I would love anybody's input

[LivingSteel]

I am thinking about attempting to start up a bladesmithing shop which is almost completely custom makings. Of which I'm trying to say is people would give me a blueprint or diagram and I will make for them.
I was wondering if people would actually buy things or be interested in a place that does such work. Please have actual helping advice and comments instead of saying that all of it is stupid. I would prefer a little bit of feedback instead of mocking. Thank you.

 

[jobasha11]

How much experience do you have making knives? A lot of new makers get unreasonable plans in their heads before being able to accomplish their goals.

 

[LivingSteel]

I have a good 5 years under me. And I completely understand what you mean about that. Plus I do know for bladesmithing 5 years is close to nothing.

 

[tryppyr]

We can't actively discuss selling things with you until you upgrade your membership.

 

[jobasha11]

Here is advice from some people on the same basic topic.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1162167-Advice-on-knife-making-as-a-future-career
One thing to keep in mind is to make sure your doing this because it's what you love and not because you want to make money. Thats where things can go awry when starting your own business.( Whatever it is)

 

[J.Babody]

Maybe you should post some pictures of a few pieces that you've completed, so we can get a good idea of what a good 5 years is. Not to mock but 5 years at 40 hours a week is vastly different than an hour a week. Will you be doing any fine embellishments such as engraving, inlaying, stonework? Working knives or mantle hangers?

To the question, ultimately many customers won't have "blueprints" for a knife, and you must also be the creative consultant and artist in most cases. People mainly have an idea of what they want, but rarely have a concrete design drawn. There is clearly a market for custom knives as that's what this forum is about! Being a maker means you can choose commissioned work over selling a set of models, but comes with its own set of challenges when making things "perfect for the customer" in all aspects of the knife... For EVERY knife. That means you will be doing a lot of drawing and discussing with customers, which is fine, but takes away from time you could be making a knife for sale to the public as an entirety. Even if you don't have "models", just make knives to your pleasure and put them up for sale. Reputation is everything when you get into the realm of full blown one off customs. Those customers are typically very discerning and the internet will likely pull up other makers before yourself for that type of work without lots of ad dollars. Just being honest, but the good news is selling great knives and being a part of a community such as this is a great way to build a reputation!

This is a fine community, and often I find it is far more helpful than mocking. But listen to most makers that do this full time, and you will soon find out that doing one off customs is a small facet of many skills they possess, and use, to make money. Sometimes our plans are more grandeur than they truthfully are, unfortunately.

As they say, if you wanna make a million making knives... Start with two million!
Regards,
Justin

 

[Salem Straub]

It's called being a custom knifemaker. Many of us here do it, or make some customs and some entirly to our own designs.
Custom work has its pitfalls- a little light searching and reading around Bladeforums should highlight some of it.
If you have 5 years experience, is any of that selling knives? If so, I would think that you would already be somewhat familiar with custom work. Inevitably you will make a knife that someone likes, but asks if the materials or design could be a little bit different... at that point you've begun to do custom work if you make the knife.
If you don't have experience selling any knives, my advice would be to make simple stuff that you can do well, and sell a bunch of that. Then you'll have an idea of how long things take to make, hence aiding you in pricing, and the public will have some reference (your portfolio) to go by when considering what to order.
Here on Bladeforums in fact is a good way to get your feet wet.

 

[Andy Johnston]

Hey my old thread is getting used for some good . I would definitly look at the thread I posted that jobasha11 linked earlier. I got a lot of really good advice in there, not just about knife making but about career choices in general. Lots of good information in that. I don't have much input myself as I am just starting my journey in knife making. I would like to eventually do it for a living also, but that's years and years down the road for me. I have come to learn that there are some people in the forums that when they talk, you listen. Salem is one of those people for me. He has given me lots of good advice and I am grateful for all of it. What he said is some really good advice and I would listen to it. I am sure other makers will chime in as my thread got a lot of response, a lot of saying I am foolish and that it would not ever make me enough money, but it's all advice. Hope you are able to get to where you want to be eventually.