Forged in Fire should take a clue from Netflix show "Blown Away"

Bigfattyt said:
It is very disheartening that they keep shortening the time and making the steel and parameters worse. It is a disservice to the show and makers who participate.

I know many talented....even world class smiths who would not ever do the show for these, and other reasons. Many who do the show are not good smiths. I've met in person, and looked at work from Smith's on the show, who's work I would not buy. Fit and finish not anywhere close to what should be presented in public, let alone for good money.

I've also met others in person from the show, and seen how nice the work they do is.

There have been plenty of makers on that I would love to have pieces from, including mastersmiths and those who's work is top tier, but do less well on the show, due to the silly constraints.

Never the less, I still watch the shows, and always look for people I know.
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The makers need to just pretend the knife is already paid for and the guy is driving up that AM to get it. Then they can get it done in the time frame.
 
I have wondered in the past if Netflix doesn't heavily promote some potentially popular movies when they initially come on the service because, like in the movie theater the producer of the content gets a bigger slice of the "ticket price: early on. Take a look at Netflix every first fo the month and see how many of the big films that Netflix did not produce are on the masthead early on. It may just be me, but it sure seems that way.
AVigil said:
Netflix renews shows based upon viewership. That is it.

They know exactly how many people watch a show, how long and how many times. They do that with all their shows to determine if it will be given more seasons.

Unlike regular or cable TV that just guess how many viewers they have.
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jdm61 said:
I have wondered in the past if Netflix doesn't heavily promote some potentially popular movies when they initially come on the service because, like in the movie theater the producer of the content gets a bigger slice of the "ticket price: early on. Take a look at Netflix every first fo the month and see how many of the big films that Netflix did not produce are on the masthead early on. It may just be me, but it sure seems that way.
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Probably because when a movie from outside Netflix comes on it has been out on DVD and other streaming for awhile.

Netflix shows get promoted more because they are new and they spend up to 9 million an episode on programs they make so it only makes sense to get that money back as fast a possible.
 
I'm not a fan of FIF due to the silly antics. I don't think it represents the craft of knife making very well. I still end up watching it because my wife enjoys it for some reason.

The show doesn't really prove anything and I don't like the idea of competitive art.
 
Yep! My wife enjoys FiF and watches it more than I do .. lol, I’m a stock removal maker that prefers Stainless Steels... Granted the show has brought more people to be interested in Custom Knives , one guy burned down a few buildings somewhere in New York because he saw the show a couple of years back.. he saw the show & it looked so easy to him!:rolleyes:... Note the disclaimer now at the beginning of the Show about the dangerso_O...................While I collect & have studied Ancient Swords, Knives weapons etc... How about them making a few Culinary Knives? The most used blades on the Planet by a long shot! ————-over the years, I’ve made .Silver Native/hippie type jewelry, blown Glass just a couple of times, Painted, done Batik, Copper Tooling, Copper Enameling and even took ma class in Metal Clays, I was the only man in a class of some 30 women , LoL, this was some 16 years ago before I met my wife.....————————————————- I love almost all hand made arts, The Metal Clay made me feel like I was playing with Silly Putty.. Yes! This has turned into a Rant! ;) I don’t have any Television solutions for the OP... I’m a happy knife maker!:D Everyone have a nice evening!:thumbsup:
 
I have a 19 year old daughter that loves FiF, I watch it with her, it's our thing. The show got me interested in making knives again, I made a couple many years ago with simple tools, files and sandpaper and very basic heat treatment. This site has taught me how to do it right and encouraged me to get into it much deeper than I had before.
 
mooniesdl3 said:
I have a 19 year old daughter that loves FiF, I watch it with her, it's our thing. The show got me interested in making knives again, I made a couple many years ago with simple tools, files and sandpaper and very basic heat treatment. This site has taught me how to do it right and encouraged me to get into it much deeper than I had before.
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good for you mate
 
We know that the popularity of custom knifemakng over say the last 15- 20 years appears to have tanked the prices of most knives compared to say the early 1990's. A basic forged 1084 fighter that would have cost you $375-400 dollars in say 1991-92 at the Guild Show in Orlando can be had for what now? But has the more recent surge in popularity because of FIF effectively killed off the market for most people looking to actually make a little money in the custom knife game? I look at the prices in the exchange subforum and they border on embarrassing. A nice stag and damascus hunter with a basic leather sheath for under $200 from a maker hat has been around here for a while? When did that happen?
 
jdm61 said:
We know that the popularity of custom knifemakng over say the last 15- 20 years appears to have tanked the prices of most knives compared to say the early 1990's. A basic forged 1084 fighter that would have cost you $375-400 dollars in say 1991-92 at the Guild Show in Orlando can be had for what now? But has the more recent surge in popularity because of FIF effectively killed off the market for most people looking to actually make a little money in the custom knife game? I look at the prices in the exchange subforum and they border on embarrassing. A nice stag and damascus hunter with a basic leather sheath for under $200 from a maker hat has been around here for a while? When did that happen?
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What happened is certain makers have low operating expenses, can make a knife in a weekend and turn a $150 profit and do it as often as they want to supplement their income.

Some also do a 100 grit finish, wrap in cord and charge $500 + and sell them very well.

I could have to wait weeks for a tapered tang fixed blade to sell for less then $200 or I could make slip joints pocket knives and have them sell quickly at $400+.

The market is fickle and people know what they want so they pay for it.
 
I'm interested to see the long-term effect of FiF on the custom knifemaking industry.
Only time will tell if it will have a positive or negative effect on pricing and profit margin (although I suspect we are already seeing some of it now).
 
kickert said:
I watch Forged in Fire for the entertainment value. If you want to see processes and best case scenarios, youtube is your friend. Plenty of excellent videos from from people with all different skill sets and equipment set ups.
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I agree. I know nothing of knife making at all, so it's entertaining. I have to admit (unlike a lot of folks), that I find it interesting that they take "junk" material and work it into something that can be forged into a blade. Kind of like watching the car builders take a piece of junk car and turn it into a piece of rolling art.
 
Also note, the “junk” often isn’t. Sometimes it really is true repurposing of something that in actuality was decent carbon steel. Other times it is something that only has mild, in which case actual steel is provided and the assignment is to forge weld, so the blade is really being made from the provided high carbon not the salvage. Often times high carbon steel is planted in the “junk” and the thing is really just there to be the backdrop of a theme for the episode rather than an actual source of steel. In the pinball episode for example the bumpers were replaced with bars of w1 to give an actual source of steel. Then the tests could be arcade themed and there was just a bit of extra showmanship for the average joe than saying here’s a 1” square bar of w1, make a knife.
 
Historically speaking blacksmiths used scrap to make most of their products so I find it also intresting to see people trying to forge scrap steel. I understand that those pieces of work don't show what the knife makers can do at their best but it's a different kind of challenge.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
My point exactly.
Just be glad it is increasing interest in handmade knives and swords.
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Not sure in the USA, but in Argentina at least is making our profession more visible, I get a lot: "you must be one of the last people who makes knives by hand right?" In that regard FIF is great, they even make a Latin American version with another format, the same contestants do many rounds until the grand final where scores are tallied and the winner is announced, its also cheaper LOL, only one takes the money home...

Pablo
 
I have been into knives as long as I can remember. Infact my earliest memory is cutting myself lol. I sometimes find it frustrating that FIF started a trend right as I had the money to start up. I wonder if it's all FIF though. In the 90s the best folder I knew of was a benchmade 940 Osborn in D2. I wanted that thing so bad I could taste it. Now I have one but it isn't even my best work folder. 10 years ago spiderco was making enduras and they were good but still looked like a cheap plastic knife. Now both companies make knives in damasteel and are considered mid range production makers. Is FIF really the problem or are there other market influences that are happening at the same time.
 
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