Making a Knife :

This page shares my impressions of D making a D'Holder knife, along with some photos.

Although many visit D in his shop, D makes all his knives himself without any assistants or help. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a couple of days with D and Pat, and essentially watch a knife being made from start to finish.

Here are my notes on that visit:

My visit with D was very, very enjoyable and, highly enlightening too. I had read some about the knife making process on the different forums, and seen the occasional picture of some of the shops these folks had. But, I really was “lacking knowledge”.

At the show I had a couple of fellows who had spent time with D and in his shop, tell me how they were ‘amazed’ that he could speak with them and grind a knife blade at the same time. And, they were also most impressed with the fact that D did a minimal amount of ‘layout’ when making a knife.

The first thing that struck me upon entering D’s shop was the shop layout and equipment. I suppose that the word “utilitarian” is the singular word that best describes my impression. The shop itself is about 16 feet x 24 feet, well lit and well ventilated. There are several items that immediately stand out, such as the innovative dust collection system designed by D. Another is the modified surface grinder D uses to taper the tangs of his knives.

D was kind enough to go through the process of making a knife for me, so I was able to take photos and observe how a knife (a D’Holder knife anyway) was made. The one thing that struck me most was D’s “rhythm”. It was like watching a well-choreographed dance.

Yes, D has a lot of strength in his forearms and hands that most don’t have. However, he uses his body more than I would have thought – he flexes from his knees to his shoulders when making a knife. Perhaps the comparison between a weekend golfer and a touring pro is appropriate here. The touring pro has trained his body through repetition to repeat over and over the movement necessary to achieve the desired results almost unconsciously.

D has trained his body to the point that he can pick up a piece of steel (roughly shaped) and in literally a matter of minutes transform it into a rough knife blank that is ready to be heat treated.

In the above paragraph I intentionally used “trained his body” because I believe this is the case. His entire body is utilized in his making of a knife. Yes, his eye and his hands are foremost, yet the way he uses his body is a major factor, I believe. I watched him both rough grind a blade and final grind a blade on two separate days, and with two different blade styles. The placement of his feet and his body positioning were the same both times.

When D is grinding a knife I was amazed by the ambidexterity he exhibited, and I had to ask if he was ‘naturally ambidextrous’. Of course the answer was “no”, he had trained himself to be so when making a knife.

I feel that I have watched a “master artisan” making a knife, and I purposely use this term as opposed to a “master craftsman”, which I feel is but a component of being a master artisan.

Here are some photos taken on this visit:

D selecting flat stock cutting the blade from flat stock