7 yr. old maker wants to sell a knife-what do I do?

SDS

SDS

Joined
Oct 22, 2007
Messages
1,389
I have a little bit of a dilemma. My son is 7 and he enjoys coming out to the shop and tinkering about from time to time. I don't let him out there when I'm busy making knives usually because I don't like the distraction of having to watch him to be sure he doesn't get hurt.

He has made a couple of knives and he came to me about his last knife a few days ago. He wants to put it up for sale. He first wanted to ask $200 for it. We had to have a long talk about value, perceived value, what other makers (who have been selling a lot of knives) get for their knives and what his knife might realistically bring.

Anyway, my dilemma is what to do?? Do I list his knife for sale and just see what happens? If it doesn't sell will it crush his creativity? I thought about buying it myself but I don't want to give him a false sense of self esteem. I know that if I buy it he will just want to make another for sale and then we'll be right back to where we are today.

Help???

Here are a few pictures of the knife he wants to sell. He decided, after much discussion, that he wants to ask $50 for the knife. It is 154CM with pakkawood handles held on with corby bolts.

003_renamed_15312.jpg


006_renamed_21766.jpg


007_renamed_15925.jpg


008_renamed_30239.jpg


005_renamed_10589.jpg


Help me figure out what to do please???

SDS
 
Well, This is the way I see it............

If you are worried about what he will be like ask yourself this.
What if it sells then what? Is he going to want to make a bunch more to sell?
If It does not sell is he going to be depressed?

One thing to keep in mind and maybe talk to him about is.........
He is not old enough to sell anything.
He is only seven all I see is harm being done.

Again this is just my opinion.
 
Bigern26, that's kind of how I feel about it too. On the one hand I don't want to GIVE him anything, I want him to earn whatever he gets. I also don't want him to be discouraged if it does not sell or get a huge ego if it does sell.

I posted this up in the general forum as well as here. One of the suggestions that I really liked was to make a deal with him. Allow him to sell knife #5 or #6 or give him a standard to reach before I allow him to sell.

This parenting thing is pretty tough all of the time but this one kind of hit me when I wasn't looking. Just not sure how to handle it.

Thanks for taking the time to offer your opinion.

SDS
 
Maybe a relative would be interested in buying it, then holding on to the knife just to keep it around. A valuable lesson could be taught about earning money and how to save or spend it. The only kids I have are girls so they aren't real interested in knives. But the oldest saved money from gifts and some that she had earned to buy something she really wanted recently. My wife and I let her because she had worked for it. Hopefully she learned something and if not the lesson can be repeated until she does. Let him sell it.
 
If he's going into business, wait 'til he gets your materials, supplies, shop and equipment rental, coaching and heat treating services bill. He'll end up owing you double the $50! ;)

This could go any of a number of directions, all of which could be positive. Good luck Dad! Let us know how it goes.
 
I made my first knife at 7 (wish I had it) and no I didn't try to sell it. Later when I started putting handles on blades I talked to everybody that would listen and people asked if I sold them--it began from there. Probably not a good idea to let him sell it to kids though. If he's big enough to make it he's big enough to understand or want to understand if it doesn't sell. Good Luck.
Ken.
 
First I would ask him why he wants to sell it? Does he plan on making more? If he does then I would say allow him to sell it with the understanding he will invest in the materials for the next one. The price he gets may not cover the total cost but it will give him an incentive to do better the next time. If he does not plan on making more then I would advise him to hang onto this knife. It will be a great reminder of the time he spent on it. It looks pretty darn good for a first knife. It is even better that he is only 7. Do we see another Josh Smith or Kyle Royer in the making??
 
It sounds like he is interested and enjoys some time in the shop, which is good. You may talk to him about how many of the makers wish they had held on to their first knives(s), I see a lot on here that wish they did. Several years ago at the show in Eugene, Gavin Hawk had if not his first, then a very early knife for sale on his dads table. Gavin was probably in his early teens then, every time I think about it I wish I’d of bought that one.

Todd
 
I would urge him to make knives as presents for family members. This will give him a chance to get better at his craft. I also think he should keep his first knife. In 20 years he'll wish he had. By the way the knife looks pretty good. $50.00 isn't a bad price.
 
Personally, I say let him try to sell it. Success or failure at this age isn't going to harm him. Kids are much more resiliaent than parents believe.

When I was a kid I tried to sell many things... with but modest success. It didn't crush my ego or my will to succeed when my sales were not as profitable as I'd hoped. When I did sold things it didn't make me super confident or egotistical.

I think one of the problems with parents these days is they overthink their own role in a kid's upbringing. We've forgotten how to parent naturally. It's like we believe everything we do or say has fourteen levels of meaning, and we only know three of them. It's all crap. To damn many experts and none of them really know any more than you do.

Believe me, you're allowed to make mistakes. Your kids should be allowed to try things, even things you KNOW won't work. They learn from mistakes as well as they do from super-parenting. Perhaps better.

Let him sell the knife. In fact encourage him to try to sell it. If it sells, let him keep the money or spend it as he will. It'll probably end up in a Nintendo or something anyway. Big deal... one less gift idea for his eighth birthday.

And if it doesn't sell, and we all know it probably won't, well then he learns some of those lessons about the values of things you were trying to teach him.

- Greg
 
I'm leaning pretty hard towards not letting this one get sold. I may offer to buy it for some cash plus materials to make another knife. He has worked on other knives before but this is his first knife that he made primarily by himself. I did help with the bandsaw work (I didn't want him cutting off his finger)marking his center line, and starting the plunge grinds. He did probably 80-85%+ of the work on this though.

Thanks for all of the ideas guys. I really respect the opinions on here and this one really had me stumped.

SDS
 
Definately advise him to keep it, its his first and I know I regret offloading my first...his got talent though, I'm sure in 10 - 15 years we'll be seeing big things from him :)
 
Between this thread and the one in the general forum I think I have this solved.....well, actually it was my wife's idea, but with input from everyone here as well.

I am going to offer to buy the knife from him for $35 and $15-20 worth of materials so he can make another knife. Me being a guy, I didn't realize that fathers day is next month. We will gift this knife to my Dad for fathers day. My Dad gets his grandsons first knife, I get the gift credit, and some day I will get the knife back when my Dad passes away.

Woohoo!!

Thank you all for the suggestions. This really had me buggered up trying to come up with a solution.

SDS
 
SDS said:
Between this thread and the one in the general forum I think I have this solved.....well, actually it was my wife's idea, but with input from everyone here as well.

I am going to offer to buy the knife from him for $35 and $15-20 worth of materials so he can make another knife. Me being a guy, I didn't realize that fathers day is next month. We will gift this knife to my Dad for fathers day. My Dad gets his grandsons first knife, I get the gift credit, and some day I will get the knife back when my Dad passes away.

Woohoo!!

Thank you all for the suggestions. This really had me buggered up trying to come up with a solution.

SDS
Click to expand...

That sounds like the best solution right there, the two people that will appreciate the knife the most, his father and his grandfather, bet it will bring tears to your fathers eyes to get his grandsons first knife :thumbup:
 
If you don't let him sell this one (and I think you should), tell him to put me on the call list for the next one. That young man has great potential and if I get it I promise it will be a motivator for a lot of people who want to get into the craft but doubt they can do it.

What a great lesson for your son. He buys the materials for the next one from his proceeds of this one and learns the value of the buck - and the work that goes into it.

Heck, there's kool-aid stands all over the country manned by 5 year olds. Good on him if he sees a business as well a craft.

If you do let him sell this one - or if its down the road, the only thing it needs is his makers mark. :thumbup:

Rob!

(Looks like has a good teacher too.) ;)
 
Don't sell it. Keep it. He'll wish he had when he gets older. It's good to compare your early work with what your currently producing. He should start a collection of his own knives, don't sell any until he has too many to store.

This thread reminded me of a knife I made when I was around 7 or 8. My neighbor had bench grinder and I remember trying to sharpen some metal I found in a parking lot. It's gone now but I wish I still had it.
 
I say mark the knife, irrefutable proof that he's proud enough to want to sell it.

I posted in the General thread, but I'll repost here, I'm on Tinker and I'd like to see you and your boys work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top