Fulltime Makers: Fears and Satisfaction

In 1970 I was 6 years old.

In Lake Holden, Florida a spry old man held me up on his hip so I could watch a big red-headed feller pount-out a Model 14 fighter out of 0-1 steel on a Little Giant power hammer.

That man's name was Bo Randall. 2 years later I gave him a Sperm Whale tooth I bought from an Inuit indian at a Native American show in Creve Cour, Missouri. Bo was a scrimshander, and I bought it for the express purpose of giving it to him. My grandfather was very proud of me. Bo actually cried when I gave him the tooth. He gave me a Bird and Trout knife with a stag handle in return, and gave my grandfather one of his first knifemaking tools: a hand-cranked giant whetwheel (which I still have.) I was doomed to be a cutler SOME day.

When Randall's Sheffield-schooled metallurgist and cutler Mr. Platts died I did not think my grandfather would survive it. We both cried and cried. :confused: :thumbdn:

His son-in-law Daniel gave me a Model 18 off his desk when I came by the shop one day for 100 bucks. I was 19. It was all I had on me as a college student, and I needed a good camp knife. Yeah, an 18 will do!

I started making lousy knives at the old age of 11.
I made "decent" ones at 28.
By 34 I was selling quite a few over 500 bucks.

Now at 41 I am part-time, and make what someone wants (within the margins of sanity) when my crippled leg will let me. Swords are my passion, but so few can afford what they want that it can be frustrating. I was never willing to commit to shows and travel, as I had my fill of it singing on the road for over 7 years.

It is pretty cool to see one of my old knives at a show selling for 10 times what I sold it for in 1996, I admit. :o

I still sharpen knives and mower blades for neighbors.
I have yet to become too big fer my britches. ;)

But I trim my shrubs with a katana that my friends would kill for! :cool:

Neighbor boys come by to watch me make damascus and ask the same questions 3 million times. JUST like I did, so I'm as patient with them as the giants were with me. (How many times did I interrupt Buster Warenski's dinner? Only Julie might know. It was alot.)

I am also a gunsmith with a little too much knife and gun work than my broken body can handle. I get by, but it will be a long time before I'm a full-time bladesmith again.

D
 
You are a deep and open, pragmatic man, Dani. I like that.
I hope things work out okay for you.

Mike
 
Dan Gray said:
.
yeahup what Bruce said
I'm backing out of a 15 years engine a logging supply biz.
enough so I can call knife making full time.

BUT a big BUT there are
Thousands and Thousands of staving Blade makers out there.
Business sense #1, marketing #2 show your face #3,
they want to know who you are,,
knowing how to make knives helps a lot too..

..
Click to expand...

I sang onstage from 4-31, and then 33-35 in the Palm Beach Opera.

The LAST thing I want is to show my face, and travel from show-to-show living in hotels like a rock star agin.

Is it possible to NOT commit to the shows and still make a decent living?

I never saw Buster at a show (except The Guild) and I can assure you the opulance of his home was/is enviable. He made a fine living!

If I make good enought knives and swords will they speak for themselves?

Every one of my knives I've ever seen at a show (as I strolled incognito) was selling for 3-10 times the price I charged to make it. This is encouraging, but MANY MANY makers I've met said, "Ya GOTTA commit to the shows, Dani!"

I knew Bo Randall well, and I've never seen Gary Randall at a show. They seemed to do well.

Is it really a necessity to "go visual" and be public?

I had 20 years in the public eye. I don't want to go back.

If I make Scott Slobodian and Michael Bell-grade swords do I need to go out and run around for the camera (no offense; these are aspirations, not current activities)???

Daniel
 
I don't know what made me come back here and look just now but there must have been a reason..:)

Daniel
a Decent living means many things, to me it's getting by, with time with the family, not having to work outside the home
I show my face as little as I can, I hit one show and I sell very little there because I take very little there,I go there mainly because of the club,, I'm not much of a talker face to face unless we've spend some time together, shy I guess..at 51 I'm getting better at it thought..
your work will speak for you for some of the repeat buyers and getting to know that buyer sure will help with word of mouth which is hands down the best advertisement there is money wise..,
hitting shows will help, a lot of buyers want to know who you are,,
but not always, there are ways around that too,show wise.
the web has been the way for me, but I also do my own site keeping cost down and that's trip of it's own for the listings..
There are so many out there that just want a good hunting knife, and will buy that one and be done with it. you won't get rich with them but it's a buck towards a living.

for the big money a name for yourself is the way, good pieces, different than others, a style of your own that others like, rubbing elbows with the bigger names all don't hurt, you are what they are buying in most cases of this type of buyer,..it gets complicated as you want it to, and can be as simple as you need it to be. but the bottom line is, you can't sell if the customer can't see your work..magazines are a good way also to get them out there, as long as you don't pay all your money out.

this write like most of my written is fragmented so I hope it helps some, one day I'll set down with someone that has the knack for putting words together and I'll write what I mean so others can understand it..
 
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