Journal

"What are we going to do about the hammer in this spring?" asked Greg, one side of his headphones on his right ear and the other clamping his scalp just above the left ear. "I don't know, probly should have it around March sometime. Don't want the weather to be too bad but also don't want to get later in the spring when everyone is more busy." I said while scrolling the calendar app on my phone, looking at possible free weekends. There were too many red dots indicating scheduled events over the next few months already. "Well we need...

The winter time is our main class season when we host workshops every weekend. This brings a new group of attendees each week, most of which have never thought about making a knife before receiving a gift for the class during the holidays. Those that have thought about it and signed up on their own tend to have the "How hard can it be?" attitude. This is a reasonable thought considering that over the years we have taken hundreds of people through the knife making process. Experience levels range from professional metal or wood workers down to folks who have...

Over my years of making knives I have used and designed many knives with many geometries. I have noticed that many elements of knife design that are played up as most important tend to be less impactful than advertised. Steel alloy for instance does make a difference, but not as much as proper heat treat or geometry. When I use a knife that doesn't cut well or hold it's edge very long, I look to the bevel geometry first these days. My tendency used to always be to consider the steel alloy or hardness but often it's confusing if the...

Every year in the knife shop has a predictable seasonal pattern. Summer is always the slow time but things start to pick up as the weather cools down. More people need knives as hunting season comes in and slowly the pace builds to a crescendo as Thanksgiving and Christmas near. After a few slow weeks over the holiday things ramp back up for knife making classes for the rest of winter and early spring. As things warm again there is a bit of a bump for spring turkey season and new fishing opportunities but no time compares with the pace...