Inspiration?

[Tom Ferry]

Out of curiousity, where do you guys get your inspiration for the knives you make?
Is it from other makers, nature, or whatever?
Alot of mine come from deep inside. Most of my designs or ideas come late at nite, triggered by some influencial and subconcious force (drives the wife nuts lol). Sometimes its someones phrase or seeing something in nature that has just the right curve or line to flow perfectly.
Most of my inspiration goes into damascus and then that leads to the overall knife design. Although it has gone the other way too.
I do draw out knives but very seldom follow the design. Usually the steel will shape or forge itself to a better line and some knives just look bad on paper.
Well just thought I would start an intersting thread seeing how its been kinda slow around here.

[Ed Caffrey]

Well, that is an interesting question. Currently my inspiration comes from being deprived of all contact with knifemaking. The folks here think I'm a lunatic...............whenever I get an idea I try to tell them just how COOL this or that knife would be.........and I get the dog at the TV screen look.

Seriously, Nature is my biggest inspirtation. No two things in nature are identical. Each has it's own flow and beauty. As you can tell from many of the names I apply to my work, the influence follows through out the project(s).

There are things all around us, every day, that influence what we make, and even in this crazy place, I've had "brain showers" (storms are too much for me. LOL!) just from some of the "creatures" and the few plants that exist here.
I am one of those makers who reverse engineers everything. By that I see the finished knife in my mind, and then I mentally take the steps backwards to figure out how I will execute it.

Great point to ponder Tom! I'm glad you agreed to take the helm for me!!

[cactusforge]

My knife design starts with a idea, like the light just came on. Then I go to the forge or the grinder, which ever method will be used to build the knife, then simply follow my instincts to get the lines right. I don't draw knives, the idea can come from any thing a lot of times it is from photos of knives, a little of this and a little of that. Gib

[John M Cohea]

This may sound a little wacky,but Iget a lot of my ideas in my dreams!How many times have I been forging, grinding,ect. in my sleep and wake up with these images in my head,and they usually don`t go away until I have the finished piece in my hand!!8o

[A&M Draper]

Tom, good question, I doodle a lot with paper and french curves. I am also influenced by a lot of things I see in nature. I'm fortunate enough to live in Wyoming so there is lots to see! I also like the lines of classic cars, muscle cars, exotic sports cars, and...well you get the idea! I'll wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, or a way to work out a new design...yeah it drives Audra nuts...I've got a note pad beside the bed and will jot down ideas, shapes ect.
I spent a couple hours last weekend at a self defense training seminar. I had the opportunity to visit with the instructor about what he felt was important in a knife. I was surprised to find out that he preferred to use a knife in a non leathal manner. I've been in contact with a mutual friend and designed a knike with some of the features that he thought was important. The instructor showed me first hand how the features worked...#### that hurt!

Mike

[Tom Ferry]

Hey Mike,
Glad to see you here!

[Geno]

Tom, Good question.
Knifemaking is a combination of aquired skills.
You need to be part metallurgist, part wood worker, part jeweler, part tinker, and a little crazy. I fit them all.
Some just want to do a part of knifemaking, like engravings and such, while others find the ore, melt it down, ect...
Whatever level you start at, it continues to grow inside of you untill you branch out to something else.
I love working with my hands and mind. I love creating.I love sharing the craft.
I love ignoring the alarm clock in the mornings
INSPIRATION?
I guess I'm passing on a family tradition, see Father was a creator who made one of a kind creations(people),with no two alike anywhere.God used a little earth and His imagination to create, same as me.He refines the raw materials and fasions them for purpose with a certain perfection. This transformation is the same, but different for each creation.
If we are all different, shouldn't our custom tools be as well?
Everyone has visions, but not everyone acts on them.
For me, I believe that I was inspired by, and annointed by God to do this. I wish everyone enjoyed their work as much as I enjoy mine. Be blessed.

[A&M Draper]

Thanks Tom! Lessee...todays inspiration would be linked to 3" of snow on the ground with 6"- 8" more on it's way...tonights low supposed to be around 4 deg. BBRRRR!! I think I'll forge today!!

Mike

[Brett Bennett]

Good question, Tom.
Much of my work is the combination of elements found in the work of other makers. The elements are refined over time and it often becomes a standard pattern.
Lately, however, an idea will come to me and I will start work on it without firmly establishing the details. I often lie awake at night, mind racing with ideas. Over the course of a few of these nights, I will come up with the details. Sometimes, the knife comes out as planned and other times I make changes along the way. I really don't know where the inspiration comes from most of the time.
I have also developed an interest in Sheffield, San Francisco, and Mediterranean styles lately.
Mike, nice to see you over here and I hope you stick around.

[Jerry V]

Depends on the type of knife I'm making. If its a period piece, inspiration comes from the paintings and drawings from the period, existing examples in museums, archaeological artifacts, etc.

For everything else, comes from the dark recesses of my mind. Glad I'm not the only one who sees them in dreams. I've even had a couple visions of knives -- the design just sort of appears suddenly before my eyes.

Hate it when that happens while I'm driving...

[Guy Thomas]

Most of my inspiration definitely comes from viewing the work of other makers. I don't mean I see a knife and try to copy it. I see a knife and want to know how it was made so that I can incorporate those elements into my work.

I am very influenced by broad categories of knives, particularly Scandinavian and Japanese style blades. Though I am still a relative beginner I have changed my style somewhat. My first knives were stock removal and the inspiration came from drawing the profiles freehand and cleaning them up with French curves. Now that I am forging I generally have an idea of the kind/size/style of knife I want to make and try to forge to that end.

Much of my inspiration comes from a dose of enthusiasm from reading these forums and feeling a part of a creative community of craftspeople. It keeps me thinking even when my job and the need for overtime prevent me from working on knives as much as I want. I make them in my head instead, so I have a huge melting pot of ideas bubbling around, most of which may never see the light of day!

[sjaqua]

Great Question!

My inspiration comes in one of three ways. As a member of a historical recreation group, a great deal of what I do comes from looking at period knives. I have a rather large bookshelf of arms and armour books. I have also see a lot of arms collections in US museums and my one trip to England.

Other knives come from what I see other makers do.


And last, some patterns just suggest themselves from within the steel itself.

[Jason Cutter]

Inspiration is where you find it, for me at least. I've been a "designer" far longer than I've been a maker. I find that designs and inspiration comes to me naturally. I can't push it. Most of my ideas come when I'm most relaxed at that twilight moment as I am about to fall asleep. I do love to look and research about other makers knives, but I make sure I don't copy.

Sometimes, looking at another maker's work just creates that sense of mixed energy. I feel both discouraged by the awesome style, fit and finish as well as encouraged to work harder to meet some of the same standards. For this purpose, I do occasionally still buy knives made by distinguished colleagues.

I doodle wildly. I always have reams of spare and recycleable paper ready for sketches, usually full-sized. I also look at all the sawn off offcuts of steel that I wonder - how could I use that piece - this is how the more unusual pieces are made. I'm sure quite a number of stock removalists also do this.

Cheers.

[Gary Mulkey]

I think quite often that my original concept gets changed during the construction of the knife. Though I will have preconceived notions as the general shape or feel of the knife, often as I get to grinding on either blade or handle it just doesn't feel right and I change it into what does. I have gone so far as to completely remove scales from a finished handle because they don't feel right and replace them with another material entirely. I have always had trouble envisioning the final product though. (When painting the house, the paint color in the can is never how it looks on the wall.)

Gary

[Sweany]

fevered dreams, and to many peepers in the chile