Perks of being a knife maker

Honestly, you guys, I don't know why you make it sound so difficult, when literally every movie, cartoon, and video game makes it abundantly clear that all it takes is hot coals, an anvil, and a hammer to turn a stick of steel into the greatest weapon of all time. Sometimes, it's ok to liquify god-knows-what metal in a crucible and pour it into a mold, but as long as you devote at least 8 seconds of montage to orange glow and quenching noises, the end product is guaranteed to be shiny and epic. Bonus if there's a shot of the adolescent/pet/goblin apprentice jumping up and down on the bellows to get the forge hotter than ever to make that blade sing through the air when the hero performs the obligatory QC shadow swishes upon delivery. All you makers do that part, at least, right?
 
RPZIP said:
Of course you have the learning curve, the outlay on tooling etc.

But once you have all that, the cost of a piece of even premium steel and practical handle material is not much. The rest is your time, and your time is your own - make something useful .... or watch TV.
Click to expand...

RPZIP said:
I fully understand. And you are describing the making a living aspect. I'm talking about making something for yourself, using the skills and tools you have, and the cost of materials. Yes, heat treatment etc. You could factor in your time, but again, this is not something for profit - to pay the bills.

Rather than cheap, I could rephrase to cheaper.
Click to expand...


I don’t do this for the money. If I sell a knife it doesn’t even approach the expense of what it takes to make it.

I’m safely six figures in on this ‘hobby’. In fact, it HAS to be a hobby because it can’t, under any possible stretch of the imagination, justify itself fiscally.


I don’t do this for the money -I do this because I WANT to do it. I HAVE to do it.

Most knifemakers would be far, far better off getting jobs.
 
Last edited:
Just sayin'...


f16857e9-9d44-4f7d-b8bd-354ee68f1e27_text.gif
 
Joking aside, back to the original subject.

I think that the perk of being a knife maker is that you can make the knife you want without any limitation (maybe money), testing out ideas and what's not, meet your specifications without waiting for the market to make one. Also pride and accomplishment.

Kind of like YouTuber Outdoor55.
 
Primarily, the most noticeable perk of a knife maker is that you never HAVE to rely on someone else to make you a knife in order to have one
 
ShaiHulud said:
Had to look that one up. Clever. Hopefully they don't forget to think of themselves from time to time as well
Click to expand...

The perk of being a knife maker is sharing your best work with others.

Creating a physical manifestation that came from your mind, your hand-eye coordination, your knowledge and experience focused into a single object for people to cherish and enjoy.

That satisfaction goes beyond the enjoyment of getting to keep the knives.

It's not about keeping the knives.

If you need to own the knife, that's not the life of a knife maker.

The satisfaction comes from others using and enjoying it; that's the greatest perk of all.

That feeling is beyond words, it's better than physically owning the knives.
 
edgelion said:
Honestly, you guys, I don't know why you make it sound so difficult, when literally every movie, cartoon, and video game makes it abundantly clear that all it takes is hot coals, an anvil, and a hammer to turn a stick of steel into the greatest weapon of all time. Sometimes, it's ok to liquify god-knows-what metal in a crucible and pour it into a mold, but as long as you devote at least 8 seconds of montage to orange glow and quenching noises, the end product is guaranteed to be shiny and epic. Bonus if there's a shot of the adolescent/pet/goblin apprentice jumping up and down on the bellows to get the forge hotter than ever to make that blade sing through the air when the hero performs the obligatory QC shadow swishes upon delivery. All you makers do that part, at least, right?
Click to expand...
Prince Valiant in the comics had the Singing Sword which he used to lop off the heads of bad guys.
 
DeadboxHero said:
The perk of being a knife maker is sharing your best work with others.

Creating a physical manifestation that came from your mind, your hand-eye coordination, your knowledge and experience focused into a single object for people to cherish and enjoy.

That satisfaction goes beyond the enjoyment of getting to keep the knives.

It's not about keeping the knives.

If you need to own the knife, that's not the life of a knife maker.

The satisfaction comes from others using and enjoying it; that's the greatest perk of all.

That feeling is beyond words, it's better than physically owning the knives.
Click to expand...
This.
 
for me, the biggest and most important perk is creating something real from an idea alone. But that's not really a 'perk' is it? It's kinda the whole point.
as far as perks go, being able to write off expenses can be handy.
 
Last edited:
DeadboxHero said:
The perk of being a knife maker is sharing your best work with others.

Creating a physical manifestation that came from your mind, your hand-eye coordination, your knowledge and experience focused into a single object for people to cherish and enjoy.

That satisfaction goes beyond the enjoyment of getting to keep the knives.

It's not about keeping the knives.

If you need to own the knife, that's not the life of a knife maker.

The satisfaction comes from others using and enjoying it; that's the greatest perk of all.

That feeling is beyond words, it's better than physically owning the knives.
Click to expand...


Yes, yes, yes, that's all good and true.......but.

Initially, did you start out making knives for such altruistic reasons???

Me, and I'll assume many, wanted something that either wasn't available in the market, or wasn't available to Them, for whatever reason.

Once I satisfied my desires, Yes.....it's great making Other people happy. Yes, of course.
But, I ain't no angel.....and My wants were initially important. If we are being honest.
 
Yes. Crag the Brewer Crag the Brewer I definitely started knife making for the same reason. I was a knife guy, and I wanted “my perfect knife.” But the novelty of that wore off once I got used to having a version of my perfect knife.

The “novelty” of making a living bringing a little joy and convenience into the lives of others not only doesn’t wear off, it becomes more and more satisfying as I continue.
 
DeadboxHero said:
The perk of being a knife maker is sharing your best work with others.

Creating a physical manifestation that came from your mind, your hand-eye coordination, your knowledge and experience focused into a single object for people to cherish and enjoy.

That satisfaction goes beyond the enjoyment of getting to keep the knives.

It's not about keeping the knives.

If you need to own the knife, that's not the life of a knife maker.

The satisfaction comes from others using and enjoying it; that's the greatest perk of all.

That feeling is beyond words, it's better than physically owning the knives.
Click to expand...

In keeping with this thought, most makers I know end up using shop seconds/prototypes for personal use. The "hand me downs" of their own work, sending the best stuff out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top