Advise on knife making

[Sweet James]

If any of you guys like the idea of making or handling blades there are some great tutorials on this site. It might be worth registering if you fancy giving it a try. It's mainly run by some Brits but there are quite a few top US makers and European makers who visit and show what they've been making and how they do it. Take a look and see what you think.

UK Blades - the home for custom knife makers, buyers and collectors • Index page

 

[FordMan08]

Do you have any pictures of your shop? What is your process of making custom folders. There is a custom knife maker here in my town and his knives are very expensive. You sell them for $65, how do you keep your costs low?

 

[Sweet James]

We batch make them. We make 10-20 at a time - similar but all slightly different. In the UK we sell them for more but I was just trying to offer them here at a good price. The people who bought one or two from me seemed pretty happy. Cold take a few pictures of our shop if you'd like to it.

 

[cubby]

Do you have any pictures of your shop? What is your process of making custom folders. There is a custom knife maker here in my town and his knives are very expensive. You sell them for $65, how do you keep your costs low?

i know how expensive custom knives can seem. but remeber with a "custom knife" you are getting the entire support system from one, possible two or threee, people. that maker has to make, service, market, inspect, and be the WHOLE company. and still be competitively priced. NOT easy to do. the cost for most knives are not in material, but in man hours, and support.

pricing a knife, or any other thing or service a person provides, is the HARDEST part. why should a guy spend $50 more on YOUR knife than a similiar one at walmart? its a tough road to travel, but if you enjoy it, its worth it.

 

[FordMan08]

Pictures of your shop would be cool. Describe your method of taking raw material and turning them into functional knives. What steels do you use? Solid bolsters or pinned? Hollow ground blades? Do you make your ouwn serrations? How long does it take you to do that fancy file work, and what kind of files do you use? Thanks!

 

[Sweet James]

i know how expensive custom knives can seem. but remeber with a "custom knife" you are getting the entire support system from one, possible two or threee, people. that maker has to make, service, market, inspect, and be the WHOLE company. and still be competitively priced. NOT easy to do. the cost for most knives are not in material, but in man hours, and support.

pricing a knife, or any other thing or service a person provides, is the HARDEST part. why should a guy spend $50 more on YOUR knife than a similiar one at walmart? its a tough road to travel, but if you enjoy it, its worth it.

I agree Cubby. The most important thing is to enjoy it, to love it when someone gets a knife off of you and them really like it. The money isn't the most important thing. I sold a bowie to a guy in France for $500. It was a one off and really nice but I would have been happy to sell it for $150/180. He bought it on Ebay from me it at the buy it now price 2 hours after I posted it. He loved it. That was the best part. Some times I offer Bowies for £300-500 and nobody buys them!? It is tough getting the pricing right. They aint no good though if they sit in your shop either.