When am I a “knife maker”?

I started out with a logo - it was a circle with a p and a b inside the circle. I never did like it. I really like my opbunch stamp that i’m currently using. But sometimes I get so wrapped around the axle I forget to stamp the blade.
 
Such interesting thoughts. I knew I would get a range of them. I appreciate that. Much of this is personal. I guess we could qualify it by good or bad and I would be a knife maker. But then I guess we would also need to qualify what is good or bad and it would get too complicated. So I guess I will know when it happens for me. In the meantime I am a father, son, friend, brother, butcher, therapist and Knife Dog Virtual Apprentice Knife Maker.
 
Thanks Ed. This is why I try to go by billyO. But apparently it's not unique enough because on some forums this username was already taken
I think its very important....at least from the aspect of others being able to find you, to use at least the first four to five letters of your LAST NAME..... most data bases start throwing out results within four letters, and names are usually narrowed down considerably by the 5th letter. I can fully understand wanting/applying something that has personal meaning as your mark, but from a business aspect, It's all about making yourself/your knives as easy as possible to find, otherwise potential buyers will just go elsewhere to someone that is easier to find. That might sound dumb, but I've seen and heard it time and time again from clients/potential clients. Many times I get business from people who call, asking if I can assist them in finding a maker from one of those "obscure logos", and they end up ordering/buying from me when I tell them I can't help in finding the maker.

So maybe I should just tell everyone to use that logo, mark, or initials! Nah.....I have a conscience, unlike some, so I can't offer "bad goods". :)
 
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OK. So I am not a Blacksmith nor am I making blades by stock removal methods. I buy finished blades from the respectable knife making supply sites and add handles to them. I'm a hobbyist at best and doing it for fun and not profit. I explain to friends and family that see or receive my work as gifts that I don't consider myself a knifemaker. They then ask what do I call myself and what I do... I don't know. Is there an official title? Knife Handler?

I might try stock removal at some point on an old file or two and might be successful at creating a KSO. Then maybe I'll qualify for Crappy Knifemaker status!
 
A topic that is mostly opinion reliant, but what the heck I have two pennies in my pocket as well.

I think anybody who has dedicated themselves to the craft, in order to make sure that every blade they make has to be better than the last, even if it costs them money at times, can call themselves a knifemaker. The money part can be important because some focus so much on the money making and marketing that little time is left for the craft. There was a time that the only way to get known as a "knifemaker" was to actually make knives, but these days it is easier to cite Instagram followers, YouTube subscribers, or time on television, as knifemaking credentials, regardless of knifemaking experience. If that is the case then I guess Kim Kardashian is a Master bladesmith! If you call yourself a knifemaker, you should probably be able to make knives.

There is too much to be said on both sides of the makers mark issue for me to touch it with a ten foot pole, so I just ran out of pennies.
 
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