there's been some talk elsewhere of knife makers charging people for their time as teachers, and I think that's a really relevant avenue for increasing the bottom line if it were planned right and you could handle people.
I try not to ask for too much advice in my own endeavours for several reasons, one of which is to avoid being a 'borrower' of information. I want to be able to provide something in return. In this regard, I already have 'bills' to pay, (not to diminish any gift of generosity, it's just the way I roll). I am acutely aware of leverage, I watched lots of nature shows about gorillas
For myself, I have a wish list of makers I'd want as weekend mentors, (hopefully lifelong mentors if I dare to dream) who I'd rather spend money learning from than acquiring from. I mean, when you're buying a knife, you're buying the maker's knowledge and insight into the making of that knife, but if you're buying a lesson you're buying the maker's knowledge and insight into making knives, while all the while filtering that into your own dialectic through a collaboratively made item.
I'm going to save up for lessons and tools, and put the acquisition of new knives on the back burner. The more I think about knives and the more time I spend on the making of such, the more I see things about many of the knives I see that don't sit right with my eye. I feel that making a knife is making me a better judge of what I do and don't like, than simply buying knives that I like the looks of, and learning through buy-all and error
.
I really learnt almost everything I truly KNOW and keep with me about bicycle geometry from designing then welding/brazing a couple of frames. They are not exceptional or beautiful, but to me they say as much about my education on the subject as any degree or diploma would, (not that I have either, except from bike school...)
Now when you move up to forging big honkin' bowie blades, it gets a little trickier.
