[TexasJack]

1. Does the blade geometry do the function it's intended for? (Stabby versus slashy, for example) I watched a friend make a very nice dagger for a contest. He lost to much lesser blades because most of the tests called for slashing water bottles, sand bags, etc. I tried to field dress a deer once with a really nice new knife. But it turned out to be too long and awkward to get the job done and I had to fall back on an old Buck knife to get the job done.

2. Does the handle fit comfortably in the hand? People have different sized hands. What is super comfortable for me would be too big or too small for someone else. Finger grooves are great, but that locks in the hand size even more than a straight handle. The material can make a difference, too, particularly if it's slippery.

3. How much of a guard does it need to be safe during use? A guy showed me a very nice knife that he had that he was afraid to use because the guard was almost nonexistent. It was too easy for his hand to slip up onto the blade. A dagger needs a pretty broad guard, but you don't want too much on a hunting knife.

4. Good materials are important, but good technique is just as important. If things don't fit tightly, or if they're not solid, then the best materials won't make it work. Good, even adhesive layers, Good shaping and sanding techniques make a knife really stand out.

5. A knife needs a home. Usually that means a quality sheath. A desk display or a presentation box or anything along that line will help. Don't make a great knife and stick it in a piece of leather stapled together.

6. Power tools allow you to screw things up much much faster than you can by hand. There's a remarkable desire among new knifemakers to buy as many toys as they can. It rarely results in them making better knives. Every knifemaker should buy a copy of Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop. Understand what stuff is really needed and what stuff is just nice to have.

7. Treat those who take the time to share knowledge and teach others how to do knife making or other similar skills as if they were made of platinum. You can learn more in an afternoon from someone who really knows the art than you will learn in a lifetime of reading or watching Youtube. Those who teach are blessed. When you teach someone, a part of you goes forward in their work. Not only that, but if they teach that in the future, a part of you continues long after you become worm food.

8. There is science in knifemaking and there is art. Science will let you pick out the materials and make them work correctly. But art is what makes a knife special. You look at someone who is really an artist, like Tai Goo for example, and sometimes their work is just astonishing. How did they see that form in a block of wood and chunk of iron? Sometimes the art can even be a bit mystical. You make a blade and then start going through the handle materials. That particular blade may not match up with any of a hundred different blocks of wood, but then there's that one block that has just the right grain to give the knife it's own soul. I've seen knifemakers fill a room with blades and handle materials and spend hours trying to get things to match up. It's an art.

9. I love metal polish, but there's a time and place for it. When you go to a knife or gun show and see a display where everything is so shiny that it hurts your eyes, just walk away. They're trying to cover up something by distracting you with "shiny".

10. If you're at a show of some kind and selling your knives, you will never be successful spending your time watching videos on your phone. Look at your customers. Talk to them. Act like they are important in your life - because they are. Nobody gives a crap about what the chef thinks about the meal he prepared. It's the customer's opinions that count.