This started as a discussion in another thread and instead of hijacking the good thread I thought it better to start over here.
Within the knife making and collecting community the term "knife-maker" has a specific meaning that is different from what many in the firearms community think of when "custom rifle/pistol" is used. It might be useful to define some terms so there are "definitions" for common terms for discussion.
To be a knifemaker/knife-maker you have to make the blade since the blade is the basic part of a knife. It need not be pretty or ergonomic or even very good. You forged/ground the blade by hand so you made a knife. Features and Quality become other topics. This is the basic requirement in common with the Knifemaker's Guild, the Professional Knifemaker's Association and the American Bladesmith Association. There was a disagreement in the Guild about whether a blade that comes out of a CNC that you finish makes you a knife-maker since it isn't cut, ground, and finished by hand, but the Guild decided it was machine instead of man made and disqualified as a hand made blade. Heck, now that laser and water jet cutting has become so economically practical for knifemakers there is an ongoing argument about whether having your blades blanked out disqualifies you for the Guild, but I expect that to be accepted since it does just produce a flat blank that has to be hand ground.
To be a knife-builder you need not make the blade, but may order it from a supplier like Jantz supply or reuse one from an existing knife (production or supplier provided). The quality can be poor or exceptional, the features may be spartan or elaborate, but you bought or found a blade and built the knife up from that blade using raw materials for the rest or acquired finished parts that you fitted together so you built a knife. A lot of people start building knives from parts ordered from places like Jantz or Knifekits.com and some go on to grind their own blades and become knifemakers. That transition to grinding your own blades sets the knifemaker apart from the person that is a fine builder.
To be a "custom" knifemaker is an esoteric discussion, but most knife collectors and knifemakers think that it not only requires that the blade has to be hand ground by the knifemaker, but the knifemaker has to either be fully inspired by imagination to produce a single unique knife or by the client's specifications for a single unique piece in making the blade and knife. The knife is not just one like many others made by the knifemaker.
(There's some discussion in the knife making/collecting community about whether there is any difference between a "custom knife-maker" and a "knife-maker" since whether the knives they make are one of many or one of a kind, but there is no disagreement that the blade has to be cut out, ground and finished by hand and needs to be different from a "bread and butter" piece.)
To further confuse the issue , a knife manufacturer is a company using multiple people to produce the knives being sold to the public. It may be just a handful of people with a couple of people specializing in grinding or building, but no one person makes the knife and the knives are produced to be alike save for small details.
OTOH, a "custom gun" usually starts with a finished, or nearly finished, receiver bought from a ATF licensed manufacturer instead of being machined from a block of steel by a gunsmith who has gone to the trouble and expense of becoming licensed. The barrel may be a blank that is bored and chambered and crowned by the gunsmith or it may be ordered nearly complete. The stock may be finished and only require fitting as may the other components. It is still called a custom gun, though, in the firearms community if a finished barrel and finished receiver and finished stock and bolt and trigger and sights, etc are assembled and fitted together. No so with knives.
I'm sure that these definitions and explanations may seem overly picky to some here, but it isn't difficult to understand that a knifemaker has to make the blade themselves vs. a knife-builder who acquires the blade from elsewhere.
Within the knife making and collecting community the term "knife-maker" has a specific meaning that is different from what many in the firearms community think of when "custom rifle/pistol" is used. It might be useful to define some terms so there are "definitions" for common terms for discussion.
To be a knifemaker/knife-maker you have to make the blade since the blade is the basic part of a knife. It need not be pretty or ergonomic or even very good. You forged/ground the blade by hand so you made a knife. Features and Quality become other topics. This is the basic requirement in common with the Knifemaker's Guild, the Professional Knifemaker's Association and the American Bladesmith Association. There was a disagreement in the Guild about whether a blade that comes out of a CNC that you finish makes you a knife-maker since it isn't cut, ground, and finished by hand, but the Guild decided it was machine instead of man made and disqualified as a hand made blade. Heck, now that laser and water jet cutting has become so economically practical for knifemakers there is an ongoing argument about whether having your blades blanked out disqualifies you for the Guild, but I expect that to be accepted since it does just produce a flat blank that has to be hand ground.
To be a knife-builder you need not make the blade, but may order it from a supplier like Jantz supply or reuse one from an existing knife (production or supplier provided). The quality can be poor or exceptional, the features may be spartan or elaborate, but you bought or found a blade and built the knife up from that blade using raw materials for the rest or acquired finished parts that you fitted together so you built a knife. A lot of people start building knives from parts ordered from places like Jantz or Knifekits.com and some go on to grind their own blades and become knifemakers. That transition to grinding your own blades sets the knifemaker apart from the person that is a fine builder.
To be a "custom" knifemaker is an esoteric discussion, but most knife collectors and knifemakers think that it not only requires that the blade has to be hand ground by the knifemaker, but the knifemaker has to either be fully inspired by imagination to produce a single unique knife or by the client's specifications for a single unique piece in making the blade and knife. The knife is not just one like many others made by the knifemaker.
(There's some discussion in the knife making/collecting community about whether there is any difference between a "custom knife-maker" and a "knife-maker" since whether the knives they make are one of many or one of a kind, but there is no disagreement that the blade has to be cut out, ground and finished by hand and needs to be different from a "bread and butter" piece.)
To further confuse the issue , a knife manufacturer is a company using multiple people to produce the knives being sold to the public. It may be just a handful of people with a couple of people specializing in grinding or building, but no one person makes the knife and the knives are produced to be alike save for small details.
OTOH, a "custom gun" usually starts with a finished, or nearly finished, receiver bought from a ATF licensed manufacturer instead of being machined from a block of steel by a gunsmith who has gone to the trouble and expense of becoming licensed. The barrel may be a blank that is bored and chambered and crowned by the gunsmith or it may be ordered nearly complete. The stock may be finished and only require fitting as may the other components. It is still called a custom gun, though, in the firearms community if a finished barrel and finished receiver and finished stock and bolt and trigger and sights, etc are assembled and fitted together. No so with knives.
I'm sure that these definitions and explanations may seem overly picky to some here, but it isn't difficult to understand that a knifemaker has to make the blade themselves vs. a knife-builder who acquires the blade from elsewhere.
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