how many hours

L

L.K.Smithy

Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
273
how much time does everyone spend making a knife? maybe break down how long you spend doing what. and i would imagine blade size comes into play also. im really curious to see the variation between makers and process.
 
This comes up every now and again, but it's always cool to see people's answers. Of course, you can't ask a question like this and not answer it yourself ya' know ;)

I used to take 20-25 hours per knife. Now I'm down to 10-12. Some of that is due to learning (I can grind straight now, so that elminates hours of chasing a crappy grind), I've learned new fit-up techniques which save me time, and I've improved the available tooling in my shop somewhat which helps.

I hope to get things down to 5-7 hours for an "average" sized knife (not including damascus making time. That can take 5-7 hours itself for a multibar billet), but that won't come until I manage to get my shop finished, properly set up, and organized.

I haven't tracked real times, but I'd guess my time goes somthething like this:

Forging: 15 mins - 1 hour (depends on what I'm doing and how god a day I'm having)
Rough grinding - 15 - 30 minutes
HT - 1 hour (normalizing takes time...)
Finish grinding - 1 hour
Hand Sanding - 1 hour
Guard fitup - 30 - 40 minutes (used to be 3 - 4 hours before the mini-mill)
Handle fitup - 1 hour
Handle shaping/finishing - The rest...this is where time vanishes for me.

-d
 
My first knife took around 70-80 hours.
Now for simpler knives, i'm looking at atleast 40 but I keep on making larger more
complicated knives.
I think tools an experience make the process much faster.
My most recent knife:
Forging, 2 hours (this is just for the tang :) )
Grinding before HT 8 hours
HT 2 hours
Finish grinding 4 hours
Hand sanding 4 hours
Etching polishing 2-3 hours
Fittings about 5 hours
Grip fit 4 hours
Handle shaping and finishing, 8-10 hours
 
Ha, well I have come to see that i am not spending enough time on my work, at least not to meet the quality to sell here. For the knives i have made for myself i would say i spend anywhere from 5 to 10 hours start to finish. two hours forging, an hour or so rough grinding and preping for heat treat. an hour hardening and tempering not counting the hour at 420 in the kitchen oven. then finish the bevels and handle in an hour or two. a sheath takes me about 20 mins unless im doing something detailed. i also dont do very refined finish work or grinding for the style i like so that cuts down a bit on time.
-Lou
 
There is a huge spread, depending on what the project is.
I made a wakazashi that I had 200 hundred hours in.
I am currently making a batch of 24 Sgian Dubh knives that will end up averaging about 1-2 hours each.
This winter I plan on finally starting that diashto (three sword set) that could take as much as two years to finish. Forging alone could be 100 hours. Shaping - 50-60 hrs. HT-10. F
Blade finishing and polishing 100-200 hrs. Tsuba, tsuka, koshirae - 30 . Saya , 20-30. Total will be 300-400 Hours. To get material and labor from these I will have to list the set at $10,000-$15,000. After that much time and sweat, it is like selling one of your children.

The average for a single knife of normal size is 8-10 hours.
Stacy
 
I am at 1 year I am still on my first knife just need to sand it out and glue scales on but I just cant seem to get going.
 
I don't feel so bad now...I am 98% finished with my third knife from barstock to finished blade, and I have something like 10-12 hours in it. I was hoping that with some experience I could cut that time in half. You guys are killing me!:D
 
if you want it to leave the shop you have not spent the time needed on it yet

take all the time you need and make sure its right. thats it no more no less "make it right" and to the best you can with your tools and skill. with that always be looking to make your self better

if you want tot nit pick most all my knives have 6-8 hours just in heat treat not counting cryo (you counting that) :)
 
A lot of time depends on the materials I'm using. For a simple full-tang blade (9-10" overall) with a simple wood slab handle with 2 pins:

-carbon steel (1095, O1) around 20-25 hours
-stainless S30V, around 35 hours

That's just an estimate on my part, each knife is different. Some blades seem to almost make themselves and others will fight you every step of the way. As soon as you start adding variables in materials and construction, it becomes fairly difficult to pick a set amount of time for construction, especially on the first run at a new design. I'm starting to get better at estimating time for all the different things I offer now though (am going to start keeping a written record for rough grinding, bolster construction, etc.) which is essential to hammering out a price with the customer beforehand.

Nathan
 
Lmao Jared!!!!! :D
A few I made took that long or longer!

take all the time you need and make sure its right. thats it no more no less "make it right" and to the best you can with your tools and skill. with that always be looking to make your self better


I got real bad about that BB! That's partly what made me quit the craft. It drove me crazy trying to make perfection, it aint possible!
 
L6steel said:
Lmao Jared!!!!! :D
A few I made took that long or longer!

take all the time you need and make sure its right. thats it no more no less "make it right" and to the best you can with your tools and skill. with that always be looking to make your self better


I got real bad about that BB! That's partly what made me quit the craft. It drove me crazy trying to make perfection, it aint possible!
Click to expand...

When I was a first year welding apprentice, someone I respect very much told me that the only difference between and journeyman and an apprentice was knowing how to fix your mistakes. That's part of the fun for me, I enjoy taking a blunt, useless piece of bar stock and "fixing it":D. Every maker I've ever met has a drawer or box somewhere labelled "knives that aren't worth the time to fix". I've personally got about five or six up on a shelf that will never be seen by anyone but me and may eventually be reduced to letter openers for family members. If you enjoy tinkering around with making blades, who cares if they have a few flaws (unless you are selling flawed blades to customers). Make because you enjoy it, perfection comes with practice tempered by patience and aggravation.

Have a good one,
Nathan
 
wow....... about six months ago, I thought knives were a piece of steel...
I'm 17 yrs old and my dad just suggested that I open a knife shop. A lot of hunters come up here, no matter what the season so he thinks they will be the target market. This thread scares me to death. I'm gonna go to school soon and just got hired.. I don't think I can take up making real knives.
 
Didn't mean to scare ya Kim!!! :D
Knife making is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done! You can't imagine the look on someone's face when you hand them one of your knives or when someone looks at one of your blades and finds out you made it. Plus the friends you'll make! Knife makers are some of the kindest most giving people you'll ever meet! You'll get to know lots of folks here on the forums and eventually go to a hammer in or the Blade Show in Atlanta and meet them in person. I'm going to get back into knife making as soon as the funds show up!
 
Depends on the size, thickness of steel, forging or stock removal. Working grade or "art" knife.
 
I have no idea really. I will start a little batch of up to 6 and forge them then start grinding. Some will puzzle me a bit as to just what would be best approach as they close in on my idea for them. ( I am still learning) those will set at that stage and occupy the back of my mind. The others will progress until they reach a puzzle spot or get finished. When I finish those I will usually be ready to restart one or more of the others and so it goes until they reach completion. Sometimes I will quit working on one because I know my temperament is not correct for that type of work at that time. Like a folder, fitting the lock up and etc. requires a lot of patients and calm. If I do not feel that way, I will not do it. I will work on something else a piece of tooling or a jig or a machine or something less precise. No idea what happens to the time. All I know is I want to spend more time in the shop and less at my job.:rolleyes:
 
ib2v4u said:
All I know is I want to spend more time in the shop and less at my job.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Amen to that! If I could retire now, I would. I'd love to be in the shop every day. Sometimes I have great plans for a weekend in the shop, but after working 16-18 hour days on the road for a week or two, with time spent driving anywhere from 1000 to 2000 miles in rental cars, and time spent on planes and in airports, the plans for the weekend don't materialize.

I end up spending two days recuperating and recharging my batteries. I've been known to just crash in my recliner and doze off the entire weekend after a particularly busy trip, instead of getting out in the shop.

But as far as time to make a knife, I should keep better records.

I would suspect that a simple, straightforward full tang takes me about 15-20 hours if the handle is simple. When I'm putting together a complex handle (10 pieces, with inlay work and lots of small embellishment pins, it gets up to about 50 hours.

I've been known to remove and replace handle pieces over and over, when it's not just right the first, second or third time. I had trouble with a piece of mother of pearl one time on a full tang 10 piece handle. I was putting four small pieces of MOP on the handle, and the first two next to the bolster went perfectly. I had to use a new slab of mother of pearl to cut out the next two pieces for the back and I kept cracking it. Over and over. That ended up being an expensive knife in both materials and time. I probably ended up with 75 hours in that one.

I've attached a picture of this 75 hour knife to my post. The center piece is mammoth ivory surrounded by the MOP and then surrounded by nickel silver bolsters. It has 28 pins in it.

The second knife went much better and has spalted maple in the center of the handle, surrounded by Mammoth bone, surrounded by nickel silver bolsters. It has 18 pins in the handle. This one took about 60 hours to finish. This was actually my first knife.


I'm also seeing a lot of time in my forged (with guard) knives. Probably spending 30 to 40+ hours on those, mostly because I'm still new to fitting up guards.

Ickie
 
This thread is hitting home with me. I put in a time clock so I can charge hourly on some jobs in the shop but It would be interesting to see if I even make minimum wage on some knives.
Maybe I can post a project and punch in/out and see just how long it really takes takes. I do know Ive lied to my wife for years about time vs wages in this occupation. Disiplining my time is the real killer for me at least. Here I am again on the computer instead of grinding that stag handle. Know what I mean?
 
 
hardheart said:
try these

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=390836
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=347896
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323068
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271438
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=267935
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255445
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224522
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=437098
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=484638
Click to expand...

I think that we could find multiple threads on just about every topic brought up. However, sometimes someone will say something that clicks with another maker, and all of sudden that other maker learns from the thread.

I have no problem with seeing the same topic come up numerous times. I actually use that philosophy in my maintenance seminars. I explain the same thing two, three or four different ways. By the time they've heard it that third or fourth time, I can be sure that every student understands it inside and out.

My goal has always been to relay good information in such a way that my students (mechanics and engineers) retain it. I'll be reading back through all of the threads you've just posted here. I'm sure I'll find something useful in most of them.

Thanks for the search!

ickie
 
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