Making a career in the knife industry/field. Possibilities, recommendations?

Michael Coulon

Michael Coulon

Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Messages
190
Just wondering if it's at all possible to make a career of any type in the knife industry and how to go about doing so. I know it's not the biggest of industries and our community isn't the biggest either. And I know there are people who do work in this field.

I just find myself completely encompassed by knives and the overall community as a whole. If it were at all possible I'd like to make more of it than just a full time hobby. In a perfect world id be able to spend a small fortune on forging/milling/machining equipment and I'd start making knives but that's not exactly possible. I'm wondering what other avenues are available to someone to have a job or make a career in this field aside from custom knife making.

Does anyone have any insight on this or reccomendations they can send my way or is this just a pipe dream of mine lol
 
This is a peculiar question, or at least an uncommon one. I am curious as to the responses you may receive.
Best of luck

Watching this thread.
 
If you want it bad enough I'm sure it is possible as others have done it. Personally, if I have to rely on my hobby to pay my bills I start to no longer enjoy that hobby. I went down that road in the aviation industry as a pilot. I would never want to stop enjoying the knife hobby so I never tried in this industry. Hopefully someone can give you some good insight into making a living doing this, I am jealous of those who can, just my little forewarning about the hobby/career field.
 
A good start would have been attending the Blade Show to rub shoulders with the dealers, makers, and so forth. The show ends today or is ending as I post this. Just what kind of job are you looking for? You want to work at a knife store? You want to work for a factory? You want to make your own knives? You want to work as a sales rep of some sort?
 
There are numerous ways to get involved in the knife industry. But i dont know of many people who are going to hand you a manual on how to do it. I would be an observer for awhile. Many in the industry are self made success stories. And some might even see the question of "how do i get there" to be off putting. In knives if you cant see the path, showing you where it is will probably be of little use to you. In other words I find those who succeed the most are the guys who dont have to ask how to get started and they just start doing it. If you dont know what "it" is yet it may be a bit premature to be considering a career.
 
Absolutely nothing wrong with wanting a career that parallels your interests and/or passions. Makes good sense.

I'm also interested in what our knowledgeable folk on this forum have to say as far as guidance in this endeavor.

If I were looking for a job in the knife industry, I suspect I'd seek out some of the bigger corporate presences in the knife field and see what employment opportunities were available. My expertise would limit me to sales associate of some sort, or human resources jockey, as I have no experience in designing or manufacturing cutlery in any form. I'd go to the SHOT show in February, the Oregon Knife Collectors show in Eugene in April, and then the Blade Show in June and hob-nob with whomever would give me the time of day.

I suppose I could open my own brick and mortar shop with an on-line presence, but I'd fail pretty fast.

Interesting topic... I hope it gets the creative juices flowing.

I
 
This thread made me curious. I just checked a few of the big guys.........Benchmade, Spyderco, and ZT. All three have links on their websites for "careers/employment". Maybe start there, and fill out an application? The way I see it even an entry level position at a big company is a foot in the door, and could lead to bigger things. You wont know if you don't try. Good luck brother. :thumbsup:
 
Depending on where you live, you may seek out manufacturers such as was suggested earlier.
You may not get the most glorious job there, but a foot in the door is more than you had before.
Another thing to consider would be to take some machining courses at the local college or vo-tech schools.
That would help tremendously in getting your foot in the door.
 
Buy a belt grinder and make some knives!

You don't need big money CNC equipment and hundred thousand dollar machine shops to make great knives, some of the best customs I have are made on a DIY belt grinder and the makers have ZERO pieces of specialized knife-making equipment...

They're not my photos so I can't post them but go to the shop talk forum and look up pictures of people's small scale/home shops and look at the quality of blades they put out!
 
Seneca18 said:
If you want it bad enough I'm sure it is possible as others have done it. Personally, if I have to rely on my hobby to pay my bills I start to no longer enjoy that hobby. I went down that road in the aviation industry as a pilot. I would never want to stop enjoying the knife hobby so I never tried in this industry. Hopefully someone can give you some good insight into making a living doing this, I am jealous of those who can, just my little forewarning about the hobby/career field.
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That's a very good point I hadn't thought about that
 
22-rimfire said:
A good start would have been attending the Blade Show to rub shoulders with the dealers, makers, and so forth. The show ends today or is ending as I post this. Just what kind of job are you looking for? You want to work at a knife store? You want to work for a factory? You want to make your own knives? You want to work as a sales rep of some sort?
Click to expand...
To be honest I'm not entirely sure. I just know knives is a strong passion of mine. Ideally I'd like to make my own knives and hopefully one day gain recognition doing it, but otherwise I was just curios as to see what types of work are even available in the field aside from making knives or if it was even possible
 
Velitrius said:
Absolutely nothing wrong with wanting a career that parallels your interests and/or passions. Makes good sense.

I'm also interested in what our knowledgeable folk on this forum have to say as far as guidance in this endeavor.

If I were looking for a job in the knife industry, I suspect I'd seek out some of the bigger corporate presences in the knife field and see what employment opportunities were available. My expertise would limit me to sales associate of some sort, or human resources jockey, as I have no experience in designing or manufacturing cutlery in any form. I'd go to the SHOT show in February, the Oregon Knife Collectors show in Eugene in April, and then the Blade Show in June and hob-nob with whomever would give me the time of day.

I suppose I could open my own brick and mortar shop with an on-line presence, but I'd fail pretty fast.

Interesting topic... I hope it gets the creative juices flowing.

I
Click to expand...
I mean I have experience in sales and I've worked as a mechanic for a few years. Automotive and hydraulic. I've got the technical savyness and I'm definitely good with my hands beyond any doubt. I'm sure if need be I could figure most of this out in my own I was just curious what some of the people on the forum would say. I'm new to this forum this is only my second thread but now that I'm getting my feet wet I'm seeing this forum as an invaluable source of information about what I consider to be a passion of mine and full time hobby lol
 
Overall thanks guys, i was curious to see what people would have to say or whether I'd just get shot down but everything u guys said was abundantly helpful :thumbsup: thanks bf
 
The knife show would have been a good place to see. There were some people who reallyknew the business. AG Russell, and many others .
 
Do what you already do, just in the knife industry. You would be shocked at how many seemingly obvious things are missed because everyone in an industry walks the same path, you branch out from where you are, and you might find a niche that suddenly you fill where no one else does. But that assumes you have some serious skills in another field. What makes you different from anyone else? Are you a great troubleshooter, or do you have that "fix anything" ability, or do you have a brain for esoteric technical knowledge that makes you a walking reference book? Can you draft, run a water-jet table or CNC? Or could you take your knowledge and be the guy everyone calls to fix their trip-hammer? Find what you do that they need, then it will flow from there. Don't try to shoe-horn yourself into an industry if you have to re-learn another skill-set, because it rarely works (it can, but generally that comes down to finding the place that your personality fits more than anything else)
 
Hi! Interesting thread :). I think it boils down to what you really would like to do and also which kind of salary you need to get out from the activity. As other members have mentioned, I also think you have different options :). A couple, just on the top of my mind, with my own experiences in Europe, along these years (not in the knives industry), as a reference point:

Get employed in one of the medium/large manufacturers. You could start looking on their web-sites, on the career/work-with-us pages and see which job vacancies they are currently recruiting for or just drop a CV to the company HR Dept. and see what’s happening. Normally, spontaneous CVs are well considered, since they somehow show a true interest in working for a specific company. Maybe it’s not happening immediately but I suggest you keep on trying. I got my second “serious” job out of University exactly doing like this. These companies are normally rather structured and likely they search for personnel in different departments, like sales, marketing, finance, production, quality, logistic, etc. Here you probably can make a “career” and get a decent salary to sustain yourself and a family in the medium/long term. Also, a good opportunity with this option is you could come to see different roles/departments in a successful, structured company and you can develop an useful overview and decent experience about what needs to be done when/if you will start up your company one day.

If you like to really work mostly with your hands and do not care so much for other things, a suggestion could be to get employed in a small company or even in a craftsmen/makers workshop. Here normally one starts as an apprentice, shop-boy of sorts. These companies normally do not have HR Dept. and you’ll have to work your way with making some contacts and have a chat with the owners. Also, normally, they are not very structured and, once you’re in, you’ll probably have to work with different tasks. I have worked in shops with production tools/machines and roundsman jobs, while the owner and family was taking care about sales, customers, deliveries, etc. Salary can be good, if business goes well, but don’t expect much in terms of “benefits” and not so much even on the "basics" (e.g. pension, healthcare, permits, workers’ right, overall workers’ safety, etc.) :p. I had similar jobs as a student, though in totally different areas than knife making. Some has been good experiences and developed a good friendship with my “boss” and his family; some others have been very frustrating and overall “negative” experiences.

If you have the “right” attitude and built up already a good experience, if you have a small capital to invest and no immediate concerns about making the ends meet, you can start-up your own company! Sure there’s a risk but I think it’s also extremely fun and rewarding to be “the masters of own professional destiny” :thumbsup:.

Another option, if you are more leaning towards sales/marketing jobs and you’re good in accountancy, could be to try to get employed by some retailers or become a retailer yourself.

All the best with this :) !
 
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Maybe start with one aspect of it. I make custom wood handles and that's my hobby. I only work with wood (long time family business, now just my hobby). At one point I had about 20 knives worth of handles to make in my shop, and I got laid off, so it became my day job for awhile. I built it up to where I wanted it, and at the moment I've scaled it back to only one knife at a time.

Or sharpening. Get good and offer it as a service.

Both of the above you can start small and build it up, and they are skills you will have to have as a maker.
 
Do you still work in the automotive industry? Are you satisfied with your current job? If so I would recommend making a few knives in your free time. Get used to how the process goes making knives. This way you still have a steady income, if you do knife making on your own it can be less steady.

Maybe after a few years or so you'll have enough experience to start making knives full time. Or you might have become interested enough to try and apply for a job in a manufacturing plant for a big company.

I make knives in my free time and work a regular job at a factory in my home town during the summer. When I'm away at school I don't have as much time, but I'm close to home so if I ever have time I stop home and do what I can. Im going to school for psychology and criminal justice, I want to work in prisons like most of my family does.

I plan on holding onto knife making as long as I can. If I decide at one point that I want to quit my career or when I retire I plan on turning it into a career.

I say give it some time and figure out what it is exactly you want to do with knife making or manufacturing. For now start looking into it as much as you can and ask a lot of questions.
 
Good question, I started making custom knives under the keen eyes of an established full time knife maker in the late eighties. No CNC or machining only free hand stock removal method however kept my full time job. This was my hobby and passion, I got very good and started selling at gun and knife shows. I found out after about 10 years that I would sell everything I made however if you took into consideration the cost of equipment, steel, grinding belts, buffers, handle material, heat treat, sheath making, hotel costs, show fees, countless hours doing all this, the payback was almost break even. In addition it burned me out toward my once beloved hobby.

I believe to be a full time maker you need to cut down the time making the knives, eliminating making guards, and more milling and CNC and getting that one big break. Like others have suggested maybe working for an existing manufacturer either in manufacturing or sales end.

Just keep in mind that a hobby you now enjoy is a diversion and enjoyable from your full time job, once you convert your hobby into the knife industry you may need a new hobby. What ever you do enjoy it and I wish you the best of luck that has provided me with years of enjoyment.
 
look for jobs apply and move to where they are mostly out west the bigger ones.

not sure if they have training programs....guess some phone calls or attending those shows and asking wouldn't hurt.

a watch maker told me this years ago. once you turn your hobby or love into a job or work it sometimes can ruin the love. not for everyone but for some. sometimes a love or passion once turned into making a living and tied to a paycheck can pull all the joy out of it. something to consider.
 
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