Do you do customs only, or do you offer a range of standard designs w/ custom options

Custom orders only or Batches w/ Customs

  • I make knives order to order.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I make small runs of basic designs to have on hand & do full customs.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
G

GrizzlyBear

Joined
Dec 5, 2009
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Just curious how most of you makers do your knives.

Do you only make custom orders where you have talked to the particular customer and got all their info, then make their knife?

or

Do you produce several models continuously that you sell as well as take full custom orders?

Basically I'm asking do you work order to order, or make batches of knives to have on hand and sell in a basic design?
 
For those of you who do batch runs, do you do them with lower cost materials and less embellishments?

Example: 'Knife A' is 1095 steel, micarta or low cost natural/stabalized wood handles, basic pins, basic sheath with no tooling.

Also, do you offer custom versions of your production knives?

Customer wants 'Knife A', but they would like stabalized Redwood handles, mosaic pins, and their sheath to have a basketweave stamp pattern.

For these semi-custom versions, do you have a set list of options to choose from?

For example: You offer handle upgrades in Ironwood, Redwood Burl and Afzalia Burl.
For pin upgrades, you offer 6 different Mosaics.
On the sheath upgrade, you offer light tooling (border line and stamp) or moderate tooling (basketweave pattern)
 
I have not voted since I feel I do not fall in either category.

I make custom orders and I make everything as 1 off pieces including non custom stock knives, I do make similar pieces but they are not exacts or batch runs.

I use top quality materials all the time and the list is to great to add here and I do not embellish the knives.
 
I make small runs and customs with the understanding that my equipment is very limited at this time. My hopes are to get the basics down while advancing my knowledge and equipment to handle more dificult work.
 
Mike, you make some very nice knives!

I realize I left out a couple of different options on that poll, lol. So, if you feel you fall into a different category, don't hesitate to post how you do things.

I'm asking these questions, because I'm trying to figure out how to do orders. Right now, I'm only handling blanks and doing custom sheaths. Money made from these knives will fund my learning of truly making knives.

I've completed one order, have 2 more I'm working on today, and another as soon as the blank is back in stock.

I worked on creating a small catalog of blanks I had at my disposal, so potential customers could pick a design they liked, pick the handle material they wanted, pin style, etc. (all within a certain price range) and go from there.

With doing blanks, I'm wondering if it would be beneficial to get several of a basic design and handle them with lower cost materials, make a basic sheath and offer them for sale....or stick with doing customer specific orders.
 
I voted, but will elaborate a bit. I have a hard time turning down work, and am not so consistently busy that I feel I have an option most of the time. So I do customs, build knives on "spec" to sell, and will occasionally send a few to a dealer.

A lot of the time what happens is I'll build a knife however I want to, post it for sale, and it's taken. Then I'll get some mails from folks who either want the same knife, or want the same knife with different handle, grind, etc. Or they may have liked the knife that was for sale on the forums, looked at my site, and picked out a completely different knife that they'd like a copy or "version" of.

Most of my custom orders are versions of knives that I've made. I don't usually make the same knife twice otherwise.

Another bracket of customer is the guy who sends me a drawing or tells me an idea, then we work the final design and materials out. Or they'll send me pics of a bunch of factory blades with different aspects they'd like to combine into a knife. I try to retain some artistic license with this type of work.

Sometimes I'll take factory blades and outfit/sheathe them. If the money is right. I don't usually mark a blade that I did not personally heat treat. (Don't want unknown factory steel/methods blighting my name if they fail.)

I just finished all my custom orders yesterday, and am going back to the "drawing board" phase.

I'll add: most of the knives that I make on "spec" are enjoyable and/or challenging to make. It's nice if you have a portfolio of finished knives for customers to look at, which have been designed and built by yourself. That way, it's a knife that's enjoyable to build twice or more, the design makes sense to you, and you have a good idea of where to price it. I also find that customers make their minds up more quickly and with less wacky ideas when they are looking at a bunch of knives you've built before and "picking" one. The most they may want is a change in handle material or an upgrade to mosaic pins, etc.
 
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I think it's important for a maker to build lots of prototypes (for lack of a better word) to develop a bit of personal style and see what works best. Having a couple/few standard models also simplifies things and keeps costs down (having a batch waterjet cut, HT'ed together, ground and ready for assembly/finihsing etc). Then you can have a couple nearly finished blades on hand and leave handle material and so forth up to a potential client.

But of course I'm not too busy to make something totally custom either.
 
SS- That's kind of how I got started doing orders for handling blanks and doing sheaths. I had made a kit knife, for myself, and took it to work to show some of the guys. Later on that day, I get a message from one of them asking if I would like to sell that knife! Well, since it was my first (you always keep your first right :)? ), I told him that I could get the same blank and make the handle how he wanted it and a sheath.

So I did. He loved it so much that he immediately ordered 2 more (same blank design, different handle materials) for his dad and brother. Then, he had a fellow at church ask him about his new knife...brand, where he got it, how much $$, etc. He explained that the blades are professionally premade and that I handle them and make sheaths. That guy wants one too :). And there have been several others ask about them.

While that blank design, is apparently fairly popular (3 different sites are currently out of stock), I would like to have other designs available to cater to more people.
 
All my knives are different even if similar in style. I take custom orders and those are usually based on something I have already made or a combination of. I also make a fair amount of spec. knives that I like and place them up for sale ...steve
 
I can't vote, because the poll won't allow me to choose both responses! :)

90% of the time I am making "custom" orders, but I do make "batches" of my EBKs. Although I do make a "custom" EBK from time to time, for the most part they are specific materials, which offer advantages both in their creation process as well as their use abilities.
I get bored very easily making the same thing over and over, which is why 90% of my work is "custom" or better yet "one of a kind".
 
I haven't made many knives yet, and certainly none to order, but so far I've only made two of the same type of knife, a bird & trout for my two sons. I think one of a kind is hard to believe when you have five identical blades sitting there. That being said, I recently ground out 4 nearly identical blades, but it's for a set of steak knives(that upon completion of the first, are way too big to be steak knives).
 
Unike Mr. Caffrey, I am still unable to get two knives to come out looking the same, so I guess I make "customs" :rolleyes::D
 
I don't really fit either category. I do a few basic patterns, and generally work in batches of 3-5 if I am HT'ing myself. I offer options for handle material and other details and I will do variations of my patterns to a customer's order within limits.
I have spent the last 18 months or so testing designs, both in use and in the sale market, and am currently doing a couple of larger runs with waterjet-cut blanks and commercial HT.
With my limited shop time these days, full custom jobs would take way too long to make either my customers or myself happy. I have been fortunate enough to be able to sell my own designs as fast as I produce them, with the occasional one fitted out per a customer's request.
 
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