New knifedesigner (starting from scratch) need advice

[Crag the Brewer]

I see a lot of people doing pre orders to pay for these knife shipments. I think it’s ok as long as you don’t steal peoples money or delay too long. And- the knife is as advertised. I think I get what you’re saying is : just don’t steal the money, be honest with your design and most importantly- try to be on time. Or do you think pre-orders are bad all around?

Thanks for comments !

Nope......

Most Importantly, Don't steal people's money.


Also In MY opinion, and I'm working my way through the concept, design, patent stage too...and have already a few times already.

If you don't believe enough in your product, to put your own money into it, why should anybody else?

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Can we see a picture of Your knife collection?

something I do, is buy a Lot of knives. I see it as a learning experience.
the maker is in my living room teaching me things as I hold and use their knives.


even without being a maker yet, you Could do that......

otherwise, how do you know Your design is even good? What are you comparing it to? You don't know what you don't know.....or, are you just trying to reinvent the wheel?

some guys here have Amazing collections. Id trust Their opinions more.
they would know if anything is missing in the market.
do you?

 

[IceCreamNKnives]

One has to know the capabilities of the equipment the knives will be produced on, and the knife designed appropriately. The prototype does not actually have to be produced on that machinery.

I was in the right place, at the right time, and had the capability to do the design. The automatic knife from Italy was extremely popular, my skills were known, and I was asked to design a new knife.
I took an existing production knife, modified the design, specified the materials and submitted the design. This was in 2006 and they are still in production.

The design has been profusely counterfeited in China, and my trade name applied to many different counterfeits of other knives.
While I have not dealt with the Chinese, I know of quite a few others who have. Regardless of your agreement, your design will be sold out from under you. They have no business ethics, and there is no way to enforce any agreements, patents, or copyrights.

Thank you so much for this information!! I don’t want to be political but China has 1000s of factories that specialize in cloning goods. And they have copyright laws for their own citizens and Chinese companies and they do enforce these- so they are capable of enforcing copyright/licensing however. The CCP does incentivize and support ripping off American designs of all products. Which is really messed up- that’s almost like counterfeiting another countries currency.

I’m in a catch 22 situation where the OEMs that will take my orders- are only in China. I believe.

I’m not delusional - no matter what my exs say- I don’t expect any OEM Brand to take my design and then sell it under their brand name. Like WE or Buck or Spyderco or whoever. What I’m hoping is to place an order of 300+ of knives under my own brand. But they’d be made by Bestech, WE, Reate, Rike or whoever. But I’m paying for them to make it- if I’m paying for them to do a 300+ batch I think some Chinese OEM would take the order right? Like who cares if I’m famous or not- they’re getting the same amount of money either way. God I hope so.

There is a guy on Youtube called LeftyEDC. He mainly reviewed knives on YT, but started his own knife brand recently - Divo Knives - and now has several models for sale. He uses a Chinese OEM. I would go on his YT channel and ask him for help in getting started, and see what he says.

Yeah Lefty (Kevin) is one of the people that inspired me to do this. I talked to him last year and he’s a great guy. Seeing him Along with EMP EDC and a couple other, newer- “craft beer” like knife companies that have recently springed up is the reason I want to pursue this.

Please bear with me for a moment and let me explain where I’m coming from.

This isn’t related to Knife Making but I am a master Carpenter. And Master dry Waller and painter. I’m also good at flooring, turn of the century repair work and decently proficient at many other trades that I could list. So I just call myself a remodeler. I had been doing this for 10+ years- the last 2-3 years I started my own remodeling business. It blew my mind that I didn’t fail and I was successful. I made more money than I ever had before but I was the only employee. So it’s not like I got rich or anything. But this company was perfect for me and it was really good money for where I’m from.
Still-everyone I talked to told me I would fail and I was stupid. Almost everyone who has been in these trades long enough will try to do it by themselves and start their own business.

So, in the years before I started my own business—I talked to 40+ people that had done these trades and went for it. I think almost everyone had failed at it. And they were forced to go back and start working for someone else and I hired them onto my crew. ( I was a foreman back then).

I spent a lot of time talking shop with these people. I had a great grasp on doing trade work with my hands and a lot of experience with the finished product I would produce. So I had that part done. But I had no idea what to do about the business side. So I asked my fellow employees what they did and I’d say “ What’s the best things you did right for your business? And what’s the worst things you did? What were all the reasons you failed?, etc”

I had a lot of responses but I was able to make a list of “What to do” and a list of “What NOT to do”. The “not-do” list was much bigger and much more important. So I used their advice and experience to make my own business and the only reason it was successful is because of the info I attained. I figured out new ways of doing things (to me) by coming up with ideas that would work and most importantly Not Doing certain things. Making solutions that would avoid these pitfalls was the key.

I heard this old NASA engineer say “ You learn a lot more by failing.” And that’s completely true. I was humble and tried to really listen to these other tradesmen about what worked and what didn’t. They gave me nuggets of info- mostly what not to do but also plenty of good things to do. So I was able to get enough info that I didn’t have to fail (In a big way) because I listened to other peoples failures. Obviously with this stuff everyone’s going to make smaller mistakes but a big fail is when the business goes under. And that’s what I want to avoid. Talking with you guys ( and other knife people) is my research- my due diligence. For this new career into Knives.

Fast forward, I got brutally injured during rock climbing and doing hard manual labor was not a possibility for me anymore. even though my business worked pretty well- I had to end it because of the injuries. It’s ok I don’t want your pity but I would appreciate any and all information and viewpoints in regards to knife making.

Sorry for such a long winded story but this is the background I’m bringing into my own Knife Company. Building things is 2nd nature to me and I also can draw and do artwork as a hobby. Been using tools my whole life and professionally building things my whole adult life. and collecting knives since I was a little kid. I was an avid outdoorsman and I have an attachment to knives. I enjoy them a lot. I’ve owned a lot of knives and seeing how they work and what they’re made of is a real joy.

I just want to say thanks! Too each and everyone of you that has commented. I really appreciate everything y’all have to say. Any information is good information thank you

 

[RobMofSD]

So, Toor Knives started an OEM company in El Cajon (San Diego) CA. called Precision Edge MFG. I have no idea about the requirements, but they are pretty out front on a lot of their costs. Not cheap, but they are a company that makes OEM knives. I am pretty sure they do some DPx and Compliance Edge as well as Toor (well, they are Toor, the same building).

I honestly would love to hear what it runs you if you go with them. It is many a knife collector's dream.

 

[IceCreamNKnives]

Can we see a picture of Your knife collection?

something I do, is buy a Lot of knives. I see it as a learning experience.
the maker is in my living room teaching me things as I hold and use their knives.


even without being a maker yet, you Could do that......

otherwise, how do you know Your design is even good? What are you comparing it to? You don't know what you don't know.....or, are you just trying to reinvent the wheel?

some guys here have Amazing collections. Id trust Their opinions more.
they would know if anything is missing in the market.
do you?

Pictures you want pictures!! What is this a knife forum lol sure. That’s going to be a lot of pictures. I’m trying to post more on Instagram and get back to doing minor YT knife reviews- I can’t post the links sadly enough because they get flagged for advertising. If you want to message me your email- I can email the links to you.

I agree with both comments you made whole heartedly.

I had a pretty good knife collection I was using it as my make shift savings ( not the best savings account but it was the funnest savings I’ve had ).

So yeah- everything is compared to these production knives I own. Such as Microtech, Spyderco, Cold Steel, Reate, Pena X, Ruike, Rike, Buck, Kershaw, Boker (Solingen and their Chinese versions), QSP, and there’s others- I’m drawing a blank.

I’ve bought 10+ Spydercos in the last year. I’d love to buy more American but money is a factor so I can only get so many.

It’s all about comparison. It’s these knives I’m comparing it to. I’m first and foremost a knife fan- because I have an OCD analytical brain that’s drenched in engineering theory to make everything more efficient. I have a compulsion to say “hmm I wonder if I could change these couple things and use that as a spring board for certain design ideas. Like wouldn’t it be cool if this knife did this or that.”

So yeah these makers and companies and knives are my inspiration. (There’s many more besides the ones I listed). Some knives are amazing, some knives are good, some knives are eh. A lot of my ideas come from just drawing different profile shapes and grinds on the blade. But other ideas are a response to “I love this knife but wouldn’t it be cool if it did this…” etc.

but when I springboard off one aspect of an already produced knife- my knife - my version- won’t look anything like the original inspiration. Usually I just take one aspect I like. For example “contouring and radiusing titanium scales and giving a bead blast finish (or glass blast, matte finish etc) onto them can change a knife 180 degrees compared to flat slab Ti scales. “

I love the Spyderco Slysz Bowie for this type of Ti treatment. I’d love to put that style of Ti treatment onto a completely different knife. This is my thinking style when I use an already made knife as inspiration to springboard into one of my own designs. Another example is — I love bolster locks- for the most part- bolster locks erase “the cons” of certain framelocks. (Death lock ). I want to put a Bolster lock into a tactical knife, etc. I think you get the gist of it.

To sum it- because I’m a knife collector and fan- I’m originally making knives for myself. Knives that I want to buy. Then once I have an idea I really like- I’d want to prototype it and give it off to other members of the community and hear what they like/dislike and make changes accordingly. So it’s a blend of what I like when I first start making it but then incorporates what other people like into the design.

Ok so yes “market niche holes” do play into this. The first design I’m pursuing isn’t really the main style I produce. I do a lot of different knife styles but I guess general edc is something I’m striving for. However- the knife in question is pure self defense. Self defense knives have a different slice of the pie compared to general edc knives or even tactical knives.

Self Defense knives carry a ton of baggage. They can’t be too expensive. They need to appeal partially to the knife collector but more importantly probably need to also appeal to mild people, to normal people that will only own 1-3 knives. And there’s other baggage with these types of models. Only 10% of my designs are self defense knives. However this knife design is not represented in the market exactly. There’s a couple fixed blades that are similar and one folder that’s similar.

But my design is pretty different compared to these other ones. I guess there’s a handful of smaller differences but when combined- there isn’t representation for this exact knife. Like I said there’s a couple similar knives in this family but they are not brothers to my design. So it’s this partial uniqueness that makes me want to pick this knife for my 1st even tho self defense knives are not really what I want to do. I think I lean more towards general edc.

But to re hash it. I agree with everything you said thanks for your comments

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Pictures you want pictures!! What is this a knife forum lol sure. That’s going to be a lot of pictures. I’m trying to post more on Instagram and get back to doing minor YT knife reviews- I can’t post the links sadly enough because they get flagged for advertising. If you want to message me your email- I can email the links to you.

I agree with both comments you made whole heartedly.

I had a pretty good knife collection I was using it as my make shift savings ( not the best savings account but it was the funnest savings I’ve had ).

So yeah- everything is compared to these production knives I own. Such as Microtech, Spyderco, Cold Steel, Reate, Pena X, Ruike, Rike, Buck, Kershaw, Boker (Solingen and their Chinese versions), QSP, and there’s others- I’m drawing a blank.

I’ve bought 10+ Spydercos in the last year. I’d love to buy more American but money is a factor so I can only get so many.

It’s all about comparison. It’s these knives I’m comparing it to. I’m first and foremost a knife fan- because I have an OCD analytical brain that’s drenched in engineering theory to make everything more efficient. I have a compulsion to say “hmm I wonder if I could change these couple things and use that as a spring board for certain design ideas. Like wouldn’t it be cool if this knife did this or that.”

So yeah these makers and companies and knives are my inspiration. (There’s many more besides the ones I listed). Some knives are amazing, some knives are good, some knives are eh. A lot of my ideas come from just drawing different profile shapes and grinds on the blade. But other ideas are a response to “I love this knife but wouldn’t it be cool if it did this…” etc.

but when I springboard off one aspect of an already produced knife- my knife - my version- won’t look anything like the original inspiration. Usually I just take one aspect I like. For example “contouring and radiusing titanium scales and giving a bead blast finish (or glass blast, matte finish etc) onto them can change a knife 180 degrees compared to flat slab Ti scales. “

I love the Spyderco Slysz Bowie for this type of Ti treatment. I’d love to put that style of Ti treatment onto a completely different knife. This is my thinking style when I use an already made knife as inspiration to springboard into one of my own designs. Another example is — I love bolster locks- for the most part- bolster locks erase “the cons” of certain framelocks. (Death lock ). I want to put a Bolster lock into a tactical knife, etc. I think you get the gist of it.

To sum it- because I’m a knife collector and fan- I’m originally making knives for myself. Knives that I want to buy. Then once I have an idea I really like- I’d want to prototype it and give it off to other members of the community and hear what they like/dislike and make changes accordingly. So it’s a blend of what I like when I first start making it but then incorporates what other people like into the design.

Ok so yes “market niche holes” do play into this. The first design I’m pursuing isn’t really the main style I produce. I do a lot of different knife styles but I guess general edc is something I’m striving for. However- the knife in question is pure self defense. Self defense knives have a different slice of the pie compared to general edc knives or even tactical knives.

Self Defense knives carry a ton of baggage. They can’t be too expensive. They need to appeal partially to the knife collector but more importantly probably need to also appeal to mild people, to normal people that will only own 1-3 knives. And there’s other baggage with these types of models. Only 10% of my designs are self defense knives. However this knife design is not represented in the market exactly. There’s a couple fixed blades that are similar and one folder that’s similar.

But my design is pretty different compared to these other ones. I guess there’s a handful of smaller differences but when combined- there isn’t representation for this exact knife. Like I said there’s a couple similar knives in this family but they are not brothers to my design. So it’s this partial uniqueness that makes me want to pick this knife for my 1st even tho self defense knives are not really what I want to do. I think I lean more towards general edc.

But to re hash it. I agree with everything you said thanks for your comments

Thanks for the decent reply..... But you aren't going to like what I say.....

Don't let a self-defense knife be the one you bring to market.
*especially folding

 

[RobMofSD]

Self Defense knives carry a ton of baggage. They can’t be too expensive. They need to appeal partially to the knife collector but more importantly probably need to also appeal to mild people, to normal people that will only own 1-3 knives. And there’s other baggage with these types of models. Only 10% of my designs are self defense knives. However this knife design is not represented in the market exactly. There’s a couple fixed blades that are similar and one folder that’s similar.

That really depends on the knife and how common it is. The fact of the matter is I just bought an Eagle Rock for just under $900 USD. That is way beyond the prices for Spydercos (of which I am not a fan).

Thanks for the decent reply..... But you aren't going to like what I say.....

Don't let a self-defense knife be the one you bring to market.
*especially folding

Honestly, the key fad right now, and know knives always have fads, is fidget. But, remember that folders are very complex and the things people rave about are often hard to get right. For example, great action, fidget and drop shut. Those are key things people want (or so they think). But then if you have a miss like a recent maker had on detent, you have a disaster.

Just my two cents. And more collector than anything.

 

[Bühlmann]

Why not just forget the business side of it & learn to make the knives you want with your own hands? The payoffs will be exponentially greater and personally rewarding to you as a craftsman than anything a bunch of sub-$100 Chinese knives could provide.

Because in the end, your knife will just be another (cheap) Chinese knife in an endless ocean of (cheap) Chinese knives, regardless of how innovative or cool the design is.

I’m not trying to discourage your endeavor, but simply suggesting you do some deep reflection on exactly why you are choosing the route you are. Nothing you have described above is unique or special. All makers tend to have a similar genesis, so I guess what I’m saying is I think you might be happier reconsidering your approach vs. your desired results.

Good luck to you either way you go, and please post up some pics of what you come up with!

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Why not just forget the business side of it & learn to make the knives you want with your own hands? The payoffs will be exponentially greater and personally rewarding to you as a craftsman than anything a bunch of sub-$100 Chinese knives could provide.

Because in the end, your knife will just be another (cheap) Chinese knife in an endless ocean of (cheap) Chinese knives, regardless of how innovative or cool the design is.

I’m not trying to discourage your endeavor, but simply suggesting you do some deep reflection on exactly why you are choosing the route you are. Nothing you have described above is unique or special. All makers tend to have a similar genesis, so I guess what I’m saying is I think you might be happier reconsidering your approach vs. your desired results.

Good luck to you either way you go, and please post up some pics of what you come up with!

I believe Bü is correct..... Make knives, start.....

Get more involved in the knife community. Keep posting. Keep designing. Keep building relationships. Keep dreaming. Keep tinkering.

You'd be surprised who you can buddy up with and become friends with here.

Here is more advice I'll give as a rookey maker, Here.....
Buying the craftsman/makers membership Changed the way other members here will talk to you, how they see you. I know that sounds strange. But I've seen it first hand.

Some Very Very experienced and credible fellows look to help out new talent.
I've had a few beneficial moments here, being saved by a helping hand.

I wouldn't be surprised if you could get some help too.

 

[IceCreamNKnives]

Why not just forget the business side of it & learn to make the knives you want with your own hands? The payoffs will be exponentially greater and personally rewarding to you as a craftsman than anything a bunch of sub-$100 Chinese knives could provide.

Because in the end, your knife will just be another (cheap) Chinese knife in an endless ocean of (cheap) Chinese knives, regardless of how innovative or cool the design is.

I’m not trying to discourage your endeavor, but simply suggesting you do some deep reflection on exactly why you are choosing the route you are. Nothing you have described above is unique or special. All makers tend to have a similar genesis, so I guess what I’m saying is I think you might be happier reconsidering your approach vs. your desired results.

Good luck to you either way you go, and please post up some pics of what you come up with!

Well- this is the research phase so nothings set in stone yet. Just getting info and opinions- but opinions are what they are-

So I want to do American OEMs but there are very few of them and they’re all filled up. Chinese OEMs are a necessity because they’ll take orders. If I go that route though the knives would be 300$+ . Basing this off comparable production knives I’ve seen.

The Self Defense knife maybe could be in the 120-150$ range.

“Let your work speak for itself.” That was my motto with my carpentry, painting etc. that still applies here. It doesn’t matter if it’s produced in the US or China— it’s still production. So the design has too speak for itself.

So, when I originally posted this: I just wanted a tool list of what I needed to get. To make knives in my garage- specifically folders. No one has given me that info- I would really like it. instead, I think there’s been other advice on what I should do. And I’m happy to hear it all

I’ve been studying how to do this for awhile and I’ve heard multiple custom knife makers say that they’re not making money on customs in general. So in order to keep the lights on- they have to do production runs. These knife makers are relatively known so it’s a little crushing to hear that. My previous line of work makes me think that they can only produce 400$ a day making customs (or less). Let’s say they do 800$ a day so they’re doing 2 knives a day. Add in the rental space, bills, etc . I think there’s truth in what they’re saying with the overhead. It’s tight.

So I’d like to do customs but looking at the info I’ve gathered as a whole - production is where it has to be at out of necessity. But I don’t know- looking at everything said on here—it looks pretty discouraging either way. So I’m not sure if this is what I should do. Financially - custom or production- it has to feed me and pay for my rent and gas eventually at some point. Sadly enough, I don’t have enough money to pursue this as an art project - maybe when I was younger I could’ve but this has to eventually let me survive off it.

Thanks for your comments! I appreciate your opinion. If the world was perfect I’d like to pursue both custom and production but who knows maybe miracles could happen

 

[Bühlmann]

Only the very best of us are blessed enough to make a living making knives, and most of those guys have spent years/decades perfecting their craft & building a reputation. Most guys do it as a hobby and/or side hustle. Production and prototyping for efficient production is a completely different animal. The two together will be a large undertaking both financially & logistically. Not impossible, but your 15K will probably not be the only seed required for success.

It sounds like you think that process is easy enough to bypass all of that with a Chinese production run. I think most on here will disagree with that, but I can only speak for myself and I’m just a hack-monkey that struggles through “simple” fixed blades as a hobby.

I’ll leave you with this:

Q: What is the difference between a full-time knife maker & a large pizza?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Wait for it….)
.
.
.
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A: A large pizza can feed a family.

 

[RobMofSD]

I believe Bü is correct..... Make knives, start.....

Get more involved in the knife community. Keep posting. Keep designing. Keep building relationships. Keep dreaming. Keep tinkering.

You'd be surprised who you can buddy up with and become friends with here.

Here is more advice I'll give as a rookey maker, Here.....
Buying the craftsman/makers membership Changed the way other members here will talk to you, how they see you. I know that sounds strange. But I've seen it first hand.

Some Very Very experienced and credible fellows look to help out new talent.
I've had a few beneficial moments here, being saved by a helping hand.

I wouldn't be surprised if you could get some help too.

Huh. I didn't know that was a thing... just starting out myself. Not trying to go commercial. Just tired of buying... invest in my own stuff instead.

 

[AVigil]

"$300"?

That is a lot of money for an unknown folder maker. You have a lot of Big Names to compete with. I mean it is not like you are a custom knifemaker who has gone overseas to manufacture an affordable knife for your fans.

You will be competing against world renown makers for example "Mike Snody". He has had his XCELLERATOR knife made in China and it sells for $130. His custom version is $2500

Look at Mike Snody's page and be honest with yourself. Will you knife be better and worth more then a "Mike Snody XCELERATOR"?

You have a dream, but you may turn it into a nightmare if you jump in be with the overseas mfg. at the stage of your knifemaking experience

 

[Richard338]

We've had a few good threads on shop equipment lists that you can search for. You are talking tools, but you need to start with work spaces, lighting, air quality, safety.

 

[Lorien]

I've made 3 folding knives so far, and here is a list of tools I used;

-drill press
-2x72 grinder
-bench mounted portable bandsaw
-Dremel tool
-granite slab
-2 bench mounted vises
-heat treatment oven
-dewar
-drill bits
-taps
-abrasive belts
-reamers
-sand paper sheets
-center punch
-scribing stylus
-layout dye

I'm currently doing a step by step WiP in my subforum I do not recommend using the same process I used, but aspects might be helpful to you

 

[IceCreamNKnives]

"$300"?

That is a lot of money for an unknown folder maker. You have a lot of Big Names to compete with. I mean it is not like you are a custom knifemaker who has gone overseas to manufacture an affordable knife for your fans.

You will be competing against world renown makers for example "Mike Snody". He has had his XCELLERATOR knife made in China and it sells for $130. His custom version is $2500

Look at Mike Snody's page and be honest with yourself. Will you knife be better and worth more then a "Mike Snody XCELERATOR"?

You have a dream, but you may turn it into a nightmare if you jump in be with the overseas mfg. at the stage of your knifemaking experience

So the guys that have done this system with Chinese OEMs and good materials have to price it above 300$ - that’s just the required price to sell to the customer- they say that’s the way it is and I believe them. The price is a reflection of the materials and production cost from the OEM company. I said 300$ because the people I saw do this , with the materials I like, said they had to place the price point there. Don’t shoot the messenger that’s just what I heard.

Lol No one knew them as makers until they dropped their pre-orders and started passing prototypes around on instagram. If the customer wants S90V (Vanax, etc), milled titanium, unique blade finish, etc. the bells and whistles. Let’s say Bestech does a knife like I described and they sell it at 270$. I decide to place an OEM order with Bestech. Identical knife same materials. Bestech will mark up the order - sell them to me at a more expensive price. So I have to sell it at 310$ . Even though it’s the same knife- the only difference is my name on the knife instead of Bestech. So that’s the brutal system with doing these Chinese OEM orders. It is what it is- I understand that my marketing and design has to justify this discrepancy.

I don’t know about other people but I hate buying cheap Chinese knives. 80$ -120$ knives aren’t that great in my opinion.

I think where “Some” of these Chinese OEMs shine is in the 250-350$ range. Because of materials. But these are my feelings and opinions as a collector. If the customer wants specialty Ti with cutting edge knife steel , it costs more. - it is what it is.

If I want FRN and D2 (or AUS10A) I’d rather get a Cold Steel or Spyderco from Taiwan. (Or wherever). And yes I know that GSM Cold Steel has started to push cheap Chinese knives in the last year.

Thanks for the recommendation of the Xcel rator by Mike Snody. I will have to take a look.

 

[Joshua Fisher]

I make a living from making knives, specifically fixed blades and kitchen knives, Folders can be made with simple tools but I’d say it’s much more time consuming which results in lower profitability. If I was starting over and specifically wanted to make folders at the minimum you’d need a good mill, ideally either a cnc mill or mill with a Digital readout or dro. Folders need accuracy and very tight tolerances to work well, it’s often why the cheap Chinese folders do not work well. next on my list would be a stone wheel surface grinder, not a belt converted or surface grinding attachment for a belt grinder. You’ll also likely need a decent grinder for bevels and all the other shaping and non-milling tasks. A 2x72” belt grinder would be best, you won’t get the same precision with many smaller grinder or atleast it takes much more time and work. Most folders benefit from stainless steels and that tends to be what the market expects so a good heat treating oven would be a must. Some tools estimates, 2-3k for a ht oven, 2-4K for the belt grinder, probably 5-10k+ for the mill unless you go with something really small or less than ideal, surface grinders vary quite a bit as a lot of people buy used so I’ll leave the price blank on that. Even if you went cheap on tools which I wouldn’t recommend you’ll likely still spend close to $10,000 not really figuring all the little tools. Most people start with basic tools and work their way up over several years, start by watching videos of making knives with nothing but hand tools then watch more and more videos and you’ll likely get an idea of what tools you’ll need for specific tasks. Or take a class with someone on how to make a folder. Chances are and not to knock the designs you have especially since I haven’t seen them but most people tend to not have the best or functional designs in the beginning and they really only get better from making more knives and refining their work. I’ve taught classes on making chef knives and had chefs in the class design terrible chef knives despite using that type of knife all day.

 

[REK Knives]

I make a living from making knives, specifically fixed blades and kitchen knives, Folders can be made with simple tools but I’d say it’s much more time consuming which results in lower profitability. If I was starting over and specifically wanted to make folders at the minimum you’d need a good mill, ideally either a cnc mill or mill with a Digital readout or dro. Folders need accuracy and very tight tolerances to work well, it’s often why the cheap Chinese folders do not work well. next on my list would be a stone wheel surface grinder, not a belt converted or surface grinding attachment for a belt grinder. You’ll also likely need a decent grinder for bevels and all the other shaping and non-milling tasks. A 2x72” belt grinder would be best, you won’t get the same precision with many smaller grinder or atleast it takes much more time and work. Most folders benefit from stainless steels and that tends to be what the market expects so a good heat treating oven would be a must. Some tools estimates, 2-3k for a ht oven, 2-4K for the belt grinder, probably 5-10k+ for the mill unless you go with something really small or less than ideal, surface grinders vary quite a bit as a lot of people buy used so I’ll leave the price blank on that. Even if you went cheap on tools which I wouldn’t recommend you’ll likely still spend close to $10,000 not really figuring all the little tools. Most people start with basic tools and work their way up over several years, start by watching videos of making knives with nothing but hand tools then watch more and more videos and you’ll likely get an idea of what tools you’ll need for specific tasks. Or take a class with someone on how to make a folder. Chances are and not to knock the designs you have especially since I haven’t seen them but most people tend to not have the best or functional designs in the beginning and they really only get better from making more knives and refining their work. I’ve taught classes on making chef knives and had chefs in the class design terrible chef knives despite using that type of knife all day.

Good advise here... Although I get my with my bench top mill fine. And for ht you can contract that service out if you wish, although it's not ideal.

Here's a video where you can see some of the tools I use to make my folders although I'm sure you can get by with less or more tools different ways to do it

 

[IceCreamNKnives]

I make a living from making knives, specifically fixed blades and kitchen knives, Folders can be made with simple tools but I’d say it’s much more time consuming which results in lower profitability. If I was starting over and specifically wanted to make folders at the minimum you’d need a good mill, ideally either a cnc mill or mill with a Digital readout or dro. Folders need accuracy and very tight tolerances to work well, it’s often why the cheap Chinese folders do not work well. next on my list would be a stone wheel surface grinder, not a belt converted or surface grinding attachment for a belt grinder. You’ll also likely need a decent grinder for bevels and all the other shaping and non-milling tasks. A 2x72” belt grinder would be best, you won’t get the same precision with many smaller grinder or atleast it takes much more time and work. Most folders benefit from stainless steels and that tends to be what the market expects so a good heat treating oven would be a must. Some tools estimates, 2-3k for a ht oven, 2-4K for the belt grinder, probably 5-10k+ for the mill unless you go with something really small or less than ideal, surface grinders vary quite a bit as a lot of people buy used so I’ll leave the price blank on that. Even if you went cheap on tools which I wouldn’t recommend you’ll likely still spend close to $10,000 not really figuring all the little tools. Most people start with basic tools and work their way up over several years, start by watching videos of making knives with nothing but hand tools then watch more and more videos and you’ll likely get an idea of what tools you’ll need for specific tasks. Or take a class with someone on how to make a folder. Chances are and not to knock the designs you have especially since I haven’t seen them but most people tend to not have the best or functional designs in the beginning and they really only get better from making more knives and refining their work. I’ve taught classes on making chef knives and had chefs in the class design terrible chef knives despite using that type of knife all day.

Thank you so much man this is exactly what I was looking for from the beginning. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain everything to me and rough pricing it.

Good advise here... Although I get my with my bench top mill fine. And for ht you can contract that service out if you wish, although it's not ideal.

Here's a video where you can see some of the tools I use to make my folders although I'm sure you can get by with less or more tools different ways to do it

Thanks for the info really glad to hear it