HI All,

I have decided to run a competition through my facebook page, to make an eating knife.

in about 10 days, 5 people will be selected to be sent English Cutler eating knife kits as shown here http://www.todsstuff.co.uk/theenglishcutler/k...knives.htm

They will then have a month to make the kits up, decorate and customise as they choose, using the kits as a start point. I will then look at the pictures and choose a winner IMHO, who will the receive a pack of English Cutler items.

Entering is free and easy. All you need to do is like my facebook page www.facebook.com/todsstuff and send me an email saying you would like to enter to todeschini@btinternet.com and you will be put on the list for the draw.

Please don't send me mails about this to my regular email address and please remember you must like my facebook page too.

I will post up a picture of the items you will win in due course and of course all the 5 finished knives will get posted up as well.

Tod

Hey Tod,

Does one get to keep the finished eating knife kit on the top of the prize? :)

I'm in either way.

Cheers,

J

What the heck, I threw my name in the hat.

I've got a knife I've been working on (read that as rusting on the table next to a almost complete hilt waiting for me to try to etch or inlay the blade...) for several months and can't seem to muster up the motivation to finish it, so a deadline that forces me to "git 'er done" would be a good thing. ;)

That said, I doubt I would be anything but dead last in this contest, and I'd be doing it for the fun of it.

Julien M wrote

Quote:

Does one get to keep the finished eating knife kit on the top of the prize?

Yes you get to keep what you have made, I just want the pictures to judge.

Tod

Entered. :) Now where's my copy of "Knives and Scabbards"?

(They say optimism is a major step to success!) :lol:

Liked and email sent! This would be a first for me, so I would feel like a winner by simply assembling the knife properly. :)

That sounds like a very enjoyable competition. :)

So, does one have to make it medieval or does the makers have full artistic licence?

Cheers,
Henrik

This is a great concept for a contest. Well done, Tod.

Can't wait to see the results of this contest. Not exactly my sort of contest to enter (stuff I make looks...umm utilitarian I suppose is the nice way to say it :P )...but I'm all for watching what unfolds :) .

I guess now I have no choice. I have to get a facebook page to enter this contest. ;)

Will other sides materials be allowed or only the contents of the kits?

Leo! I'm in!
I just got a facebook account, liked your page and sent the e-mail. Hope I'm one of the lucky few who get to participate.

This is some great contest. IMO all participants will be winners and someone even more than the rest, while you get good publicity and hook people on the kits.
Best idea ever. :)

Amazing idea for a contest!

Is it allowed to use stuff not in the kit, like antlers, ebony & stuff like that?

Decided to join in as well - and this seems like really ineresting contest, as we will probably see a lot of variation among the end product.

I'm in. I don't like Facebook very much, but it turns out that it's worth having an account :)

It's a great contest. Its target audience is somewhat limited because one has to possess skill and tools required to finish the knives, but luckily I am one of those people (though my main interest is making armor). Whether I will be one of the five lucky guys or not, I really want to see what people will make of these sets.

Once again thanks for this generous offer and interesting challenge.

I don't know about skill, but I have a woodrasp, hacksaw, screwdrivers, vice-grips, etc, all stuff I used to make this:


One day, when I get around to it, it will have a seax blade in it. One day. (It looks better in the hand. Camera does not flatter it in this case.)

But anyway, the point here was not to show off... Ok, that's not quite an accurate statement, I'm a little proud of it, humble as it may be compared to many things on this board... but I digress. ;)

The point is that you can do a lot with cheap crappy tools if you try. I would encourage anyone to take up the challenge. You probably won't win if you barely know which end of the hammer to hold, but you may learn some new skills and use that as a springboard to do more in the future.



Edit: Obviously our ancestors did a lot with what we would consider cheap and crappy hand tools. Then, as now, not everybody got the finely crafted tools, but nobody had much in the shape of power tools.

And I did learn from what I show above and will use that experience as a springboard if I should receive one of the knives and participate in this contest. So, enter the contest.

The worse that happens is you ruin the knife, look like so much of an idiot everyone laughs at you, you're banned from any and all historical forums, you get an infection from a splinter off the handle, linger in the hospital for a few months, and die so horribly nobody ever does contests like this again and entire generations will rue your name... Or something like that. :lol:

As much as I love simple historical work, I'm thinking it would be fun to do something...surprising.

Thanks for the great response, I have had a stack of mails, but as I was unexpectedly called away for 2 days and haven't had a chance to take pictures of the prize and post it up or respond to the comments.

I am glad that you like the idea of the competiton, it should be fun and so far I have had 28 entries but there is still a week to go.

Aleksei Sosnovski wrote

Quote:

It's a great contest. Its target audience is somewhat limited because one has to possess skill and tools required to finish the knives, but luckily I am one of those people (though my main interest is making armor). Whether I will be one of the five lucky guys or not, I really want to see what people will make of these sets.

I must say that I totally disagree. The point of the kits is that the really tricky stuff (for someone without the equipment) is made, ie the blade. To make a simple knife with no bolster or butt cap all you need is a file, a hack saw, a drill, a ball pein hammer and an 'anvil' to pein against. The anvil is simply a heavy iron/steel object, whether it is an anvil (for real) a vice, block of steel or any piece of scrap like bits off a car or machine.

Sure, better tool kits will make better results easier, but I suspect we will see some good work from people with few tools. In my experience a strong will and the application of time is what really gets results above the size of the toolkit. Good tool kits just make the process faster.

Good luck to you all and keep the entries coming in.

Tod

Looks like at the time of writing my message I was too depressed because I remembered all the people I know who can't even sharpen a knife, let alone making a good handle. Indeed, amazing pieces of craft can be made with as little as a sharp knife and some sand paper. Add here a hammer and some kind of a drill if you want to set rivets. And a saw if you want to make cutting wood easier. Tools are relatively cheap and can be obtained easily. It's the skill and patience that are most important.

There are 4 more days to enter the competition to make an eating knife and I have finally got round to posting up a picture of the prize.

A belt with purse hanger, a turned pouch with purse weights and a burgundian rondel - total value about £250 - and you get to keepyour eating knife.

Keeo the entries coming.

Tod

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Gasp! I can tell you that your contest is working. I spent all weekend daydreaming and sketching ideas for how I would finish one of those knives. Now I see that prize and just can't stand the suspense! I have to build a knife!