you had to really read between the lines to understand. Things like “the reeds could have been spaced better” really meant “the handle fell off before we could make it to the picknick blanket.” It didn’t take long to forget the whole thing until another publication “SCUBA Weavers” ran a second article by the same independent reviewer, this time with a little more criticism visible between the fluff. It was met with a barrage of mail, from powerful figures in the wet weaving community, that made it clear that this level of honesty would not be tolerated again.

Now I am not sure if this actually happened because I am not sure if there is any such community, but I could see this sort of thing happening in any field, perhaps even knifemaking.
 
Kevin R. Cashen said:
Interesting that you noticed that, since such is often the case in any trade publication. Let me share a story from the Underwater Basket Weaving Community that may, or may not, be true.

Years ago, the underwater basket weavers had a magazine called “Weave Under Waves”, not sure if it is around anymore, that allowed an actual unbiased review by an independent author. The author tested baskets in use that were made by underwater weaving PhDs. Most of the baskets performed so poorly that alarms were raised and phone calls had to be made to see if the article should be printed. When the article made it to print, it was so prettied up that you had to really read between the lines to understand. Things like “the reeds could have been spaced better” really meant “the handle fell off before we could make it to the picknick blanket.” It didn’t take long to forget the whole thing until another publication “SCUBA Weavers” ran a second article by the same independent reviewer, this time with a little more criticism visible between the fluff. It was met with a barrage of mail, from powerful figures in the wet weaving community, that made it clear that this level of honesty would not be tolerated again.

Now I am not sure if this actually happened because I am not sure if there is any such community, but I could see this sort of thing happening in any field, perhaps even knifemaking.
Click to expand...
You should write poetry...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top