The following email is a conversation that I had with Shawn some time ago when he asked for more depth to the concept. I hope he doesn't mind my sharing the conversation:
sal
Hi Shawn,
Looks like you are gong to tax my memory?
In a message dated 11/7/2022 2:16:18 PM Mountain Standard Time,
shawn.houston@live.com writes:
Yes, it looks like I understand. You have put that into words beautifully, I think this deserves another thread? may I quote you?
Sure.
May I ask more questions?
When did "the edge is of ghost" first come about?
As I remember, it was last year some time and we made several cups and a print ad for magazines quoting "The Edge is a Ghost".
I did a search on the Spyderco thread and saw that it was first mentioned by you in 2014?
We made a steel chart where I expressed comments about heat treat as the Spirit, but I don't remember the exact quote. Joyce or Kelly might have some input there.
Also there seems to be more to this saying? "The Edge is the ghost, the heat treatment is the spirit..."
I remember there was another excellent quote from you but I can't remember where it was maybe in one of the older Blade HQ videos where you talked about the how we cannot hold the edge itself and we need a blade to support the edge and a handle to hold the blade?
If you think of the edge as a "Pure Form", then it cannot exist by itself and it needs some type of a build up to support it. Think of a mountain range and the "Edge" is the very tip of the mountain range. The medium used, whether it be Quartz, Bronze, steel or ceramic is the mountain range built up to support the "Edge".
In my "pitch" on our kitchen knives, I said, "The edge is the knife, the blade is there to support the edge, the handle is there to control the edge. When you select a knife by looking at the handle, you are looking at the "wrong end" of the knife. Some people get married that way, but that's another story.
Hope that helps.
sal
In a message dated 11/7/2022 2:16:18 PM Mountain Standard Time,
shawn.houston@live.com writes:
Yes, it looks like I understand. You have put that into words beautifully, I think this deserves another thread? may I quote you?
May I ask more questions?
When did "the edge is of ghost" first come about?
I did a search on the Spyderco thread and saw that it was first mentioned by you in 2014?
Also there seems to be more to this saying? "The Edge is the ghost, the heat treatment is the spirit..."
I remember there was another excellent quote from you but I can't remember where it was maybe in one of the older Blade HQ videos where you talked about the how we cannot hold the edge itself and we need a blade to support the edge and a handle to hold the blade?
Thank you
-Shawn
From:
salglesser@aol.com <
salglesser@aol.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 6, 2022 4:31:17 PM
To:
shawn.houston@live.com <
shawn.houston@live.com>
Subject: Re: "The Edge is A Ghost"
Hi Shawn,
I think you've got it. A ghost is something that we can never be sure of, know it all or even agree on if there is such a thing and the controversy is endless.
The way my thinking goes: Plato had what is called the "Theory of Pure Forms": There exits, in the ether, the "Pure Form" of a chair, Perfect in every way because it is just an idea. There are many physical manifestations of the "Pure Form" of a chair. They are all different, but they serve the "Pure Form" of being a chair because they fit within the idea, or "Pure Form" of the concept of a chair and serve its function".
Think of "the Edge" as a "Pure Form". An idea.
The "Edge", besides being something to be worshiped, (As you and I do) has been around for a eons. Humans have "Captured" the edge, some 50,000 years ago and they made it out of wood, stone, or anything they could find that could be "formed" into an edge. The "Edge" can die (become dull) and be re-born ( sharpened). Humans have made "Edges" out of many materials as the physical manifestation of an edge. Tin, brass, bronze, iron, steel, ceramic, etc.
That's why I say the "Edge is a Ghost", The "Pure Form", the perfect concept that we try to make. We sneak up behind it with support, chemistry. heat treat, abrasion, all to create that Ghost of a thing at the pinnacle of our intelligence. The '01 micron laser beam.
Hope that helps?
sal
In a message dated 11/4/2022 9:25:07 PM Mountain Standard Time,
shawn.houston@live.com writes:
Sal,
May I ask directly in your own words what this means?
I was assuming it means the edge is mysterious, something ethereal.
But I don't want to misconstrue; I like how you explain things.
Thank you
-Shawn
Or if Einstein didn’t become a physicist and was the ‘swordsmith’, the edge wouldn’t be a ghost.