- Joined
- Apr 30, 2001
- Messages
- 1,742
Where have I been? That is a very good question.
Well, here is the last two years in a nut shell.
Many on you know that three years ago I cut back on custom work. What is not common knowledge is that four years ago I went into behind the scenes production work for many makers Mid-Tech products. Two years ago, I opened a full production shop, complete with employees. It was a successful company with over a dozen clients and turning out about 400 knives per week.
Now what I did not know at the time was that I suck at business. I have no head for it what so ever. So due to bad pricing and even worse job quotes we were only breaking even every month. Tack on the fact that most knife makers suck at business, I ended up with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid invoices. In most cases I continued to provide products for makers who were sometimes more than 5 months behind in payments. Hey, I said I sucked at business. All this left me working over 60hrs per week, away from home and never being able to see my family and only breaking even. So after 17 yrs making knives, I decided to make a major change.
I went back to school in June 06. I closed the doors to my shop in March 07 and am proud to say that in July 07 I passed my FAA check ride and am now a fully licensed Commercial Helicopter Pilot. Flying is not my love or passion, it is just my job. I enjoy my work and dont regret making the change but knives were always my passion. The problem is that I found that by making my passion my job, I destroyed any enjoyment of it.
I have stayed in the knife field through my legal work. I am regularly retained by the Orange County CA courts to act as a expert witness in knife related cases and to date have testified in 67 criminal trials (winning 100%) . My success in the criminal courts resulted in my being hired by some major knife companies and I have successfully won several civil cases for these companies.
In August I made another major change. We purchased a new home in Phoenix Az and made the move from CA back to America. It was an easy decision to make. We were able to own a home for the first time and are very happy here. We are not yet fully settled and still have half our stuff in boxes but we are already certain that it was the right thing to do. The courts are willing to fly me out to CA for court (I have jury trials on the 10th and 12th of this month) so I am still continuing my work in that area.
I do not currently have a shop to speak of. I went from a 2000sqft production shop to a two car garage with one 110 outlet. So all my machines and tools are sitting pushed up against one wall. I do not have any plans on going back to knife making full time. I will still make knives as my hobby but have yet to decide if I will ever sell another or just give them away as gifts for friends and family.
I have a few regrets. I lost several long time friends when I told them that I would not be able to continue to provide them with knives until they paid their debts. I ended up just writing off about 5k in accounts receivables. I also owe several of my suppliers some money (and will pay it all back when I can). The lose of friendships hurt a lot, but I had to do what was right for me and my family.
So thats about it. I know several people have been trying to contact me for new products or knife rebuilds. I will not be accepting any new orders, but am willing to do any rebuild or warrantee work. So feel free to contact me at rwclarkjr@yahoo.com .
Well, here is the last two years in a nut shell.
Many on you know that three years ago I cut back on custom work. What is not common knowledge is that four years ago I went into behind the scenes production work for many makers Mid-Tech products. Two years ago, I opened a full production shop, complete with employees. It was a successful company with over a dozen clients and turning out about 400 knives per week.
Now what I did not know at the time was that I suck at business. I have no head for it what so ever. So due to bad pricing and even worse job quotes we were only breaking even every month. Tack on the fact that most knife makers suck at business, I ended up with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid invoices. In most cases I continued to provide products for makers who were sometimes more than 5 months behind in payments. Hey, I said I sucked at business. All this left me working over 60hrs per week, away from home and never being able to see my family and only breaking even. So after 17 yrs making knives, I decided to make a major change.
I went back to school in June 06. I closed the doors to my shop in March 07 and am proud to say that in July 07 I passed my FAA check ride and am now a fully licensed Commercial Helicopter Pilot. Flying is not my love or passion, it is just my job. I enjoy my work and dont regret making the change but knives were always my passion. The problem is that I found that by making my passion my job, I destroyed any enjoyment of it.
I have stayed in the knife field through my legal work. I am regularly retained by the Orange County CA courts to act as a expert witness in knife related cases and to date have testified in 67 criminal trials (winning 100%) . My success in the criminal courts resulted in my being hired by some major knife companies and I have successfully won several civil cases for these companies.
In August I made another major change. We purchased a new home in Phoenix Az and made the move from CA back to America. It was an easy decision to make. We were able to own a home for the first time and are very happy here. We are not yet fully settled and still have half our stuff in boxes but we are already certain that it was the right thing to do. The courts are willing to fly me out to CA for court (I have jury trials on the 10th and 12th of this month) so I am still continuing my work in that area.
I do not currently have a shop to speak of. I went from a 2000sqft production shop to a two car garage with one 110 outlet. So all my machines and tools are sitting pushed up against one wall. I do not have any plans on going back to knife making full time. I will still make knives as my hobby but have yet to decide if I will ever sell another or just give them away as gifts for friends and family.
I have a few regrets. I lost several long time friends when I told them that I would not be able to continue to provide them with knives until they paid their debts. I ended up just writing off about 5k in accounts receivables. I also owe several of my suppliers some money (and will pay it all back when I can). The lose of friendships hurt a lot, but I had to do what was right for me and my family.
So thats about it. I know several people have been trying to contact me for new products or knife rebuilds. I will not be accepting any new orders, but am willing to do any rebuild or warrantee work. So feel free to contact me at rwclarkjr@yahoo.com .
