I'm not here to dissuade you (rather, I'd like to encourage you), but let me first get this out of the way: knife making is a slow, delicate, painstaking, multi-faceted, sometimes frustrating process. It requires skill in metalworking, woodworking and design, patience, attention, and general levelheadedness. You have to take your time if you want to do things right, otherwise your experience will be sub-optimal. Even I have trouble with this sometimes, as this project will, itself, show you, and some of my past projects will blatantly scream...*wink.* Don't be frustrated if your first project doesn't come out the way you want it. All good things take practice, and you may make several knives--or several dozen--before you make one you really, truly have no beefs about. But it's good fun, too. You can do it. Don't worry.

My experience has taught me that there’s nothing like digging in and getting started. I’ve often said the hardest part of the most difficult project I ever completed was getting past the decision to get started. Once I get started, it becomes a matter of problem solving and never giving up. The great inventor Thomas Edison wrote, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

I have some strong opinions about how a new knifemaker should get started. I recommend the first knives be made with simple and even makeshift tools. That’s the kind of thing that lets you ease into knifemaking without spending a lot of money. If the simple method is not for you, it won’t hurt my feelings—just grab your checkbook and credit cards and head for town. Don’t forget the list of basic tools.