What is it regarding a genuinely handmade knife that will cause the pulse to run and the breath to become faster? Blade types and materials might be produced and manipulated via a machine or they may be handmade with anvil, coal, and fire.There has to be much more to it than merely the means of shaping and the materials used. There must unquestionably be something more to it.
Could it possibly be that a little portion of the bladesmith's essence is imparted inside every knife? Just maybe the long saga of the bladesmithing art takes with it tiny pieces of each bladesmith that has taken up the challenge smithing creates? That somehow by a certain psychic element endows the essence of the bladesmith in each blade he has produced. Is that all romantic nonsense? Possibly, but then again, maybe not. I can’t avoid but discern a change when I labor on a sword. As if in a certain way I transform and become one with the coal fire, metal, and ringing hammer, though it is simply a short-lived sensation.
It is a intriguing feeling. One that I tend not to detect whilst merely grinding out a blade. Is it a link to past ages? I disclose to being very passionate as regards history in particular. I have always enjoyed historical reenacting. This is an activity I've participated in for many years and I've got to express my feeling that it is a exceedingly satisfying experience. I am definitely not solitary in noting a distinction in the “feel” of a hand forged knife. Lots of individuals seem to consider that the experience of wielding a handmade knife is a positive one. I am not here to portray myself as a specialist on something esoteric or else sacred in character. My specific views on this topic are fairly dubious at best, then again I can’t help noticing a certain sensation. Some people acknowledge the feeling as “fitting” or otherwise “good” while a number of other folks seem to experience it as an exhilarating sensation. Is it an appeal to a facet of human makeup and our collective history? What about the nature of existence itself? Reincarnation? Is it a connection to something elemental in our genetic composition? We, akin to steel, possess iron along with carbon within our design. Is it a genetic/chemical kinship then?
We have all picked up a sword that just didn’t feel right. It felt “dead” for scarcity of a better term. Where has the life gone? Did it ever possess any? Cutlery stamped out in the thousands via the industrial machine lack the attention to detail and soul of a handmade blade. With no caring, living, breathing craftsman there is in many cases no energy in the blade. Although a machine made blade can be for all intents and purposes “flawless” in style and shape, it most likely does not have the feel of a weapon or tool wrought by human hands. The small idiosyncrasies of hand craftsmanship furnish the handmade knife a personality and individuality not capable of being duplicated with the modern mass produced mentality. Despite the fact that not “precise” from a scientific viewpoint, the hand forged blade is enhanced in more ways than just mechanics. Specifically like a much loved instrument or item of special importance, the handmade knife lends a particular amount of comfort and self-assurance towards owner. The wielder undeniably connects with the weapon’s spirit and so the two work more efficiently as a unit.
I do not understand for certain although I know what I sense. A superior-quality hand forged blade possesses an entirely special feeling to it than a machine furnished blade. Possibly I am an incurable romantic or a weirdo, for that's fully feasible. Blades that “feel right” just seem to beg that they should be set to use, even if that is pruning hedges, slicing tomatoes, or else doing practice thrusts around the garden as if making to slay fell creatures and save fair-haired damsels. Each one of the blades I have was kept due to it's feel. Several would not be considered aesthetically picture perfect and you can find even a real ugly duckling amongst them. Some may be fantastic in the balance along with excellence of fit and finish. But one detail they all retain in common is that they simply feel “right”.