Greg,

Making a knife in two weeks is quite different than LEARNING to make a knife in two weeks. I would like to give you an example of one of my recent experiences.

I recently took a "one on one" 5 day course on forging not one, but two, historical objects. Normally it would be a class to learn one object, but since it was just me as the student, the instructor decided that we could cover the basics of two, with the understanding that we would NOT finish either while he was with me. His reasoning was this: If we concentrated on making and finishing one object, I would indeed have that object to show, but would I have the difficult aspects of the process ingrained in my mind and muscle memory? Probably not. So, his thinking was that we should cover the difficult aspects over and over and over again. The objects were historic pattern scissors and box joint pliers. Either one is a challenge. But neither could be finished unless the preliminary steps are understood and "mastered". These two objects were some of the most difficult things I have ever attempted to FORGE. Notice I emphasized FORGE. The forging on these two things were the most difficult part of the process because of the confusing, counter intuitive, directions that must be taken in order to be successful. I forged all five days with short breaks while he (Peter Ross) demonstrated again to get it in my mind. It was very concentrated and very intense. In that 5 days I had enough parts to make several of the afore mentioned objects with a only a couple rejects.

This teaching method served to enable me to net much more in two basic ways. I stood to end up with more successful examples of the actual pieces that I was making, and the repetition of the difficult stages enabled me to form the process into a habit and reach a much deeper understanding.

Making a knife has other stages involving the handle and perhaps a guard of course and these are things that need to be learned as well. But my point is that to really learn anything takes time and repetition. But it also puts a lot of responsibility on the student to accept the fact that it could be a long and expensive process. Think about what that two week class teaches. Not simply forging and heat treat. There's heat control, managing warps, learning when to throw it away and start over, grinding, etc. Introduction to Bladesmithing is the beginning of a long learning process. I went through that AND MORE.

I have taught several guys to make knives. Some in my own shop. But I was disappointed in some of them because once I walked them through the process, even fixing a mistake here and there, once the knife is done I never saw them again. They got a knife out of the deal and really could not make another knife if they were asked to. I was wanting them to learn to make knives, not A KNIFE.

I agree with Lin - that class is for learning a set of skills - not to get one knife.

I know some smiths have a short class where you go make a knife, maybe with your buddies or family - and you get a knife to take home. In that case, the smith will steward you through making that knife, and probably do some of the work for you - skipping over a lot of things because you can't get all that in a short period. That can be a good thing also, but that is an entirely different thing than the ABS course where you are really concentrating on the small details that let you start working on your own without a master smith standing there to help you fix your mistakes.

Greg that statement is pretty much true. Over the course of the two weeks you will make blades, but not really a finished knife. The main points of the Intro course are to build forging skills, learn basic grinding, learn metallurgy and steel types, and learn heat treating fundamentals. You will make a 10 inch blade to be used in a mock performance test. It will have a basic handle and no guard. The handles and guards course will get you a completed knife with a blade you bring. As Lin said we are looking to provide you with the fundamentals to go to your own shop and make a good knife. There is so much to cover in those two weeks it would be almost impossible for every student to go home with a completed knife.

Brion

Lin, Jim, and Brion~

Thank each of you for the helpful explanations. You gents have forgotten more about knife making than I know and I’m looking forward to taking the Intro to Bladesmithing class to experience your philosophy in practice. As a former college professor, I understand that teaching a large class is different from individual or small group instruction. I also understand that a two-day crash course in a subject is different than a two-week in-depth study. I am glad to learn that we will be making a 10-inch blade with a basic handle to be used in a mock performance test.

My first career was in the tactical security industry and this discussion reminds me of an imperfect analogy from that discipline. Ancient martial disciplines (Koryu) take the classical approach of repetitive individual skill development as the long-term foundation of mastery. Modern combatives takes an alternate approach that you should be able to take the compressed skill set learned that day and effectively use it that night in a dark parking lot or on a battlefield.

I can only speak for myself, but the short course I took was a positive experience that led me to join the ABS and to set up a home forge. The instructor walked the three students through all of the steps, we did the work ourselves under close supervision, and the only time he intervened was if we were about to make a serious mistake. Afterwards, he gave us a written guide explaining what we did in the course. Since then he has made himself available through phone and email to answer questions and troubleshoot challenges we were facing in our home shops.

Though I certainly did not master any skills, this approach has enabled me to produce several knives of the same quality of the one made in class. What I cannot do yet, however, is to produce a knife that is fundamentally different from the one made in class. I do not have the experience to form a definite opinion as to whether one approach is clearly superior to the other or if there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Thanks again for your time and helpful explanations. I'm looking forward to the ABS course.

Blessings,

Greg Cumbee