Tough break, love the knife design and being able to watch it, even though it didn’t turn out as you like. Buyers of your knives know their getting top notch quality! Congrats man, you built that!
"No, you can't have it." So... what's you're saying is ... there's a chance? 😁 Seriously, thanks for showing this to us. Looking forward to seeing Version 2.
Will, The entire time through this video I was thinking "how does he F it up?", multiple times I literally thought "wow that isn't easy, that takes discipline", and your decision at the end is what I can only call, very respectable. Thank you for sharing and I hope that my work in my field follows a similar example when striving for quality and integrity. Well done man. Alex
I am sure I'm not the only person who enjoys seeing the failures almost as much as the successes. It shows that making is not easy and pros also struggle. It also shows how to recover from mistakes and that we're all always learning. Thanks for sharing, Will!
I'm actually really glad you made this video, Will. As a beginner blacksmith/bladesmith, I've already figured out... the HARD way... that a lot of my work is going to end up in the scrap bucket until my skills have greatly improved. My first two attempts at a blade went straight to the garbage; I wouldn't even want to admit to them. My third was my first (barely) passable attempt, and the one that hangs on the wall as my first COMPLETED blade. (Admittedly, watching fellas like you and Alec for inspiration results in my self-imposed standards being set pretty high... but that's NOT a bad thing.) But I can see where a lot of younger folks than myself might easily become disillusioned by the early failures and give up. It's GOOD to see someone with your credibility demonstrate just how normal it actually is to have things go wrong, and have to scrap a blade. Thank you for maintaining your humility and being willing to admit to the world that you, like the rest of us, are not infallible.
Great seeing the process when it doesn’t all work out. Makes it more real. Looking forward to seeing the final project. I hope to own one of your knives one of these days.
This was my favorite video you’ve ever made! I feel so informed and educated. I mean I dig the harmonica vibes but hearing you explain your process, design, and decision making with such candor and clarity just makes this video stand head and shoulders above so many other videos in this genera.
You are an outstanding young man. You could have just "finished" the knife, told your fans it is a great knife and collect your "youtube" money. Instead you used this as another teaching moment to show your fans the right way to approach a situation. Simply amazing.
I am really looking forward to the next video, I love seeing the whole process the wins and failures, they are both great from a learning stand point and make for really great content.
My young dude it is so nice to see you and others taking up forging and blacksmithing! Not one myself but my chosen profession shares a history with blacksmiths. Cattle Rancher. I am nowhere near as skilled in your profession but I know a few tricks. And watching your videos is always a joy and a learning experience!
I felt like this was one of your more educational videos, and I have massive respect for anyone who can own their flops publicly instead of shuffling them out of view. Thank you.
A French proverb says: "it is by forging that one becomes a blacksmith" ("c'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron") , which applies perfectly here. It is generally translated by something like "one becomes good at a craft only by practicing it a lot; by correcting one's mistakes and by redoing badly made pieces"
Doing what you do is not easy, hats off to you know knowing what quality of product you are putting out there. So many other would just be satisfied with however it comes out.
The irony here is, people would probably still pay good money for that knife - knowing the issues upfront, anyway. Just as much of your knife making skills continue to progress, so to does your cinematography. I'm really enjoying how well your videos are coming together. Great work, all around Will!
Man, what a bummer. But you're right - worse is chasing down the rabbit hole, investing a huge amount of time and effort, and still coming away unhappy. All I gotta' say is, if you're unhappy with how *this* one came out, can't wait to see how awesome the new one looks!
As any craftsmen gets better, they need to expect more from themselves. You won't be perfect but that shouldn't stop you from striving to do the best you know you can. Thanks for the videos Will
I would love to have a rejected project, but I fully understand that you could never allow your name on an imperfect piece of art, even though it would be a good hunting knife that I would use. Keep on doing your professional work young man. I look forward to seeing where you what you make and where you will be going.
Your video may be long and about a topick that doesn't atract tons of attention on TH-cam, but you sure do make me happy watching your videos, by bringing the joy of your work, and your knowledge about the craft to the internet.
Great to see a new video will. Cool looking blade. Can't wait to see more videos soon. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend Will. Forge on. Keep making. God bless.
It sucks to fail, but its really great the way you and Alex both embrace it, admit it and learn from it. It must be frustrating, but its really encouraging to see that mistakes can be made by someone as skilled as yourself and gives a but of hope to noobs like me.
I would still keep it and just display it on the wall.. As young as you are and to be that talented.. Just keep it one day you can look back at it and either still be proud of what it should have been and to see that you were skilled enough to know when to say "Just start over".. Being a perfectionist is not a bad thing.. I have been one on my work as a master carpenter for over 50 years. I have lots of projects that I kept, just so I could look back at as I get older, Now I am old (Young at heart) and it gives me great joy to know, I saved those pieces... Thank you Will, very much for sharing... I love watching young people that are very skilled & talented where most are lazy and care less...
I know that must have just broke your heart to throw away. It's nice to see that your standards are high enough to do it though. Keep that cool honest content flowing and we'll keep watching it.
Gotta say one of my bucket list items is to contract you make a Crocodile Dundee styled bowie knife with a unique Will Stelter twist to it. You do great work sir!
Hope the next knife doesn’t have all of those problems cuz honestly it’s heartbreaking to see a knife you worked on for a long time gets thrown in the scrap bucket :/
Daaaammm.... that hurts. That was looking great, I totally got your reasons and agree with them. But still really sad to see that going to trash. Can't wait to see the final version though !!!!
Will, pardon me, but I will be standing way over yonder during a thunderstorm. First, the powerhammer. Now, this. No telling what's in between. You sure do have some of that Montona stick-to-it-ness for sure. Keep on Keeping on!
Howdy from whitehall, Love the vids. As someone who played with knife making years ago, I appreciate your skill and knowledge. I don't think people understand the level of commitment it takes to be able to do the things you barely mention as a side note. Keep it up.
I did something similar a few years back and messed up a damascus knife and wasn't happy with it. I ended up cutting it into pieces and making damascus necklace pendants. Those turned out very nice. Damascus and silver wire go well together.
I like the quote about not hanging on to a bad decision because you took a long time making it. I think that might have been David Baker that said it on FIF. It works for a lot of things in life.
Hi Will! I love and appreciate the fact that you show and discuss the fails that you come across! I also respect the fact that you refuse selling a piece that you consider to be sub par! That being said, you have to think at the business end of things as well! You could do a separate line of products that are ment to recover some of your investment! Think of it as Toyota selling a Corolla from time to time, and not just Lexus. I'm sure someone is happy to pay 100$ plus shipping to have a Stelter Scrap that he/she could practice making a handle or, have the option to pay extra for you to add a handle! I mean... Getting something back, is better than not getting anything back, and some folks, are specifically looking for things that are imperfect! As long as they know what they are getting in to, the customer will be happy and it won't be a total loss for you! Any way you chose to go, keep it up as you are doing a great work!
Just making a point, as a machinist, surly not a knife maker, but sharp corners are major stress points for fracturing. Having it one piece right to the guard as a sharp corner might not hold up with hard use. A lot of machined parts I make call for radius call outs left in the corners so there isnt stress points. just a thought for the next one, to file in maybe a 1/16 rad at the guard. awesome work none the less, always sucks to have to scrap hard work.
Will, I think you might benefit from a "Fractal Vice", they're made to grab more organic shapes like you work with. Still the challenge of squaring it up, but at least it would let you grab the beast.
It‘s sometimes hard to make the right decisions. I don‘t have a scrap bucket. I have my wall of shame. I pin my „failiures“ (luckily not thaaaaaat many) at my workshop wall. It always reminds my of what I have to avoid in future.
Having worked with Alec, I think he picked up some of his work ethics. Be it learn and move on. I loved watching them work together on Alec's channel. They worked well together.
Sorry this first go didn't work out like you, but I love seeing the Beaudry put to work! Especially by someone as skilled as yourself. 👍👏😊 Unsolicited video feedback (feel free to ignore): I felt a bit overwhelmed by the amount of detail/narration. Consider editing the script down a bit to remove redundancy or excessive details/description. Truly though, I really enjoy your videos. Thanks for sharing your work with us!
All I can say is...cannot wait for the next attempt!! Enjoy the content and even though this attempt may have been a failure all that means is we get to see the second attempt!! Take care.
I make bags, I understand when you get one that just goes wrong in every which way possible. Those are the ones you slap together finish and sell at cost, because just because its not perfect doesn't mean someone wont pay you for it.
ah there's no such thing as a mistake in bespoke fabrication, just an unexpected creativity opportuniy ; ) another solid video and product, loving your work
You are such a better smith than Alec is. Your video content is so much better laid out too. I love to see you killing it on here, because I missed old school Alec Steele, now I got it back and then some extra.
I’ve always been curious, how do you avoid burning holes in your jeans? I’m a full time welder fabricator and I find myself throwing sparks into my pockets every other week.
I'm a maker and have thrown stuff away. I've chased problems until all the time wasted was more than just starting again. As time goes on, it becomes easier to recognize the loss, toss it and start again.
instead of throwing it away i would frame it on a wall with a fake or decretive handle just to be decoration , i have a few knives i just keep for decoration that i havent even sharpened yet, beautiful design tho. i hope one day i can forge myself a integral bowie
Sorry about the blade Will. Still love the videos and the content in general. You’re definitely a dam fine blacksmith so I’m sure you will make a badass blade in the end
Will, great seeing the process! You have shared so much wisdom to help makers move forward. Thank you!
Can't have been an easy decision, but nice to follow your thought process about it!
I look forward to see the second try. We either succeed or learn!
I thought the whole second half of the video was Will working on the mild steel practice blade?
Tough break, love the knife design and being able to watch it, even though it didn’t turn out as you like. Buyers of your knives know their getting top notch quality! Congrats man, you built that!
"No, you can't have it."
So... what's you're saying is ... there's a chance? 😁
Seriously, thanks for showing this to us. Looking forward to seeing Version 2.
Will,
The entire time through this video I was thinking "how does he F it up?", multiple times I literally thought "wow that isn't easy, that takes discipline", and your decision at the end is what I can only call, very respectable. Thank you for sharing and I hope that my work in my field follows a similar example when striving for quality and integrity. Well done man.
Alex
Kinda want to see that one etched, to see what pattern you ended up with..
Me too.
Me three, a tribal pattern would be so cool.
Agreed
I am sure I'm not the only person who enjoys seeing the failures almost as much as the successes. It shows that making is not easy and pros also struggle. It also shows how to recover from mistakes and that we're all always learning. Thanks for sharing, Will!
I'm actually really glad you made this video, Will. As a beginner blacksmith/bladesmith, I've already figured out... the HARD way... that a lot of my work is going to end up in the scrap bucket until my skills have greatly improved. My first two attempts at a blade went straight to the garbage; I wouldn't even want to admit to them. My third was my first (barely) passable attempt, and the one that hangs on the wall as my first COMPLETED blade. (Admittedly, watching fellas like you and Alec for inspiration results in my self-imposed standards being set pretty high... but that's NOT a bad thing.) But I can see where a lot of younger folks than myself might easily become disillusioned by the early failures and give up. It's GOOD to see someone with your credibility demonstrate just how normal it actually is to have things go wrong, and have to scrap a blade. Thank you for maintaining your humility and being willing to admit to the world that you, like the rest of us, are not infallible.
Great seeing the process when it doesn’t all work out. Makes it more real. Looking forward to seeing the final project. I hope to own one of your knives one of these days.
This was my favorite video you’ve ever made! I feel so informed and educated. I mean I dig the harmonica vibes but hearing you explain your process, design, and decision making with such candor and clarity just makes this video stand head and shoulders above so many other videos in this genera.
Great lesson to teach viewers. To often, TH-camrs, only show the success and not the failures. Thanks and good work Will.
You are an outstanding young man. You could have just "finished" the knife, told your fans it is a great knife and collect your "youtube" money. Instead you used this as another teaching moment to show your fans the right way to approach a situation. Simply amazing.
One of the things I enjoy, is you show how difficult it is to achieve quality and your refusal to accept anything less from yourself.
I am really looking forward to the next video, I love seeing the whole process the wins and failures, they are both great from a learning stand point and make for really great content.
My young dude it is so nice to see you and others taking up forging and blacksmithing! Not one myself but my chosen profession shares a history with blacksmiths.
Cattle Rancher.
I am nowhere near as skilled in your profession but I know a few tricks. And watching your videos is always a joy and a learning experience!
I felt like this was one of your more educational videos, and I have massive respect for anyone who can own their flops publicly instead of shuffling them out of view. Thank you.
A French proverb says:
"it is by forging that one becomes a blacksmith" ("c'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron") , which applies perfectly here.
It is generally translated by something like
"one becomes good at a craft only by practicing it a lot;
by correcting one's mistakes
and by redoing badly made pieces"
Aprender de los errores y mostrarlos al publico es una virtud...exelente trabajo espero poder seguir aprendiendo de los mejores como vos gracias...
Doing what you do is not easy, hats off to you know knowing what quality of product you are putting out there. So many other would just be satisfied with however it comes out.
The irony here is, people would probably still pay good money for that knife - knowing the issues upfront, anyway.
Just as much of your knife making skills continue to progress, so to does your cinematography. I'm really enjoying how well your videos are coming together.
Great work, all around Will!
Love your sense of humor, and your commitment to doing it right.
Man, what a bummer. But you're right - worse is chasing down the rabbit hole, investing a huge amount of time and effort, and still coming away unhappy.
All I gotta' say is, if you're unhappy with how *this* one came out, can't wait to see how awesome the new one looks!
As any craftsmen gets better, they need to expect more from themselves. You won't be perfect but that shouldn't stop you from striving to do the best you know you can. Thanks for the videos Will
Man, I love watching your work sir!
Aw man, I'm sorry that you had to stop after being so proud of it. I would like to see you finish this
at 9:50 I had to take a moment to enjoy that forged shape. You are getting way better at that.
I admire your honesty & your pursuit for exactly what you want it to be. I'm sure you'll knock it out the park.
I would love to have a rejected project, but I fully understand that you could never allow your name on an imperfect piece of art, even though it would be a good hunting knife that I would use. Keep on doing your professional work young man. I look forward to seeing where you what you make and where you will be going.
Using the butter knife to cut out the cardboard templates is a boss move. Love the videos!
Your video may be long and about a topick that doesn't atract tons of attention on TH-cam, but you sure do make me happy watching your videos, by bringing the joy of your work, and your knowledge about the craft to the internet.
Yup, hardest lesson to learn is when to quit on a project. Thanks for airing this, what must have been painful, episode. I like that you keep it real.
Great to see a new video will. Cool looking blade. Can't wait to see more videos soon. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend Will. Forge on. Keep making. God bless.
It sucks to fail, but its really great the way you and Alex both embrace it, admit it and learn from it. It must be frustrating, but its really encouraging to see that mistakes can be made by someone as skilled as yourself and gives a but of hope to noobs like me.
Much respect for staying honest about when to throw in the towel man!
I would still keep it and just display it on the wall.. As young as you are and to be that talented.. Just keep it one day you can look back at it and either still be proud of what it should have been and to see that you were skilled enough to know when to say "Just start over".. Being a perfectionist is not a bad thing.. I have been one on my work as a master carpenter for over 50 years. I have lots of projects that I kept, just so I could look back at as I get older, Now I am old (Young at heart) and it gives me great joy to know, I saved those pieces... Thank you Will, very much for sharing... I love watching young people that are very skilled & talented where most are lazy and care less...
Plenty of perfectly placed plosives in this planned project. Love it.
Positively punny person penning prose?
I know that must have just broke your heart to throw away. It's nice to see that your standards are high enough to do it though. Keep that cool honest content flowing and we'll keep watching it.
Gotta say one of my bucket list items is to contract you make a Crocodile Dundee styled bowie knife with a unique Will Stelter twist to it. You do great work sir!
Starting over is often the fastest way to cross the finish line. Great advice for many things.
Hope the next knife doesn’t have all of those problems cuz honestly it’s heartbreaking to see a knife you worked on for a long time gets thrown in the scrap bucket :/
Daaaammm.... that hurts.
That was looking great, I totally got your reasons and agree with them.
But still really sad to see that going to trash.
Can't wait to see the final version though !!!!
Will, pardon me, but I will be standing way over yonder during a thunderstorm. First, the powerhammer. Now, this. No telling what's in between. You sure do have some of that Montona stick-to-it-ness for sure. Keep on Keeping on!
Feel like this video is you back to your best and doing what your good at and what the fans want to see so well done mate keep up the good work
Howdy from whitehall, Love the vids. As someone who played with knife making years ago, I appreciate your skill and knowledge. I don't think people understand the level of commitment it takes to be able to do the things you barely mention as a side note. Keep it up.
Thank you for sharing your expertise
Bummer this one didn't work out Will but glad you're gonna give it another go! Can't wait to see it man...
Definitely had to say "no you can't have it" cause many people including myself were prepared to ask lol.
I did something similar a few years back and messed up a damascus knife and wasn't happy with it. I ended up cutting it into pieces and making damascus necklace pendants. Those turned out very nice. Damascus and silver wire go well together.
I like the quote about not hanging on to a bad decision because you took a long time making it. I think that might have been David Baker that said it on FIF. It works for a lot of things in life.
Gorgeous work as always, Will. You are great at what you do and your videos are a hoot to watch. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Will!
I love and appreciate the fact that you show and discuss the fails that you come across!
I also respect the fact that you refuse selling a piece that you consider to be sub par!
That being said, you have to think at the business end of things as well!
You could do a separate line of products that are ment to recover some of your investment!
Think of it as Toyota selling a Corolla from time to time, and not just Lexus.
I'm sure someone is happy to pay 100$ plus shipping to have a Stelter Scrap that he/she could practice making a handle or, have the option to pay extra for you to add a handle!
I mean... Getting something back, is better than not getting anything back, and some folks, are specifically looking for things that are imperfect!
As long as they know what they are getting in to, the customer will be happy and it won't be a total loss for you!
Any way you chose to go, keep it up as you are doing a great work!
Man that was a beautiful blade. I would keep the scrapped one for study purposes. It's a good example to learn from.
one of the hardest things to master when making knives, is to know when to throw it away. im proud of you
Really great video Will! The final is going to be such a nice knife!
I hate when that happens. Kudos for posting it and showing that it gets us all regardless of experience level.
Just making a point, as a machinist, surly not a knife maker, but sharp corners are major stress points for fracturing. Having it one piece right to the guard as a sharp corner might not hold up with hard use. A lot of machined parts I make call for radius call outs left in the corners so there isnt stress points. just a thought for the next one, to file in maybe a 1/16 rad at the guard. awesome work none the less, always sucks to have to scrap hard work.
Will, I think you might benefit from a "Fractal Vice", they're made to grab more organic shapes like you work with. Still the challenge of squaring it up, but at least it would let you grab the beast.
I can only imagine the feeling of scrapping such a nicely made knife. One day soon, I may have my own feeling like that.
Experience and skill gives one the ability to throw away days of work when needed, because you know you can repeat the performance.
It‘s sometimes hard to make the right decisions. I don‘t have a scrap bucket. I have my wall of shame. I pin my „failiures“ (luckily not thaaaaaat many) at my workshop wall. It always reminds my of what I have to avoid in future.
Can't wait to see the remake!!
Alec made his name from owning up to his mistakes and forging on.
Having worked with Alec, I think he picked up some of his work ethics. Be it learn and move on. I loved watching them work together on Alec's channel. They worked well together.
Sorry this first go didn't work out like you, but I love seeing the Beaudry put to work! Especially by someone as skilled as yourself. 👍👏😊
Unsolicited video feedback (feel free to ignore): I felt a bit overwhelmed by the amount of detail/narration. Consider editing the script down a bit to remove redundancy or excessive details/description.
Truly though, I really enjoy your videos. Thanks for sharing your work with us!
really liked the science in the narrative. keep it up.
Always enjoyable watching you work 😄
Is that sharp of corner between the guard and ricasso bad? I would like an 1/8"R would be stronger and look fine.
Glad to see your video!! Also glad to see your resistance to compromise.
Been a while since I’ve seen your videos. Your video quality and presentation have improved tremendously.
All I can say is...cannot wait for the next attempt!! Enjoy the content and even though this attempt may have been a failure all that means is we get to see the second attempt!! Take care.
Keep at it bro. I really just want to see what the Damascus looks like before you throw it away. Look forward to more videos.
10:34 I Should Have Expected no Less From Will "Id Rather Hand Sand" Stelter
Wow... Tough call Will, but it's part of what separates the hacks from the pro's. Keep up the good work.
I make bags, I understand when you get one that just goes wrong in every which way possible. Those are the ones you slap together finish and sell at cost, because just because its not perfect doesn't mean someone wont pay you for it.
Great video! Why doesn't the sheet metal stick to the billet when the billet is being forge welded? Is there a coating on the sheet metal?
The alliteration in this episode *chefs kiss*
the forging level is unbelievable, I mean the knife looks like ready for use before seeing any grinder belt
Keep at it Will! You're my new favorite youtuber, wish you had more content for me to absorb!
I can hear the Forged in fire judges yelling that you double heat treated the knife. hhahaha
I want to forge an integral bowie! That has been on my mind for a while. God blessed me with your video at the rite time. God bless you.
ah there's no such thing as a mistake in bespoke fabrication, just an unexpected creativity opportuniy ; ) another solid video and product, loving your work
Keep pushing yourself. Great episode!
You are such a better smith than Alec is. Your video content is so much better laid out too. I love to see you killing it on here, because I missed old school Alec Steele, now I got it back and then some extra.
I miss old school Alec too.
I’m sorry for your lose Will.
I know the pain.
Part of being a master at anything, is knowing when to quit. It is never an easy or light decision, but the knowing is what makes a master.
Keep at it mate. Love the work ethic!
It looks like a great knife. As long as you learn from your mistakes and become better is al we can ask...
awesome video. . humble. best so far. cant wait to see more. keep the good work.
good call on scrapping it. Never settle for mediocre.
glad to see ya will hope life is treating you good
I’ve always been curious, how do you avoid burning holes in your jeans? I’m a full time welder fabricator and I find myself throwing sparks into my pockets every other week.
Thanks for this Will you are the man!
Nice job on the rename, it makes the video look alot more appealing
I'm a maker and have thrown stuff away. I've chased problems until all the time wasted was more than just starting again. As time goes on, it becomes easier to recognize the loss, toss it and start again.
POPS was here... As usual... Time to get back to the cows and barn cats. 🐂🤠🐂
Ooof. That hurts. Looking forward to the next one.
"So anyway, I started hand sanding" should be on merch by this point.
instead of throwing it away i would frame it on a wall with a fake or decretive handle just to be decoration , i have a few knives i just keep for decoration that i havent even sharpened yet, beautiful design tho. i hope one day i can forge myself a integral bowie
Great to see another vid. Keep up the hard work!
Very good commentary Will. Well done.
Sorry about the blade Will. Still love the videos and the content in general. You’re definitely a dam fine blacksmith so I’m sure you will make a badass blade in the end