- Joined
- Aug 30, 2007
- Messages
- 5,497
Happy New Year errybody!
First off, I'd like to thank everybody who supported and purchased Fletcher Knives in 2010! You guys rock the house. It was because of all of you that I was able to make to switch to full-time knifemaker in 2010. I learned a lot about the business and knifemaking itself in 2010 thanks to several people that helped me along the way, just to name a few, of course my main homie Andy Roy of Fiddleback Forge, Jeff Randall and Mike Perrin of ESEE, and Scott Gossman, Brian Griffin, Scott Davidson of Solid Rock, and all the guys in the Georgia Custom Knifemakers Guild. Out of all of them, the main one is Andy. He let me apprentice under him and he taught me all about his style of knifemaking and the business. If it weren't for Andy, I definitely would not have been able to live my personal dream as a full-time knifemaker.
Here are some things that happened in 2008/2009/2010:
October 2008: Met Andy. Got my first Fiddleback knife, a Bushcraft Sr. Made a new friend (that would end up being my best friend).
December 2008: Decided to leave the Police selection process (which was taking over a year at this point. The police department I was applying for is one of the hardest to get into) and started having thoughts of knifemaking as a career. At the time I was working at an Italian Motorcycle shop.
December 2008: Started grinding on some file knives.
January 2009: Scott Gossman gave me my first piece of O-1 and heat treated my first blade for me.
April 2009: Started finishing "seconds" from Andy. They were blades that he had messed up, so he would give them to me and I would change them and finish them. Also finished up several more file knives. At the time, I thought this was all pretty cool and walked around Blade show that year showing them to anyone that would stand still long enough to look at them. Looking back, I wish I hadn't shown them to anybody. lol Shortly before Blade, Andy got laid off and went full time.
May 2009: started working on the prototype for the Delta Foxtrot. Placed my first order for O-1 steel. Started helping Andy in his shop here and there, not regularly yet.
September 2009: Ordered my first belt grinder, a 1x42 Kalamazoo.
December 2009: Got the Delta Foxtrot prototype dialed in and heat treated the first one. Also got blade blanks ready for the first batch of Fletcher Knives.
February 2010: Ordered my KMG. Started taking extre days off work to help Andy in his shop and got serious about knifemaking as a career. Andy tells me to sweep up the shop floor for the first time = meaning Andy has decided to take me on as an apprentice.
02/24/2010: I got the Fortune Cookie that showed me the way. It said, "You will soon be changing your present line of work." That's when I knew what I had to do and started making plans. That fortune is actually taped to the arm of my KMG.
02/27/2010: My KMG arrives.
March 2010: Finished the Fletcher Tactigumbo (I have no idea why that name stuck) and the Hawkzula 3000 post giveaway knife. Still had not yet sold anything. Just hobby making.
03/16/2010: Got a paycheck for $158, the smallest paycheck since my teenage years of part-time mall jobs. Gave my notice so that my boss had plenty of time to train my replacement. Also sketched out the design for the Hatchula.
April Fools Day (No foolin' around): Heat treated the first "batch" of Fletcher Knives. In the batch were 3 Delta Foxtrots, 3 Peoples Knives, and 1 Hatchula.
04/13/2010: The first ever Fletcher Knives sale happens. Michael Wiesner is the first Fletcher Knives customer. He bought the Hatchula before it was even finished.
Late April 2010: The first batch of Fletcher Knives is finished. It consisted of 3 Delta Foxtrots and 3 Peoples Knives. Would have also had a Hatchula in there, but Michael Wisener snatched it up before anyone even knew about it.
May 2010: The Fletcher Knives website is loaded onto the internet. I quit my job and start working in Andy's shop full-time.
05/27/2010: Blade Show batch is almost ready.
June 2010: Blade Show! This is the first time I've gone to Blade Show as a knifemaker. I shared a little corner of Andy's table with him. Even though my corner was small, I sold just about every single knife I took with me. I had some big deals happen, one of which was selling my personal knife to Ethan Becker. He went nuts over it and had to have it so I sold it to him. It was really cool seeing him show it off to all his buddies over the whole weekend. Also, I did good enough in sales that I decided what the hell at the last minute and did a giveaway at Andy's table. For my first show as a knifemaker, I did pretty damn good.
continued...
First off, I'd like to thank everybody who supported and purchased Fletcher Knives in 2010! You guys rock the house. It was because of all of you that I was able to make to switch to full-time knifemaker in 2010. I learned a lot about the business and knifemaking itself in 2010 thanks to several people that helped me along the way, just to name a few, of course my main homie Andy Roy of Fiddleback Forge, Jeff Randall and Mike Perrin of ESEE, and Scott Gossman, Brian Griffin, Scott Davidson of Solid Rock, and all the guys in the Georgia Custom Knifemakers Guild. Out of all of them, the main one is Andy. He let me apprentice under him and he taught me all about his style of knifemaking and the business. If it weren't for Andy, I definitely would not have been able to live my personal dream as a full-time knifemaker.
Here are some things that happened in 2008/2009/2010:
October 2008: Met Andy. Got my first Fiddleback knife, a Bushcraft Sr. Made a new friend (that would end up being my best friend).
December 2008: Decided to leave the Police selection process (which was taking over a year at this point. The police department I was applying for is one of the hardest to get into) and started having thoughts of knifemaking as a career. At the time I was working at an Italian Motorcycle shop.
December 2008: Started grinding on some file knives.
January 2009: Scott Gossman gave me my first piece of O-1 and heat treated my first blade for me.
April 2009: Started finishing "seconds" from Andy. They were blades that he had messed up, so he would give them to me and I would change them and finish them. Also finished up several more file knives. At the time, I thought this was all pretty cool and walked around Blade show that year showing them to anyone that would stand still long enough to look at them. Looking back, I wish I hadn't shown them to anybody. lol Shortly before Blade, Andy got laid off and went full time.
May 2009: started working on the prototype for the Delta Foxtrot. Placed my first order for O-1 steel. Started helping Andy in his shop here and there, not regularly yet.
September 2009: Ordered my first belt grinder, a 1x42 Kalamazoo.
December 2009: Got the Delta Foxtrot prototype dialed in and heat treated the first one. Also got blade blanks ready for the first batch of Fletcher Knives.
February 2010: Ordered my KMG. Started taking extre days off work to help Andy in his shop and got serious about knifemaking as a career. Andy tells me to sweep up the shop floor for the first time = meaning Andy has decided to take me on as an apprentice.
02/24/2010: I got the Fortune Cookie that showed me the way. It said, "You will soon be changing your present line of work." That's when I knew what I had to do and started making plans. That fortune is actually taped to the arm of my KMG.
02/27/2010: My KMG arrives.
March 2010: Finished the Fletcher Tactigumbo (I have no idea why that name stuck) and the Hawkzula 3000 post giveaway knife. Still had not yet sold anything. Just hobby making.
03/16/2010: Got a paycheck for $158, the smallest paycheck since my teenage years of part-time mall jobs. Gave my notice so that my boss had plenty of time to train my replacement. Also sketched out the design for the Hatchula.
April Fools Day (No foolin' around): Heat treated the first "batch" of Fletcher Knives. In the batch were 3 Delta Foxtrots, 3 Peoples Knives, and 1 Hatchula.
04/13/2010: The first ever Fletcher Knives sale happens. Michael Wiesner is the first Fletcher Knives customer. He bought the Hatchula before it was even finished.
Late April 2010: The first batch of Fletcher Knives is finished. It consisted of 3 Delta Foxtrots and 3 Peoples Knives. Would have also had a Hatchula in there, but Michael Wisener snatched it up before anyone even knew about it.
May 2010: The Fletcher Knives website is loaded onto the internet. I quit my job and start working in Andy's shop full-time.
05/27/2010: Blade Show batch is almost ready.
June 2010: Blade Show! This is the first time I've gone to Blade Show as a knifemaker. I shared a little corner of Andy's table with him. Even though my corner was small, I sold just about every single knife I took with me. I had some big deals happen, one of which was selling my personal knife to Ethan Becker. He went nuts over it and had to have it so I sold it to him. It was really cool seeing him show it off to all his buddies over the whole weekend. Also, I did good enough in sales that I decided what the hell at the last minute and did a giveaway at Andy's table. For my first show as a knifemaker, I did pretty damn good.
continued...
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