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

I'd look up Andy Roy or one of the other makers that runs a production shop. IMO you'll not make money making knives without some significant training and a lot of outlay for equipment. Seems like Matt Parkinson was looking for somebody not too long ago as well. If you're going to start with money as a goal, don't cobble together crap tools and scrap steel. Buy good equipment, use good material, take advantage of scale economy. Buy plates of steel not bars, use waterjet, outsource HT. The numbers will kill you... You have to produce a huge number of knives per year for the profit to be enough to call it a job.
 
Our shop was hiring last year: http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/our-shop-was-hiring.1440660/

It's not a lot of money, but it's much more than something like Burgerking, and it's a nice work environment. We'll probably be looking to hire another around the end of the year. If nothing else we've been kicking around the idea of a shop gofer with a strong back (Mark and I are old and gimpy, and Jo doesn't' weigh 100 pounds...) so experience may not even be required. If you're still looking in a few months and you're in the area give me a shout, we can always use another knife nut.
 
Knowledge in any specific aspect of knife making can also go a long way in getting your foot in the door. For example if you take courses in CAD/CAM and have the ability to program that into CNC machining centers that is a plus. Heat Treating is another valuable skill and any knowledge of processes can help.
 
Michael Coulon said:
A few people made a good poont tho about losing the passion to a degree when working in the field. Cause I work in a restaurant right now as a server and the last thing I wanna do after work is go out to eat lol same when I was working as a mechanic, the last thing I wanted to do after work was turn a wrench... some good food for thought
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imagine being a gynecologist...
 
Or a small time meth dealer... Ask me how I know.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Our shop was hiring last year: http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/our-shop-was-hiring.1440660/

It's not a lot of money, but it's much more than something like Burgerking, and it's a nice work environment. We'll probably be looking to hire another around the end of the year. If nothing else we've been kicking around the idea of a shop gofer with a strong back (Mark and I are old and gimpy, and Jo doesn't' weigh 100 pounds...) so experience may not even be required. If you're still looking in a few months and you're in the area give me a shout, we can always use another knife nut.
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Where are you guys located? I'm most definitely interested
 
There's lots of ways you can get in the industry! But I don't think there's any that you can just jump head first into and find immediate success unless you're already majorly connected to the industry (family, colleagues, etc) or very lucky. Everything here seems to take time, patience, and a long time of building yourself and business before things run smoothly. Things like Kickstarter are giving people who have a solid background in Marketing and Design fast and HUGE growth opportunities but depending on how you'd like to appear to the rest of the community you may need to weigh your options. If you have people in your area looking for a service that you think you can provide that's usually the best way to go. For instance I'm from a VERY small forested mountain county and a lot of people here barely know how to turn on the ol' Google Machine so things like retail, sharpening services, and custom work go a long way. These things can supplement you while you work towards the bigger aspect of things like online business and dealing with the big dogs in the knife world.

I'll try to compile a list of things I think you could do in this world, some will need either a reputation or following, most will need a decent investment:

Knifemaking
Sheath making
Abrasives supplier
Materials supplier
Marketing
Design (logos, knives, website schemes)
CAD drawings
Entry level job at knife company
Retail sales
Knife flipping (might get some hate lol)
Brick and mortar shop
Sharpening services
Knife mods
Reviews
Waterjet or CNC services
Building grinders or tools
Invent a new process or tool for the industry
Anodizing services

The best way, imo, is to just wholeheartedly follow along with the industry. Follow as many makers as you can, watch as many videos, attend as many shows, classes, or tours as possible and just keep waiting and thinking. Something will come, something will eventually click, and you'll know what to do based off your skillset. Hope this helped a bit!
 
"....Where are you guys located? I'm most definitely interested..."

Left click on any avatar and it will open their info box. If they have listed a location, it will be under their username. Other info can be found by clicking the "Profile Page" link, and on that page clicking "information".
 
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