Journal

Brent Stubblefield
Knife Design and Aesthetic

Knife Design and Aesthetic

The winter time is our main class season when we host workshops every weekend. This brings a new group of attendees each week, most of which have never thought about making a knife before receiving a gift for the class during the holidays. Those that have thought about it and signed up on their own tend to have the "How hard can it be?" attitude. This is a reasonable thought considering that over the years we have taken hundreds of people through the knife making process. Experience levels range from professional metal or wood workers down to folks who have...

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Brent Stubblefield
The All Important Bevel Geometry

The All Important Bevel Geometry

Over my years of making knives I have used and designed many knives with many geometries. I have noticed that many elements of knife design that are played up as most important tend to be less impactful than advertised. Steel alloy for instance does make a difference, but not as much as proper heat treat or geometry. When I use a knife that doesn't cut well or hold it's edge very long, I look to the bevel geometry first these days. My tendency used to always be to consider the steel alloy or hardness but often it's confusing if the...

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Brent Stubblefield
Holiday Fever, or Running a Seasonal Business

Holiday Fever, or Running a Seasonal Business

Every year in the knife shop has a predictable seasonal pattern. Summer is always the slow time but things start to pick up as the weather cools down. More people need knives as hunting season comes in and slowly the pace builds to a crescendo as Thanksgiving and Christmas near. After a few slow weeks over the holiday things ramp back up for knife making classes for the rest of winter and early spring. As things warm again there is a bit of a bump for spring turkey season and new fishing opportunities but no time compares with the pace...

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Brent Stubblefield
Challenges of turning hobby to business.

Challenges of turning hobby to business.

Turning a creative hobby into a business is always risky. It’s especially crazy to do when you are the sole provider for a family of five and that hobby is hand crafted knives. Several years ago I made the decision to shut down my residential renovation business to pursue knifemaking full time. The truth is that I never was very good at making money in the remodeling business so it actually made sense to fall back on my hobby. This is the opposite of the traditional “don’t quit your day job” wisdom but for me in was the right thing...

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