Mean little bastard. I mean bowie...

I've known Nick for years and always look at his knives. Now that we are both feeding our families I completely understand his logic in making something affordable for a broader audience. There are more buyers toward the bottom of the pyramid.

He is young but I bet he is feeling the pain in his wrists from hand sanding, if not he will. He can nearly make another knife from the time it takes to put his world class blade finish on. I've had cortisone shots in both of mine and have lost income from pain in both wrists. You notice some of Tony Bose folders with the belt finish? That hasn't slowed his sales at all.
Smart man Nick! Take care of yourself.

Oh...."Nice One"
 
Nick

Everyone knows that I am not really a dealer

Esav suggested it so that I could better promote my friends :)

Anything I can do to promote and give back to the world of custom knives and especially this forum I am all about

I am looking forward to many projects with you and Jason and I am honored to be able to do it here

This is a wonderful time for custom knives and it warms my heart to see people not only collecting embellished knives but actively seeking out high performance user cutlery

This is what my interest is in and I'm glad to see that it is becoming so popular
 
Nick I love the hidden lanyard. I have to say handling the gent's knife makes it tough to set it down and not use it. It may end up a user at some point. Excellent work! Oh and happy belated birthday.
 
NickWheeler said:
Now if you are a collector of finely finished knives and have a "WTF Wheeler?" reaction when seeing this, please allow me to explain---

I have ZERO plans to quit making any of my "fancy" bowies, fighters, daggers, etc. that are forged from damascus, have premium natural materials, and are finely hand finished/polished with baby Unicorn fur. :D


However, it has become clear to me, that to make an actual family wage living as a bladesmith, I must offer a diverse range of knives and try to reach a broader audience. So it is with excitement and enthusiasm that I am trying new things and working hard to bring in new guys interested in custom, forged knives. :cool: IMHO, there is a call for knives from both ends of the spectrum.
Click to expand...

I understand the thinking, but from a marketing standpoint, I think that can be a tricky business.

Collectible "finely finished knives" are a luxury item, and they trade on more than just their intrinsic "knife-like" qualities. Their is a certain value attached to collectible "finely finished knives" in many cases simply by virtue of the maker, the relative exclusivity or difficulty of obtaining a particular maker's knives, etc. That is true in ALL collectible markets. I do not believe that anyone can really justify the price differentials of various collectible "finely finished knives" simply on the basis of their intrinsic "knife-like" qualities. At the extreme, all one has to do is look at the prices of knives made by Bill Moran, Bob Loveless and James Schmidt and compare them to the prices of arguably technically equivalent or even superior "clone" knives made today by other makers. Compare Jimmy Lile "dot" knives to Lile "no dot" knives. Of course, those may be extreme examples, but I believe the principle holds true to a greater or lesser degree throughout the collectible "finely finished knives" market. Someone may want to have a Nick Wheeler knife and if they can get one cheap, maybe they don't need to get one expensive.

There is a reason that the Swatch Group does not mark their Breguet, Glashutte and Blancpain (nevermind Omega or Tissot) watches "Swatch." There is a reaason that GM does not just label all of their cars "Chevys." No one can be all things for all people. But if I was trying to sell any kind of product where some of the products were going to be more expensive and aimed at a more luxury market, and other ones of the product were going to be more utilitarian and sold less expensively, I might consider somehow branding them differently to distinguish the more expensive, luxury, items to maintain some cache and perceived exclusivity for them.

Just something maybe to consider FWIW (which might well be nothing). I think trying to make a living as a custom knifemaker is an extremely bold and brave thing, and I have nothing but respect for you and others who do that. Frankly . . . I can't imagine how you all do it. But as a custom knife collector, I am glad you all do.
 
Nicks larger knives, and these smaller ones have a clear distinction from one another. I might be uninformed about classroom "marketing" but I would find it hard to see how a maker with a customer book that buy his custom knives regularly would be affected by another book filled with smaller user grade products. They are different customers, and (the limitation) is only related to his work and time management in my opinion.

I can only see this as a positive thing for a maker and a positive thing their collector's as well.
 
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Hey my far away friend, with a title like that I just had to have a look. ( down here " bastard " is an endearing term sometimes and other times not so much :D ) I really like it. The patina is very nice and I like the guard material. Betcha its light in the hand. As always mate very nice work all over.
Cheers Keith
 
As I posted in the sales thread for this knife.
If you want to take preorders for a run of these count me in.
 
As someone who works for a meager wage I really appreciate you trying to get knives into my price range that I can use. The simpler ones I can use are much more rewarding than the fancy ones I've owned but couldn't afford to use.


Thanks Mitch
 
Good concept. A good knife is a good knife, regardless of finish, and one you'd actually use is something we should all be shooting for. I've got several knives, including ones meant to be used, that I've never used (e.g., early Moran and Loveless). I'd like to have one of similar quality and really test it. Like yours. Wonderful blending of old and new. I even like the micarta guard, though a straight black handle would suit me better than the questionable stripes. Seems like similar thinking has worked for Dozier, why not for you. Good luck.
 
Different strokes for different folks

I love and admire all forms of the blade arts

My tastes have gone away from embellished items in all my collecting endeavors

The last thing I ordered that had engraving was a Poli Side by Side

This in no way means I can not and do not admire fine embellishments on things, it just means I am drawn more to plainer and more design oriented pieces

There are different tales of Attila The Huns sword

Some say it was encrusted with precise metal and gems

Some stories depict it as having a blade of the finest quality but unadorned furniture

I always liked the last story :) because I picture a warrior like Attila that actually lived by the sword to appreciate such a weapon

I have Katana in my collection that I have paid big money on

One in particular is rather plain, an other his heavily adorned. Both cost the same

Both magnificent in there own way

When you get to the level of Smiths like Wheeler and Knight to name a few, even their simple pieces still are finished at an incredible level

Personally if you lay the same two knives on a table, and one has an ornate handle and a very finely finished blade and the other has a Micarta handle and a blade finish more apt for use. Even if they were the same price I would pick the latter

It's where my tastes are now

I find the same taste running in my firearms and bows

I love my encrusted with engraving Poli but I'd rather take my grandfathers old Sterlingworth in the field these days

My favorite recurve right now is not my hand checkered Silvertip but an All Phenolic custom Riser made by Bob Morrison with a pair of the finest Border Hex 6's from Scotland done in flat black

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My tastes have gone to pure performance and utility and from the success of knives like this I do not think I am alone

Plus it never hurts to pander to an up and coming audience that seems to prefer such items

I think those that will be attending the tactical invitational in Vegas soon will see some big dollars being dropped on some very subdued pieces

It's all a matter of taste

I also think a lot of people appreciate these type knives
 
JParanee said:
Nick
Everyone knows that I am not really a dealer
Click to expand...

But certainly a salesman extraordinaire. ;) :)

JParanee said:
This is a wonderful time for custom knives and it warms my heart to see people not only collecting embellished knives but actively seeking out high performance user cutlery
Click to expand...

I totally agree Joe, the more widespread and diverse the interest the better for custom knife collecting as a whole. :thumbup:
 
Thanks Kevin

It's always easy to sell a great product :)

Its a very exciting time in the world of custom knives
 
"My tastes have gone to pure performance and utility and from the success of knives like this I do not think I am alone "

Joe you are not alone.... My thinking exactly.
 
JParanee said:
There might be talk of a project on a variant of these :)
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I'm in. :D

I haven't lost any fondness for the fancy embellished knives, but I find more recently that the knives I feel inspired to buy are the knives I could actually see myself using.

And I see no downside whatsoever in a maker producing knives of both kinds, so long as he does both exceptionally well. It certainly never hurt Jerry Fisk to keep turning out the occasional plain Sendero, even if such represented the exception to the rule. Frankly, given that I view performance to be both an essential and integral part of the craft of bladesmithing, I think it does a maker credit to turn out knives built to be used and not exclusively produce elaborate museum pieces.
 
Thanks for the input guys. :)



Ken- Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. To be brutally honest, the watch references are beyond my poor country boy comprehension... but essentially you're saying that the "user-grade" pieces will bring down the value of the "high-end" pieces, correct?

That very well could be, I honestly don't know.

Part of my interest in targeting the "user-grade" demographic--- is it's a much larger demographic to draw from, and I believe there is the potential there, to ultimately expand the COLLECTOR base.

While I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE a collector with the interest, dedication, and financial stability that can fly out to the AKI show and purchase knives. ;) :) The simple fact of the matter is that finding a person who is not a knife collector, and somehow getting them THAT interested in knives--- would be all but impossible.

However, finding folks that can be convinced of the value of a custom knife based on its overall lines, quality of heat treat, optimal edge geometry, ergonomics, etc., and get them purchasing and using such a knife, is a much more doable task. And it is also my belief, that those same guys' tastes and interests will grow/expand... some to the point that they will be attending the AKI show (someday).


You also have to consider that at the root of this all, knife makers are manufacturers. Two things a manufacturer MUST do to have any success: 1.)Make a product people actually buy, 2.)Make it with enough proficiency to make a profit.

Many knife makers get sucked into the line of thinking that, "I'm an artist. I'm only interested in showing what an artist I am."

That's fine, and to each his own! But it's very hard to support a family like that.


I would rather do a handful of project runs each year, and be able to do "one-offs" in between... and actually bring in a family wage... than only do super high end pieces and live like a pauper. I'm not saying that's the only way to do it... not by any stretch. But there are a lot of proud/indignant knife makers that live a very stressful, "knife to knife" existence.



If I can have the best of both worlds--- making a decent living by making hard-use knives, as well as "high-end" pieces, then that is most certainly what I will try to do. :) :) :)


Thanks guys! :)
 
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can't disregard the value of interacting with a wide variety of buyers, and gaining feedback from communicating with them.
but, a guy could pull a Lloyd Hale gig too and that's also fine.
every dude forges his own path. Some go it alone, some like company and in the end it all comes down to choice.
being a not-so-well-heeled gent, I especially appreciate the makers who like to have some company on their way. In particular those with the skills and creativity to chose a more exclusive route, but who nevertheless choose to deal with commoners such as me :)
 
Nick, the comments previously got me thinking (I never seem to be able to shut it off) that maybe a different stamp or mark on the higher production run users would be a better marketing strategy, and the one offs being the status item like Audi/VW, Chev/Cadillac etc. Even Fender guitars makes customs, and has three lines with different price points in their production line. The customs are VERY pricy. I had one of the Custom Jazz basses in a previous life, and man what craftsmanship!
 
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