Good topic, Steve. I look at it as part of my responsibility as being an ABS member to help educate the public on this.

When I explain to visitors in my shop that I forge my blades, I normally add "with hammer & anvil as it has been done for hundreds of years". As most are totally ignorant of what goes into the forged blade, this seems to help them relate to the process. Often they will come back with "my grandfather had a blacksmith shop" or "I know a man who...".

Another thing that seems to grab their interest is that I have some Damascus billets in various stages of completion for them to see. Often I get question like, "You mean that (and point to the initial billet) will become that (and point to the finished knives in the showcase)?" or "How many blades will that make?". Once they ask the first question then they usually want to hear more about forging blades.

Maybe it would be a good thing to have some blades in various stages of completion on our tables at a show to help people understand the process. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> You know what they say about a picture & 1000 words.

Gary

I think being honest about it and not being disparaging to the stock removal folks is important. I tell people forging allows for increased flexibility in material usage and shapes. You can take something round and make it flat or take something rectangular and make it round. You can take two separate pieces of steel and make them one. You can make your own damascus. On top of that it is traditional and fun.

I find the history of bladesmithing incredibly fascinating, and enjoy sharing it with others who may have never given it much thought. It brings our craft into a much more understandable context for those types of people who generally view knives as just knives. Because for us they're obviously much more.

Anthropologists will often say that it was mankind's ability to make and use tools that elevated our species above the beasts, and our very first tool was the knife. When we study our history, we learn that it was through the mastery of metals, especially iron and steel, that we made our greatest technological advancements. So important were these metals to our development as a species that we even ascribe names like "bronze age" and "iron age" to these pivotal epochs of our history.

Once we learned how to smelt, forge, and heat treat steel, we were able to create superior tools and weapons that helped us to survive, prosper, and conquer. Even today, as we divide our planet into the "modern" world and the "developing" world we still see a clear line of delineation between those cultures that had steel, and those that did not.

So today, when we forge a blade with hammer and fire we pay homage to our past. When we finish that knife to be a superior tool; one that even today can still help us to survive and prosper, we also pay tribute to our future. This is why, to me, a forged knife is so much more than just a knife. And for those who know me, and have heard me wax poetic about the history of man and metal, well, they get it too. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

One other point worth mentioning is that every one of us could still make a highly functional cutting instrument without the aid of any modern electric machinery. Give me a hammer, a hot fire, and maybe a few good files and I can still make a heck of a knife.

That's what makes me a bladesmith, and in today's tech-heavy world, some people still seem to really appreciate that.

So for me, one simple way to promote the forged blade is simply to educate friends, relatives, colleagues, neighbors, and customers about the history and the process of forging a knife. I know that my enthusiasm for doing so has inspired at least a few of these people to look at our craft in a whole new light.

Great topic. One thing that jumps out to me is to demonstrate what we do. I know that for the Oklahoma show next March, we are planning a forging demo. This exposes people who do not have an idea what we do to our art. Take the opportunity to explain some bladesmithing history and that we still carry on the tradition. Most people find it interesting, but you will usually get a few that seem really taken by it. Get them more information and talk to them, you might be helping a budding bladesmith get their start. I still find it amazing that with a forge, anvil, and hammer we can craft a tool out of a piece of steel and like you Derrick I think back to the metalsmiths of old and we continue the old ways. Let your spectators hear the enthusiasm you have for it. If you have the opportunity to demonstrate or teach, do it, you will find you learn as much as the people learning from you.

Brion

The reason I started forging was because I felt constrained by the rectangle of bar stock I was working with at the time. Quite honestly a big motivator was the $50 knife shop and Knifemaking Unplugged. I've since come to the conclusion that leaf springs aren't the best material to use. But that's what got me going with it.

Since then it has become more about the tie to the past and leaving something for the future. I talk about it a lot and have had a couple of people come to the house for a free lesson but that's about it.

This is a great topic, and so far I am loving the responses.

Hopefully, the "feud" between stock removal methods and forging can quietly go away as we join camps together in the ICCE show.

I started out as a stock removal guy and graduated to forging because I was learning the art of blacksmithing while I learned knife making and it seemed like a natural progression. Learn how to grind better first, and you will forge to shape better later. There's also a deep personal investment in a forged blade that I did not feel when I was tracing a shape out on flat stock and grinding away everything that wasn't a knife. When people ask me about my forged O-1 blades and what I start with, you should see their eyes widen when I say "a 4 inch long piece of 1 inch diameter round rod like this" and then hand that piece of rod to them. So I agree with Brion and Gary about not just telling people, but showing them what we do and how we do it. At the art shows I attend, I usually have a photo book of the Damascus making process and a few intermediate step visual aids. I also keep handle material samples in the form of wood blocks and such. You can tell people about this and they might "get" it, but when people watch the process, either in real time (like a demo) or in pictures with physical visual aids, they always "get" it. In the rare case that someone says that seems like a lot of work, I use our standard blacksmith response: Why buy something for $10 when you can make it for $20? It's so much more fun to spend the $20.

Oh yeah. I almost forgot.

Derrick, I think that humans' first tool was the club. After that the need for a knife became paramount. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

I really am liking the insight presented so far.

As you know, I also spend a lot of time conducting demonstrations for the public and there's something special about seeing their eyes open at the process.

I would also like to encourage others within our own ranks to broaden their use of forging when possible. As an example of someone who is superb at forging Dave Lisch just finished a special dagger with a beautiful stand where he showcased his forging skills and created a masterpiece. He obviously forged the guards, those being Damascus as well as scrolled and entwined with one another. I would venture to say that took Dave many days to forge and finish that guard, not speaking of the rest of the knife, stand, and the planning involved.

The time and extra effort with the possibility of failure is the biggest intimidating factor to prevent one from tackling such like projects. The willingness to slow down and follow a plan, exercise patience, and set a high standard of fit and finish is not often found among any craft. These are things outside a lot of folks' comfort zone. It's not for the weak of heart, as they say.

We stress education a lot. I would ask, "Who's getting educated?" Of course, the public is being educated and a lot of us are educated as we take classes along the way. Yes, that is education and very worthy. But I think there's another layer that we ourselves can peel away when we strive to go beyond our present limits. We discover a part of us we did not know was there, learning something about our own selves perhaps that, frankly, is surprising, even to us. That part is not found in our comfort zone.

I agree Lin. I have found myself stepping out of that comfort zone more and more. Just trying new things to see if you can do them. I am pig headed enough that if it does not work out the first time I will keep going till I get it right. Not only does it allow us to expand our knowledge, but it gives us more things to pass on to students. Part of that is you Lin, with your new takes on blacksmith knives, it pushes us to try these methods. Thank you!

Brion

I would like to keep that ball rolling Lin.

Yes, we as bladesmiths, who promote the forged blade, should broaden our forging skills. I say this because I am not overly impressed by my own forging skills, but I keep at it. If the whole concept and process of forging is new to you, starting out by trying to forge tool steel into a knife is going to have a VERY steep learning curve. When I started smithing, I asked my friend and mentor (Paul Duval) what to start doing.

He said "Make 100 hooks. When you are done with those, make another 100." So, I started making hooks to hang stuff on. Coat hooks, pot hooks, robe hooks, etc. Hooks with leaves, flowers, twists, melted marble inlays, scrolls, I just let my imagination run wild. That type of basic forging exercise teaches you upsetting, tapering, drawing, twisting, fullering, etc. all the basic forging skills just making hooks to hang something from. My wife and I still make them and can turn out a decorative hook in about 15 minutes that sells for $15-$25 at art fairs and such. Support those around you who do demonstrations at hammer-ins or other venues by attending and watching or being their assistant if they need one. Find your local chapter of ABANA and get involved.

David Lisch is a superb blacksmith who entered the knife making arena after he was already an established and recognized smith. He now has his MS and it is well deserved. For anyone in the northwest, check out his classes. There are other ABS smiths who teach privately and there are the ABS schools as well. Find the one closest to you and either take or teach a class. Nothing beats one on one instruction or watching a skilled craftsman up close. Invite a friend to attend a local hammer-in and support your fellow smiths. When I come back from a demonstration I have this hunger pang in my belly to get in the shop and make something. It aches until I go out there and work up a real sweat. Sometimes, I make something I like.

I have another way that comes to mind. On this site we have the great fortune to have some extremely talented people making an incredible effort to post their stuff on the WIP thread, and surprisingly few folks posting any encouraging words. If you are checking out the WIP, and you like what you see, please take the 2 minutes to let the smith know. There's nothing worse than making the effort to post something and not knowing how many people you reached. Support the folks who support the craft.

I'm off my soapbox now.

Oh, and don't forget to share the WIP URL with your friends on FB

Unfortunately, there's a problem with that idea. The URL for a specific WIP thread doesn't translate well when pasted into a FB post. It ends up taking the viewer to the forum home page rather than to the specific WIP thread. Any way we can get that changed?

To reach up and coming generations the ABS could consider an organized push into social media.

Steve