People have asked why I removed my string of YouTube videos about knife blade processing. I had over a dozen videos posted,
and described heat treating and its effects in knife blades. I had them up for a while but I've deleted them for several reasons.
The videos were short; this was a suggestion and requirement by
YouTube, because according to them, people don't have the attention
span to watch a video longer than about 5 minutes max. Unless it's
an actual show, drama, exposé, or documentary, few watchers
of YouTube are interested in an hour-long lecture about steel
treatment. This is a suggestion by YouTube, so please don't blame
me.
I could see that people wanted more and more and more
information, and wanted me to get into more detail, description, and
facets of knifemaking. It would be easy for me to fall into the trap
of making endless videos, since I love to talk, write, and present
(take this huge website as an example), and I simply have a big
mouth! While I'm doing this, I'm falling farther and farther behind
on my orders; this is not a good thing!
There were endless questions, questions that take time and
demonstration to answer. I've always said that there could be a
graduate-level knifemaking degree, because it literally takes ten
years to get proficient at knifemaking, and there are continual new
developments. Taking the time to answer all these inquires and offer
directions and details would quickly use up all of my time.
It's simply too much to present. If you doubt this, take a look
at this website. I've written every word (apart from the
testimonials and incoming emails) and it's over 600 "pages"
long. When I emphasize pages (web pages), it's important to
know that some of those pages represent hundreds of text pages in a
book. Take a long while and read my "Blades"
page, my "Heat
Treating" page and even my latest "Food
Safety and Kitchen Knives" page. Printed out, these would
represent many hundreds of pages of text. If I were to simply record reading what is written
on my website, it would take
months... months! Kind of sobering, isn't it? It's taken me since
1996 to build all of this, to do all the writing and presenting. To
"catch up" with a video set would mean many, many months, perhaps
years of work.
I had to continually police the responses because YouTube allows
anyone to comment, and trolls have nothing better to do!
Consequently, while most questions and comments were positive and
helpful, a few were just hateful or ignorant drivel, and nobody
needs that in their life. This is the same reason I only rarely post
on forums, because of the ignorant anonymous and the trolls. The
only other option would be to prevent all comments and that seems
limiting and non-interactive.
I had made several mistakes in the videos. One of them was
technical, an audio problem that bothered some listeners, and
frankly, I could do better. Another was some specific and technical
microstructure and process descriptions which could have been better
detailed and presented. Another mistake was in lighting; I was
filming in the studio and the light changes dramatically and was
distracting to viewers. Another mistake was not having charts or
using a whiteboard. I know this sounds academic, but to clearly
illustrate the technical parts of the presentation, all instructors
write and draw. Another mistake was the format. It was too
fractured, too detailed, and not a wide enough view was presented. I
own all of these errors, and I promise to do better in the future,
should the opportunity arise.
The future looks good; I look forward to remaking a video string
about my favorite subject, knives. I've been approached by several
production companies in the past, including ones that make knife
competition shows, but have declined those, since making a knife is not
like making a bowl of risotto. Others wanted to create onsite videos,
but when they discovered where the studio was located, they bolted in
fear. We have an ongoing joke here, "Everyone would rather take an
ass-whipping than come to Clovis, New Mexico." And this is true, we've
been told as much. We literally are many, many miles from any night
life, entertainment, or attraction, either outdoors or in! And... it's
kind of nice that way.
We shall see what comes up, but in the meantime, if you are a
videographer, producer, or have any clear ideas, feel free to contact
me; I always love to talk!
Feel free to research the many hundreds of pages on this website, the
very best singular knifemaker website ever to exist!
Hi Jay,
I've been using Phact for 3 months to the day, and it has a special place in my heart and in my family.
Phact makes an appearance at every Sunday/Holiday dinner whether it be steaks, Tri-tip roasts, Picanha, thick
cut pork chops, or bbq chicken. In fact, my kids (10 and 7 years-old) now get excited for a meal when they see
"Dad's Jay Fisher Knife" set at my place at the table.
Your work is truly amazing Jay. Phact is stunning to behold, but more importantly it's a functional work
of art. Even though it was not a commissioned custom piece, it fits my hand like a glove. The 440c handles
every cutting task with ease and cleans up so easily after use, and there's not a single blemish on the blade
after 3 months of use!
On a side note, thank you for you most recent page on Food Safety in Kitchen and Chef's Knives. It is so
badly needed in the culinary industry and clarifies so much misinformation. I try and share the link whenever
carbon steel knives are recommended for kitchen use.
Thank you for your latest comments about your YouTube heat treat videos. I must say I was sorry you
took them down, since a I probably watched them a dozen times, but I understand your high standards and your
desire to present the material in the best possible way. If you do still have them saved on a hard drive
somewhere, I'd love to purchase a copy for my own personal edification and collection.
Thanks again for all of your work and dedication to the profession!
God Bless, Adam
Knife and Sheath Demonstrations
On these videos, I demonstrate knives and their rigs, gear, sheaths,
wear systems, and accessories. It's important to have a visual so my
clients and other interested people can see how these systems all work
together. Mainly, they are tactical, combat, and counterterrorism
knives, and the arrangements and equipment I create comes from the
requests of my tactical and professional clients. When you see the
videos, you'll realize that a knife is so much more than a piece of
steel with a handle; it's everything in the kit that gets the knife into
the field and enables the knife in a successful mission.
Here's a Detailed video demonstrating my modular sheath frame mount system on
my Ananke khukri. It's a big
knife, and the modular system takes care of a lot of wear and change
issues.
A
long and detailed video demonstrating setup, wear, use of my modular
harness and knife sheath wear system, the most sophisticated and
versatile knife sheath wear system in the world for my PJ-CT, a
counterterrorism CSAR hybrid knife. The kit includes two complete
sets o modular sheath and wear accessories, one in black, one in
coyote brown. This includes locking sheaths in stainless
steel, anodized aluminum, and kydex, belt loop extenders, sternum
harnesses, spine harnesses, all mounting hardware, belt loop
assortment, horizontal and vertical, belt clamp straps, LIMA (Lamp
Independent Mount Assemblies), HULA (Holder, Universal Lamp,
Articulating) with Maglite Solitaires and Mag-Tac flashlights,
ventilated mesh pads, lanyards, Ostrich leg skin inlaid leather
sheath, and handmade 1000 Denier ballistic nylon duffle
A short video on packing the kit of one of my modular
counterterrorism knives, the Hooded Warrior. The kit includes two
complete sets o modular sheath and wear accessories, one in black,
one in coyote brown. This includes locking sheaths in
stainless steel, anodized aluminum, and kydex, belt loop extenders,
sternum harnesses, spine harnesses, all mounting hardware, belt loop
assortment, horizontal and vertical, belt clamp straps, LIMA (Lamp
Independent Mount Assemblies), HULA (Holder, Universal Lamp,
Articulating) with Maglite Solitaires and Mag-Tac flashlights,
ventilated mesh pads, lanyards, Ostrich leg skin inlaid leather
sheath, and handmade 1000 Denier ballistic nylon duffle
Art Casting Videos
Bronze Casting at Sharp Instinct Studio with Jay Fisher,
is a simple view of a small portion of making a custom knife stand
in solid cast bronze. I emphasize a small portion
because it's just the pouring and shakeout of the bronze casting,
and not the designing, wax carving, prepping of the wax model, sprue
and vent attachment, debubblizing, and investment that happens
before the burnout, and it doesn't include the steps after the
casting like fettling, cleanup, texturing, finishing, and patina
application! But the casting is the most visually interesting part,
and the reveal after the shakeout is always a treat, so that's why I
chose this portion of the creative process.
Hello Jay,
I was in the early stages of searching for a quality SRK and, eventually, I ended up on jayfisher.com.
Although I spent some of my younger years as a USAF forward controller, I have to admit that
I've never been much of a knife enthusiast. I really enjoyed the video on your homepage,
however, so I thought I'd type a few words of appreciation. Knife enthusiast or not, the underlying
message of self-sufficiency in your story really resonates with me. Please keep up the good work
and, even more importantly, keep spreading the word about old-world skills, problem-solving and
craftsmanship -- they're all dying concepts.
By the way, I was very pleased to see that you've dedicated some of your talent and vision to
military units like the USAF PJs. I trained and worked with some of them: and they clearly
deserve the recognition.
Have a good one,
--B.
Bronze Casting at Sharp Instinct Studio with Jay Fisher
Copyright 1996-2024 by The Jay Fisher Company. All rights reserved. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction by any means and imposes fines up to $25,000 for each violation.
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