Becoming a full-time maker, what should one expect?

What Bufford described is what has kept me from going out totally on my own since the 1970s, when I first became a professional. Honestly, it takes a lot of courage to give up the security of a regular paycheck and benefits. I was never that courageous.

I probably would have done fine... perhaps significantly better than I did as a corporate wage slave. But what might have been is no longer important to me. What is and what will be is all that matters.

If you can find a path to security and happiness that doesn't involve being a wage slave, more power to you. I salute those of you that succeed.

- Greg
 
Aswell being debt free,positive attitude and willingness to do what you have to do on a daily basis.being fully set up to run that bussiness,aswell customer satisfaction is #1 priority ,remember being you own boss has its goods and bads,it isnt easy by no means,dont leap before you hop first
 
I for one am sure glad I don't have to do this for a living. Don't get me wrong, it IS a passion for me. But the knives I love build and how I love to build them make it so that I would not even make half the minimum wage.
I would suggest as others have said to find a good paying job and/or spouse that can support you and keep this a hobby.
Good luck if you give it a try.
 
Sounds like the consensus is dont become a fulltime knifemaker if you can help it. :D I just started out and hope I can enjoy the hobby for awhile and sell a few knives along the way to help pay for it.
 
Well if we hadnt had Phillips insurance we would have had about $150,000-$175,000 worth of medical bills in last five years or so because of several surguries and countless tests..
What if knifemaking had been our only income?????? A lot of knifemakers have a wife/husband who have a full time job and/or benifits..
Im surely not saying dont do it, what Im saying is that there is a lot more than money and debt to think about
 
You buy your own insurance.
We do a health savings account. It involves a big deductible...about $4k, but everything after that is covered.
Essentially catastrophic coverage, since you're paying for everything up to $4k. But me and the wife are under $200/month. It's going to cost a lot more than that shortly as such plans are expected to go away under the new system.
 
Patrice Lemée;11594593 said:
How long have you been married Don? I thought you'd have figured that one out by now. ;)
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32 years, but I'm the boss. I think? ;)

Actually, I am very content with everything at this point.
 
Seriously, don't quit your job until you know you have the demand for what you're doing and at least a plan as to how to deliver. Don't put your faith in the idea that "if you build it, they will come." ... Maybe, but there's no reason to jump off a cliff to prove it.
Make your knives and when there's enough real demand through a proven retail system (which should probably involve dealers and direct sales), that if fulfilled can account for more money than you're making now, then it's a good time to think about it.

That and be good at saving because things happen to the best of plans and you need to be able to float a few months if necessary.
 
This is such a reputation oriented business that it usually isn't wise to go into it until you have built a name for yourself and developed a number of regular customers. Once that you have NO DEBTS and a working shop, I would recommend not starting full-time until you can afford to live with no income for a year or more. This will help take some of the stress off. If you need a steady monthly income coming in, then I wouldn't recommend going full-time until your knife sales are providing it. ;)No one can fully answer your question but you, but it's a wonderful lifestyle when you get there.

Best of luck,

Gary
 
You have to be aware that the money you make from your sales is not your own, not all of it anyway.



Don't get caught out by spending every dollar you take in
The Government wants their cut in taxes.

(same applies to taking deposits don't do it)
 
Wow, thanks everyone. I love you all - this is really good stuff to soak in.

Sounds like everyone is on the same page here. I'll take it slow and test out the waters gradually through time.
 
Don, how long have you been making knives and how far down the road would you consider going full-time?
Do you have a customer base that would support your business? Website, email marketing, knife shows?
What is your niche? What sets your knives apart from the rest of the makers out there that would make them desirable?

I have had a fascination with sharp objects for as long as I can remember. When I was 8yrs old I used to take apart my mother's kitchen knives, regrind the blades and put on crude handles. It taught me a lot. I seriously began making knives when I was 16. I had no bills and no responsibilities and it did not matter if I sold anything because it was all a learning experience. I worked on knives in the summers in high school and in college. Selling these early knives allowed me to build capital and invest in equipment. I am now 36 and have been making knives for 20+yrs. It has taken me a long time to get to where I am and I have paid my dues. There are a lot of makers that because of the internet become an overnight sensation but who knows if they are in it for the long haul? Have they gone to shows halfway across the country and not sold anything? I know that I have.

There is a lot of good advise here and to sum it up I think that you should think long and hard about becoming full-time until you know that you will have a viable business. Put in your time and learn all that you can. Be versatile and make more than fixed blades, know your market.
 
Well I'd like to give you a little encouragement. The knifemaking business has been pretty easy for me and I went into it without a plan. I went full time in 2006 and had only been selling knives for a year or so before that. I didn't know what to expect because I didn't expect anything. I did it because I really liked making knives and the reward was not having to get a regular job. It was never my ambition to make a lot of money. I was just happy to pay the bills, and buy food. I never dreamed it would get like this but this job is by far the best job I've ever had. Actually it's the only good job I've ever had. I don't make a lot of money but now I'm making more money than I've ever made in my life and I don't even work that hard. Getting up and going to work is not difficult at all and usually I even look forward to it.

What I'm trying to say is that it's probably not easy for most people but it can be done. Maybe I was lucky but I'm sure thankful to be where I am in this business. Oh and I couldn't have done any of it without bladeforums and the internet.
 
Don Nguyen said:
Of course, this is speculation down the road for me. I'm constantly thinking about it though, day and night.

Two of the biggest concerns I'm aware of are money and enjoyment. Supporting myself I'm not worried that much, but when time comes that I may have to support a family, then everything is in the unknown. When I make knives in my spare time, I love it, but when I have to make a knife to pay for rent and food, maybe I'll grow to hate it.

I'd really love to hear the stories of all you full-time makers and everyone else who has thought about or is thinking about going full-time. There are an infinite number of factors I don't even realize exist, so any piece of knowledge you have to share I'm grateful for.

Thanks everyone.

-Don Nguyen
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Hey Don,

I love threads like this! Thanks for a GREAT(!) question. Lots of good ideas, suggestions and advice from some good folks. For my part, I wonder more about you and who you are and where you're at (biographically speaking). How old are you? What is your present lifestyle? What do you do now? What are your goals? What is your approach to life? Etc? Etc?

I ask because the type of person and your approach to life and your journey here on Earth might have some bearing on how you might choose to proceed.

For instance, when I was a young fella the kind of advice being given here wouldn't have meant a damn to me. At 17 I hitched hiked out of my little small-town-USA corner of New England—after selling my meager collection of scuba and hunting gear, then buying some highfaluting camping/hiking gear (stuff available in the 70's). I just followed my nose and hooked up with various folks and learned stuff...a kind of informal apprenticeship lifestyle I guess. Learned more bushcraft stuff from mountain-men type folks in the Rockies of Idaho. Learned silversmithing from a fella in Oregon that traded silver for turquoise with native Americans (were they called that back then?) in the SW. Learned lost wax casting production from a fella in Atlanta. Learned small foundry work from a fella in NC. Learned a whole lot about sculpting from a fella in TN. Learned stuff from a retired metallurgist from Belgium. Learned a LOT from an old man, his son (who apprenticed in Germany) and his hired smiths goldsmithing in Beverly Hills. Learned a WHOLE lot of other stuff in that "neck of the woods" too. :rolleyes:

Much of the time I didn't give two hoots in hell for money. Some summers I lived with friends in camp grounds and made silver jewelry on picnic tables with a "shop" kept in a jockstrap duffel bag. Some of us were pretty good at making stuff (yours truly) and other were REALLY good at peddling it. One gal could sell rings to guys who didn't have fingers...or was that ice to Eskimos...I forget. ;) Some of us ended up settling down in what used to be called communes. We leased buildings in small towns and ran art galleries...made love (not war) and sold stuff in city parks' arts and crafts festivals and generally had a heck of a good time!

Now I'm married and raising a family. Was making a go of it farming (that's another story), but ran into lease issues and had a daughter to put through private high school on another island (she's in 2nd year of college now) and a son also in private school (5th grade now). So things have changed. Now I teach (in that private school so my kids can go there) some of the stuff I've learned, what I call Earth Arts (art with substance): coppersmithing, blacksmithing, jewelry making, stone carving, wood working, etc, to high school students. I'm getting paid (just about my first real job) to play...my colleagues all have degrees in this, that and the other thing. Of course there's trade-offs to everything...

Anyway, what I'm trying to get at, is so much of what lies before you has the potential of rising up to meet what lies within you. Heck, why not follow your love? If you can't now, when can you? Along the way I learned double entry accounting (pre microcomputers, which makes it pretty easy now), shop management and safety (I can't believe some of the stuff I've survived), cooperative business management, group dynamics, desktop publishing, etc., etc.

As I said, so much depends on you and your essential self (so to speak). Heck maybe getting a high school education via four years in college (and its price tag) is more your speed. Maybe you've already done that...I don't know. Maybe you still live with your parents. Maybe you've got a doctorate and live in a penthouse somewhere. Maybe you type your posts to this forum from a PC in a public library...I have no idea who you are and the nature of your beingness.

But...I wish you well and thank you (and everyone else) for your quest and contributions to this forum!

All the best, Phil
 
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Follow your dreams and work hard!

I feel you need to be in the top percentile of makers to really make a living, being full time alone will not bring you a paycheck. That is what I like though! The constant challenges keep it interesting.

I have been running my own business for 1/4 of my life and tried a lot of things. I thought I was doing what I wanted at the time but when I started making knives I KNEW that was what I had to do. You have to find something that you really like! I like the constant change and challenge so that keeps it fun for me.

I now get to do my "hobby" full time and it is even more fun! (I have somehow been full time since knife #2) I get to spend all of my time on design and execution so it is a blast for me.

(I once moved to the Virgin Islands with only $20 too... but that worked out as well! :D )
 
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Chuck Gedraitis Knives said:
Don, how long have you been making knives and how far down the road would you consider going full-time?
Do you have a customer base that would support your business? Website, email marketing, knife shows?
What is your niche? What sets your knives apart from the rest of the makers out there that would make them desirable?
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Chuck I really appreciate the reality check. I’ve got pretty much no experience with the actual field – I’ve only made a couple knives since starting last year. There are a few people who have been interested, but I don’t have an actual customer base.

Really puts it into perspective for me, and makes me think hard about what I want to do. I’ll take it slow and get the feel for it before any big jumps.

Phil Dwyer said:
Hey Don,

I love threads like this! Thanks for a GREAT(!) question. Lots of good ideas, suggestions and advise from some good folks. For my part, I wonder more about you and who you are and where you're at (biographically speaking). How old are you? What is your present lifestyle? What do you do now? What are your goals? What is your approach to life? Etc? Etc?

I ask because the type of person and your approach to life and your journey here on Earth might have some bearing on how you might choose to proceed.
Click to expand...

Thanks Phill!

I’m currently 21 and studying Materials Engineering at the University of Arizona. I’m behind in the curriculum and will probably graduate in 4 years from now. Right now all I do is study and daydream about knives. I love to design things and make them – that’s one of my favorite parts about making a knife. I look at everything and try to think up of a new design for it, and I used to want to be a car designer.

I’m not sure about my goals in life exactly, or my approach to life. I guess I’m too young :) I have ideas but chances are they’ll change.



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I guess another question I have to ask is, what makes it enjoyable for you full-time makers? What do you do as to not hate it? What makes you hate it in the first place?
 
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