Ian is in touch, multiple emails.
We are going to get this worked out
With no hard feelings it appears.
Excellent news!
Dozier
Asbolutely no hard feelings at all. I deserved a shot across my bow for such poor communication.
Ian
Edit: I wanted to clarify some things "for the record".
I am aware that many makers have magically become sick or injured right around the time they started having trouble with their business. I am aware that there is no way for an onlooker to tell one way or another what is going on.
A few years ago I was in a bad car accident and suffered some broken bones and nerve damage. Eventually it became such a problem that I had to leave my career of almost two decades, and a fairly high paying job with amazing benefits.
While I was trying to figure out what to do with myself now that my life was ruined and everything I ever worked for and the career that I love was torn from my hands, I started playing with knifemaking which eventually developed into a living. Being able to dictate my own hours helped me quite a bit with controlling my health.
As soon as I decided to go all-in on knifemaking, one of the first things I did was make an "emergency fund" of savings in case my health once again let me down like it did when I had to leave my career.
Since my accident, it has been normal for me to have a flare up and maybe one or two bad weeks where I will get behind a bit. I would always bounce back though.
In March I threw my back out moving a toolbox, and never bounced back. I was fooling myself for a while, but finally decided to see a doctor. I got x-rays and it appears there is damage to a disc. I've been losing function in my left hand and the muscles have started to atrophy.
The grip strength in my right hand is 155lbs. The grip strength in my left is now at 40lbs. I have roughly 1/3 of my normal function in my left arm and hand which is my dominant side.
On a bad day I will constantly drop things, and shake badly. Doing any type of finish work on a blade, even just putting an edge on a finished knife, is a laughable activity.
At the very worst, it has gotten so bad that I can't wipe my own butt or tie my own shoes. There have been a few instances when I haven't seen my own bedroom for a week because I didn't feel like I could make it up the stairs. I can't drive in a car because the bumps are excruciatingly painful on a bad day.
Most of my family besides my parents are out of state. Any friend that was worth associating with is either gone or too busy. My dad has diabetes and almost lost his foot a couple months ago and has been bedridden, and so my parents are mostly stuck at home. My fiance works 12hr night shifts and commutes, and is the sole breadwinner. She has been picking up extra shifts to make up for me, and so is not available either.
Can I find someone to help out when things get bad? Yes, sometimes. But most of the time I'm all on my own for better or worse.
The demand for my work is at least 10X my output, with emails to match. I get a dozen emails on a slow day, and anywhere from 30-50 if I've posted recently. I had about 2 years of orders on the books until I announced I was permanently discontinuing taking orders due to my health. Nearly every knife I post sells within minutes.
When I am operating at 100%, I can BARELY handle the communication volume and interest in my work. It doesn't take much more than a case of the sniffles to get hopelessly behind on email.
Since my health took a turn for the worse, I have started to make an effort to basically rebuild my business anew and focus more tightly in a specific area. All I can say at this point is thay I'm hopeful it will be a success.
Things are still up in the air right now, but I do hope I can make it through this trial and continue as a knifemaker.
