I'm seriously considering giving up knife making

Motor City Mike

Motor City Mike

Well-Known Member
I rarely get shop time now that the weather has broken. I'm lucky to get a few hours once a week because I work 60 - 70 hrs/week.

So this weekend I had 3 days off and really wanted to hit knives hard.

Things did not go as planned. I spent all my time making and then fixing one mistake after another. In the end, after 2 1/2 days in the shop I made ZERO progress. NONE. I had to make and remake everything I touched.

I just don't think I can hone my skills a few hours a week.

I enjoy making knives when I'm able to make good steady progress and get to a finished product. But lately it seems like I take one step forward and five steps back. I spend more time pulling my hair out than anything else.

Frustrating.
 
"They don't think that it be like it is, but it do" - Oscar Gamble

We all have days, weekends, or even weeks like that, and we'd all love to be farther along, or have more time to put into it. I've had more than one occasion where I spend hours or even days on a project, only at the "end" of it, throw it in the can, say a few choice words, and wish that I had spent the time doing something else more productive.

When that happens, I'll either start over, or start a new project altogether. Sometimes I'll take a break for a week or even a few, and spend my time on something else. From time to time, I'll even fire up the YouTube and watch another maker complete a project, or watch any number of knife making DVDs, or read a knife making book, and get some inspiration to get back out there. Seems like I always make it back out there eventually, and I'm glad I did, more often than not..
 
Motor City Mike said:
I rarely get shop time now that the weather has broken. I'm lucky to get a few hours once a week because I work 60 - 70 hrs/week.

So this weekend I had 3 days off and really wanted to hit knives hard.

Things did not go as planned. I spent all my time making and then fixing one mistake after another. In the end, after 2 1/2 days in the shop I made ZERO progress. NONE. I had to make and remake everything I touched.

I just don't think I can hone my skills a few hours a week.

I enjoy making knives when I'm able to make good steady progress and get to a finished product. But lately it seems like I take one step forward and five steps back. I spend more time pulling my hair out than anything else.

Frustrating.
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Mike I hear ya. My Dad had a stroke a few years back and has gotten worse I spend quite a bit of time at my parents helping them. I have recently been layed off. So now I have time but no money!! So all you can do is the best you can.
 
Knife making gives lessons in patience. I find it worthwhile to have several projects going at the same time. Not always knife related. If a project isn't going well I just do something else. Sometimes it's reading a book, other times it's driving up and down the road on an atv.
 
Motor City Mike said:
I just don't think I can hone my skills a few hours a week.
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I work with a guy who got his associate's degree completing one class a quarter. Why did he only take one class a quarter? I am glad you asked that: One class was all he could handle and afford. He was working full time, he has two kids and a wife who like to see him plus his father was in failing health so he was trying to spend time with him as he could. It took my friend a little more than four years to earn his associate's degree but he got it and it is just a valid as anyone else's degree. If you still enjoy making knives who cares how long it takes you to hone skills. If you do not enjoy it (consistently) anymore then move on but I have seen your work and I am telling you it would be a loss to the community. We have all had bad shop days here and there I promise you. I am struggling right now to try and develop a style that is my own. I do not mean a particular knife but a style that someone can look at and say that is Chris' knife and not just because there is a leftover 220 grit scratch in the plunge. It is frustrating to say the least.
 
Sometimes things are going so badly that you have to put it down and walk away for a while. Or a week. Or month. But then you come back to it calmly with no expectations and it clicks.

There are days when everything is flowing and you know you are turning out work better than you thought you had the skills to do. It’s like you are temporarily possessed by the spirit of an ancient master. Then there are days when you can’t even drill holes in the right place.

There will always be days where it’s just not happening. Everything feels forced and it sucks. That’s when you turn the lights off and go do something else.
 
This sounds like a guy who seriously enjoys making knifes. I quit making knives 5 times in the past year. I'll probably quit again tomorrow. The bevel usually gets me every time. So I toss it, clean my mess up. Toss all my crappy belts away, sulk. I usually say " I hate my life" . That's my go to I'm giving up phase. Then two days later I'm ordering a piece of metal and getting excited about a design, maybe a simpler design this time, maybe one with a straight grind line and a simple handle. My little shop area is nice and clean because I quit the other day and it's all ready to start another one. Sounds like you have a day job, so keep at this if you enjoy it.
 
Before I retired I was working 60-70 hours a week and, like you, rarely had time to do anything else. When I did it didn't seem like I was getting very far. In fact compared to others I wasn't. I've never really quit completely but I've done a lot of muddling around that has been seriously unproductive, sometimes for months at a time.

Just out of curiosity what else would you do to take the place of your knife making? I know for me I need something creative to keep me from going totally bonkers. I've always had some kind of creative hobby.

It maybe different for you but I'm always looking for that 'outlet' that knife making currently gives me. If I quit knife making tomorrow by next week it would be something else...
 
Take a deep breath, take a break and if you love it (and from what I've seen of your work, you do AND you have the requisite skills for this), you will be back at it soon, hitting your mark again. I suspect we all go through this, I don't care who it is, or how long they've been at it. If it were easy, we'd get bored with it in short order and move on to something more challenging.
 
I got to believe we all run into a wall occasionally Mike. bad things happen to all of us, bad grinds, broke bits, broke machines.
you just have to walk away from it sometimes then come back and soldier on. I've been working 60 hour weeks myself so I know what your saying about making anytime in the shop a positive thing but like I said...you got to keep at anything you love.
throwing in the towel might not be what you really want to do. we all get the shop blues, your not alone...;)
 
I can only echo what the others have said. I will say no matter who they are all of us part timers struggle with where you are at right now. It is easy to see others turning out what seems like endless knives, flawless finishes in record time. Dont get wrapped up in comparing to others. I work approximately 50-55 hours a week right now and I only honestly work on knives from about 9pm-1am on Friday and Saturday nights after the kids go to bed. It is hard to keep in a rhythm sometimes. You have to remeber also that you are making folders which requires a tone of time and work.
I have said several times to my wife I dont know why the heck I do this I'm gonna sell all my knifemaking stuff. But reality is right now it has become apart of what I do and it is what I look forward to doing to decompress from work. Yeah sometimes it is very frustrating but if it was easy everyone would do it.
Hang in there Mike!
 
Don't just think about quitting...do it. Then go out to the shop in a day or so and take it up again....

I have done this hundreds of time....lol.

Lately though...I haven't quit in months! So things do get better!!

Hang in there Mike...this just may be the best hobby in the world.
 
I'm a full time maker and still consider quitting frequently......for various reasons. Anyone want to buy a shop full of stuff?
 
I learn way more making mistakes than getting it right. Stop by some time I'll show you drawers full of folders and blades that just didn't finish like I wanted them to. It's part of it.
Over time, the mistakes become easier to avoid or fix. It's just part of it.
Knife making does not have to be 10 or 60 hours a week. It can be just what you want or what time allows.
I quite making knives for nearly two years once. I had a great time ignoring it for awhile.
 
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