I'm a 18 year old knife maker need advice

Samuel Riner CustomKnives

Samuel Riner CustomKnives

Joined
Mar 1, 2018
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57
I'm a 18 year old knife maker I've been making knives for about 3 and a half years.I sort of feel like I'm not bad at it now. i'm just looking for some advice on how to turn this into a career. please don't try to talk me out of it Lol Thanks. https://fibermascus.com/



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by the way I make all my own pattern welded Steel
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Nice knives !!!!!
There's more to being a full time maker than just making the knives. Adopt a business plan, know your limitations and if you haven't already some of the issues with makers in GB&U, do so. That will prevent you from becoming a thread topic.
Like most small business, start slow as in knife making being a second job. Slowly turn your income around to where you are making decent money and when you can absorb your total income from knife making, do so.
 
A lot of full time makers are retired from other careers, have homes and shops paid off, or spouses that work full time, if that tells you anything. Not saying it’s impossible, but there’s a lot of hustle involved. Many offer other services and products besides just knives. Going into ANY business on your own is tough, and most every business owner I know puts in 80+ hours per week. Benefits and retirement plans are gonna be up to you, as will taxes, payroll, customer service, etc...
Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to enroll in some business classes, or at the very least, start reading some books. Talk to some full time makers.
Seems like a lot of full time makers are going the cnc/“mid tech” route now days, along with handmade goods. You have to cater somewhat to the market if you don’t want to be left behind, or at least offer something that enough people want.
Looks like you make some great stuff, so you have that going for you. There will always be a market for pattern welded billets and such.
 
It’s a small sample of your work but you are in a very crowded area. Smaller knives with scales for a handle are widely made by every new knife maker. You can double the price of your knives if you taper the tang and add a guard or bolster.

The guys that are successful make and sell lots of knives. I see makers that build 2 knives a year and wonder why their stuff isn’t in demand. Also, you can’t make 50 knives and spend no time selling them.

Knives only have value if the buyer can sell it for more than he paid for it. Secondary market value.

Hoss
 
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Take what I’m going to say with a grain of salt since I’m not a full time knife maker... JUST MY THOUGHS AND OPINIONS BELOW.... :)

Based on the economics of making knifes I’ve investigated, it seems pretty difficult to me to make a significant amount of money doing it. I’m personally on a quest to break even in 2019. This seems to be especially true based on the time commitment per knife.


I think you’d have to do these things in today’s world to make it (sound about right?):
  1. You’re process for batch work would have to be on point (Think one man assembly line).
  2. You’re social media would have to be strong. Think affiliate marketing for equipment, belts, materials, etc. Create a following
  3. Maybe even books, merchandise, etc (Think about Liam Hoffman and Alec Steele)
  4. Work on JS and MS acredidation (eventually teach and hold classes?)
  5. Hustle the shows

If I were you I’d run some numbers of expected output and try to calculate how many knives you’d have to make a week in order to match an hourly salary of say a nurse or better yet a welder who works a 40-60 hours week (as a baseline).

You also will have to consider expenses. How will you cover your medical insurance? Are you renting or owning a property and where is your shop, etc. Power, consumables, transportation, all need to be in your model.

100% Opinion below this line:

If I were in your shoes I’d keep working on your passion/hobby/etc, but I’d also provide myself an opportunity to have a fallback plan. This could look like going to a trade school to become a welder or mechanic. Or going to college for a legitimate degree (medical, law, engineering, etc). In these scenarios you can get out of training and start “earning a living.” Get your basic finances in order. Contribute to your ROTH IRA every year, pay off your home, your car, your credit cards.... then you can tackle your knife making career with 0 debt and some savings stored away just in case. It will also give you a working knowledge on how much money you’re going to have to make to replace the profession your in. AND if everything goes wrong and your knifemaking career fails you can fall back on what you’re trained to do in the work place.

I work in the oilfield. If you’re smart you could move out to the oil patch (or a similar industry) and bank 100K+ per year in gross income easily. If you’re also not an idiot with your finances you could bank a nice nest egg and rely on that to kick off your knifemaking.

And you can do all of this while working on knives on your free time, perfecting your craft, building your influence, getting acredidation with the ABS, etc. Think of it like a long game approach that has a layer of safety.

Like I said all that is my opinion. You could go full Tony Robbins and “burn the boats”... completely disregard the safety net and go full bore into a knife making career. Learn along the way, etc. There isn’t a right or wrong here... but just make sure you think though all the options.

Your knives look awesome, btw!

Cheers,

Edit: You’re young so please, please, please, don’t forget about the power of compounding returns... whatever you do invest. Perferably in something like a low cost/fee S&P500 or Total Market index fund. “Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack” - John Bogle
 
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nice work ! making a career out of it is easy. all you have to do is improve your craftsmanship so its obvious your knives are nicer than most makers. then come up with new designs that make people come running to purchase them simply by seeing a photograph of the knife. lastly practice awesome customer service. :rolleyes:
 
I concur with all said above, especially about working on a "real" {grinning} profession to put some money on the table. One thing I would do - put your location on your webpage AND in your profile here. I know I really like to know where in the world a company I'm dealing with is located - USA? Europe? China? Just where are you?

Does anybody else consider knowing the location important?

Oh, I meant to add that pattern on the Damascus (pattern welded) blank impressive. Good job. You make all your own pattern welded steel, do you have a press or power hammer?
 
Great looking knives.. you are very talented. I once back calculated what I made an hour on a 7 inch or so fixed blade with kydex sheath g10 handle etc.
I made about $5/hour. So go to college or find a trade you like and pursue it and make knives at night and weekends..that is what I did.
You have a goodeye for knives keep it up
 
Ajack60 said:
Nice knives !!!!!
There's more to being a full time maker than just making the knives. Adopt a business plan, know your limitations and if you haven't already some of the issues with makers in GB&U, do so. That will prevent you from becoming a thread topic.
Like most small business, start slow as in knife making being a second job. Slowly turn your income around to where you are making decent money and when you can absorb your total income from knife making, do so.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice I'll keep it that in mind
 
Drew Riley said:
A lot of full time makers are retired from other careers, have homes and shops paid off, or spouses that work full time, if that tells you anything. Not saying it’s impossible, but there’s a lot of hustle involved. Many offer other services and products besides just knives. Going into ANY business on your own is tough, and most every business owner I know puts in 80+ hours per week. Benefits and retirement plans are gonna be up to you, as will taxes, payroll, customer service, etc...
Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to enroll in some business classes, or at the very least, start reading some books. Talk to some full time makers.
Seems like a lot of full time makers are going the cnc/“mid tech” route now days, along with handmade goods. You have to cater somewhat to the market if you don’t want to be left behind, or at least offer something that enough people want.
Looks like you make some great stuff, so you have that going for you. There will always be a market for pattern welded billets and such.
Click to expand...

Thanks. lots of good points
 
Samuel Riner CustomKnives said:
I'm a 18 year old knife maker I've been making knives for about 3 and a half years.I sort of feel like I'm not bad at it now. i'm just looking for some advice on how to turn this into a career. please don't try to talk me out of it Lol Thanks. https://fibermascus.com/



14vEAyA.jpg

0SIAunb.jpg

c6bezyY.jpg

by the way I make all my own pattern welded Steel
dKXKiEA.jpg

g8qeKq8.jpg
Click to expand...

Go to trade school and become a machinist, it'll pay your bills and help teach valuable skills that'll help you make knives better and more efficiently. I'm a full-time CNC programmer and I make a fairly good living by my areas standards and it taught me a lot about metal working I would have never known about before pursuing this. Then if knife making doesn't work out you always have a skill set to return to so you can keep the debt collectors away.
 
J. Keeton said:
Take what I’m going to say with a grain of salt since I’m not a full time knife maker... JUST MY THOUGHS AND OPINIONS BELOW.... :)

Based on the economics of making knifes I’ve investigated, it seems pretty difficult to me to make a significant amount of money doing it. I’m personally on a quest to break even in 2019. This seems to be especially true based on the time commitment per knife.


I think you’d have to do these things in today’s world to make it (sound about right?):
  1. You’re process for batch work would have to be on point (Think one man assembly line).
  2. You’re social media would have to be strong. Think affiliate marketing for equipment, belts, materials, etc. Create a following
  3. Maybe even books, merchandise, etc (Think about Liam Hoffman and Alec Steele)
  4. Work on JS and MS acredidation (eventually teach and hold classes?)
  5. Hustle the shows

If I were you I’d run some numbers of expected output and try to calculate how many knives you’d have to make a week in order to match an hourly salary of say a nurse or better yet a welder who works a 40-60 hours week (as a baseline).

You also will have to consider expenses. How will you cover your medical insurance? Are you renting or owning a property and where is your shop, etc. Power, consumables, transportation, all need to be in your model.

100% Opinion below this line:

If I were in your shoes I’d keep working on your passion/hobby/etc, but I’d also provide myself an opportunity to have a fallback plan. This could look like going to a trade school to become a welder or mechanic. Or going to college for a legitimate degree (medical, law, engineering, etc). In these scenarios you can get out of training and start “earning a living.” Get your basic finances in order. Contribute to your ROTH IRA every year, pay off your home, your car, your credit cards.... then you can tackle your knife making career with 0 debt and some savings stored away just in case. It will also give you a working knowledge on how much money you’re going to have to make to replace the profession your in. AND if everything goes wrong and your knifemaking career fails you can fall back on what you’re trained to do in the work place.

I work in the oilfield. If you’re smart you could move out to the oil patch (or a similar industry) and bank 100K+ per year in gross income easily. If you’re also not an idiot with your finances you could bank a nice nest egg and rely on that to kick off your knifemaking.

And you can do all of this while working on knives on your free time, perfecting your craft, building your influence, getting acredidation with the ABS, etc. Think of it like a long game approach that has a layer of safety.

Like I said all that is my opinion. You could go full Tony Robbins and “burn the boats”... completely disregard the safety net and go full bore into a knife making career. Learn along the way, etc. There isn’t a right or wrong here... but just make sure you think though all the options.

Your knives look awesome, btw!

Cheers,

Edit: You’re young so please, please, please, don’t forget about the power of compounding returns... whatever you do invest. Perferably in something like a low cost/fee S&P500 or Total Market index fund. “Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack” - John Bogle
Click to expand...


Good advice Thanks
 
Ken H> said:
I concur with all said above, especially about working on a "real" {grinning} profession to put some money on the table. One thing I would do - put your location on your webpage AND in your profile here. I know I really like to know where in the world a company I'm dealing with is located - USA? Europe? China? Just where are you?

Does anybody else consider knowing the location important?

Oh, I meant to add that pattern on the Damascus (pattern welded) blank impressive. Good job. You make all your own pattern welded steel, do you have a press or power hammer?
Click to expand...

I've already got pretty much all the equipment I need and a good shop. I built a 25 ton press. I'm from Knoxville Tennessee. Good point I'll make sure to add that Thanks
 
john april said:
nice work ! making a career out of it is easy. all you have to do is improve your craftsmanship so its obvious your knives are nicer than most makers. then come up with new designs that make people come running to purchase them simply by seeing a photograph of the knife. lastly practice awesome customer service. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Thank you you've given me a lot of ideas.
 
Those are very nice knives! I can definitely see you selling a bunch, but make sure to never get complacent and never stop challenging yourself to get better.

To do anything full time, you have to learn a lot about it and to be able to adapt to changing conditions. What you want is not just to be a knifemaker, that's what everybody here making knives already is(!), but to become a businessperson and entrepreneur. Learn as much as you can about business, both in general and specifically custom and handmade knives. Find out as much as you can what successful people do and just as importantly what the failures did!

If you go to the good, bad, ugly subforum, you'll see stories of some makers that failed spectacularly. You don't want to do that.

I never went into business for myself except once as a side venture with one of my best friends who already had over a decade of success in the same field and had sold off his previous business a few years prior. The buck stops with you, and that can often mean many long hours of work, so make sure you're doing it right and doing what you love. Otherwise your business can easily turn into your prison. Good luck!
 
Those are all nicely made knives and sheaths with tons of character! I don't know anything about making money off of it. I don't know if I could put a roof over my head making knives, even if the Knife Making Fairy suddenly gave me $20,000 worth of nice tools and a rent-free shop.
 
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My advice is:

Understand the following paradox. On one hand, the concept of market value in the craft-made knife industry is mostly meaningless because the market is flooded with makers willing to work for less than minimum wage. Imagine how difficult it would be to start a landscaping company if the majority of your competitors were hobbyists who did it for the joy of running a lawnmower. On the other hand, market value is a real thing that you can't ignore. Your challenge is to figure out how to distinguish yourself and your work.

Think big, and think long-term. Figure out how many knives you can make in a year - not in a month, or a week, or a day. Experience is probably the only way to know, which means you need to come up with a tentative business plan, work it for a year or more, evaluate the results, and adjust the plan. Repeat.

Think like a businessman. Make cold, heartless decisions. Leave the emotion in the actual craft. Be mentally/emotionally willing at all times to let it all go and close shop - in other words, be fearless of the possibility of failure. Separate your personal sense of worth from the success of your business - if you don't, it can only hurt you, because it will impair your ability to make smart business decisions. Learn how to say no to both your customers and yourself.

Think like a businessman. Treat your operation like a real business. Ideally you want $10-20K per year just for the headache, stress, and risk of lawsuit/audit that comes with owning a business - in addition to profits from the actual work. Don't think of yourself as a knifemaker that needs a wage - think of yourself as a part-time knifemaker, a part-time business manager, a part-time bookkeeper, a part-time purchasing agent with an expertise in specialty metals, a part-time customer-service rep, a part-time social media manager, a part-time website admin, etc. Imagine that you're going to hire people tomorrow to do all the things you do. Think about the qualifications they would need, and the pay they would want. There needs to be enough sales and profit to pay for all this - AND leave residual profit for the business owner - whether you're doing it yourself or outsourcing.

Find the successful full-time makers, and figure out their recipe for success, and figure out how they got from A to B. Identify which aspects of their success are reproducible, and which are not.

Understand that scaling up production can be immensely difficult and expensive - it isn't the easy way to success by any means. You could make 20 pancakes in 20 minutes ... what about 2000 pancakes?

Understand the huge phantom cost of errors, setbacks and delays in sourcing material and processing (waterjet cutting, heat treating, etc). If your heat-treater is 2 weeks late, your paycheck is 2 weeks late. If UPS loses a box of knives, then your paycheck is gone.
 
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