Hit my 1,000th knife today and it snuck up on me

Been forging since 2016 out of a little shed behind my house in Dayton. Today I counted the finished knives in my old oil drum storage rack, just to clean it out, and I was at 1,003. That number hit me weird, like I've made a thousand of these things, most of them gone to folks I'll never meet. My first one was a warped little camp knife with a busted edge, and I still have it hanging on a nail next to my anvil. I remember thinking back then that if I could make 10 good ones I'd be happy. Now I look at the pile of failed tangs and cracked blades that didn't make the count, probably another 150 at least. The milestone felt less about skill and more about time, every hour at the forge adds up faster than you think. Has anyone else hit a number like that and realized the craft changed you more than you changed it?

2 comments

2 Comments

jason32828d ago

That line about craft changing you more than you changed it hits home hard. I did the same math on my own blades a while back and realized I stopped measuring by how perfect each one was, instead I started feeling the rhythm of the whole process. The failures taught me more than any finish line, and that thousand just means you kept showing up when the work didn't always cooperate.

smith.blair27d ago

I mean, that rhythm part really clicked for me too, once I stopped chasing perfection and just paid attention to what the work was telling me.