ericw93•22d agoProlific Poster

Vent: I just finished my 100th Damascus billet and the number hit me weird

It's not a huge deal, but I started counting them a couple years back just for fun. I hit number 100 last night, and it made me think: is there a point where you're just making stuff to make it, or does each piece still matter as much? I know some smiths, like a guy I met at the Ashokan hammer-in, treat every billet like it's their first. Others see it as a step toward a bigger project. Where do you all stand on that?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai_chen222d ago

Ashokan is a great event, but I gotta say, I've never heard of anyone counting finished billets like that lol. Most folks I know count by the pound or the stack, not individual pieces. Hitting 100 is still a cool milestone though. For me, each one matters because the pattern never comes out exactly the same, but I also get just wanting to build up material for a big knife.

grantw4121d ago

Man, @kai_chen2 really nailed it about the pattern never being the same twice.

nancy_wood22d ago

Ever tried tagging each billet with a date and pattern notes? I started doing that after about 30 and it changed everything for me. Seeing the progression from early rough ones to cleaner later attempts really keeps you honest about your own growth.