Reed Knife order - Opinions please

galadduin

galadduin

Joined
Dec 25, 2004
Messages
1,363
I have an order from my sisters husband. He is an oboist (plays Oboe) in Izimr Orchestra and Tutor. He also makes and sells reeds for other oboists in Turkey and Europe. He saw one of my knives and he ordered 10 reed knives. He sent the sketches of his favorite. Offers about 80 $ for a knife. He wants the handles to be ebony. He also supplied the wood for me. The drafts are below. Do you think price is reasonable (800 for 10 knives), also is D2 Ok for the purpose, do I have to stabilize ebony or oil finish is Ok?
1yvfox

1yvi29
 
To me it seems like a pretty simple type of knife to make, so I think the price seems decent, but a lot depends on if you're doing any forging, if there are things like a bolster or endcap that add to the labor, etc. Is he planning on keeping them all himself or turning around and selling them? Just looking at some websites reed knives sell for anywhere from $15 or so to $150, depending on the manufacturer. Factor in some sort of sheath or case, too, of course.

I haven't used ebony much, but it seems to be pretty dense and oily in and of itself, so I assume that just having the owner maintain it with furniture wax every now and then would be sufficient.

I would think D-2 would be great for that type of knife. It's pretty low maintenance stuff. Although, I would LOVE to see one of these with a clay heat treat and hamon! :D
 
If that $80 US money I won't do it for that. If you start low $$$ making knives you end up away make low $$$ for your knives. TomW. told me that a while back. It is true once a person get a knife off you for $80 they think that will be the price from now until Doomsday. :D
 
As for the ebony I bought a piece that was stabalized and I couldn't tell any difference between it none stabalized plus the piece that was stabalized had a crack already in it. I'd be more inclined to use African blackwood. Infact thats what most the bells are made out of on clarinets. Brother in laws should pay more. Don't be afraid to ask what you think you deserve.
 
D2 is expensive and expensive on belts. I wouldn't be able to touch it for 80 bucks myself. Better be careful in figuring your costs.

RL
 
I've decided to forge these knives out of 1/2" round stock of silversteel (bohler - K510; C: 1.18, Si: 0.25, Cr: 0.7, Mn: 0.3, V:0,1), it will have a shiny finish, decent edge and beautiful Hamon. You can do only decent edge with D2. The handle will be a socket type, secured with epoxy (no pins, no bolsters etc.). It will lower the labor involved. I cant change the price from this moment but can lower the costs. With low alloy steel HT will be easier and short, grinding will be minimum as I forge to 80%.

This order is important for me because my brother in law will sell them to his customers and I guess there will be plenty of requests from that community in future.

Thanks for the input.
 
for ten, stock ground and no sheaths as simple as it's shown..
if you don't want to do it
for $800.00 send him this way,, should take two days tops.

I could use some gravy ;)
:D

edited to add let him sell them for you and make him order 10 at a time
 
I was an oboist back in the 60's.For a reed knife forget fancy.No hamon,no bolster.
Just a good plain grip handle,and a VERY consistent bevel. It must be machine shop flat,and polished like glass.Stock removal would be the way to go.Hand lap the final finish.For the ebony (it may actually be blackwood) just sand smooth,buff and apply a light coat of wax.Don't sand or buff hard ,or you may burn and check the wood.A super simple pouch sheath would be OK,but it may be set aside and never used again.
D2 would be excellent.
 
Thanks Bldsmth,
I think I will make these from different steels and with and without hamons, for the first lot, as they were prototypes. I will inform you about the types customers are likely to buy. I will make 2 * 5160, 2 * K510 (with hamon), 2 * K510 (Without hamon), 4 * D2 reed knives (total of 10). I will continue to produce the most loved knives for the future.
 
do mean my knives for judging??? at the Atlanta show? That is in June. I'm making u my five knives between now and then. I also have you some wood together and will send it out this week. Just some American woods you may have never used. You can try them out and see what you think.

regards, mitch

Also, I don't think the 80.00 is so bad if your NOT having to supply a sheath and he's giving you the wood...
 
$80 for a hidden tang knife that is a fairly simple design dosen't sound too bad. $100 each might seem more reasonable. It will also be grinding and finishing pratice. You gotta pay your dues, as your work gets better your prices go up. You can't start off selling $500 knives. There are a lot of makers who make a damn good klnife for less than that.
 
The first one from K510 (silversteel - somewhere I saw it was coded as H8). Just hardened in cold water and no temper. I think it is 61-62 HRC may be more as my huge sharp file just slides on it and not even a single scratch. Ground 22 degrees bevel and sharpened with a 600 grit stone. I've been cutting, rasping some wood for one hour. No signs of dull edge. Just as sharp as newly sharpened. I think these will be ready in a few days as the K510 grinds fast and polishing is so easy comparing to D2 (I think thats why it is called silversteel :cool: ).
http://www.brisa.fi/hankala.html there are some blades from K510 too.
 
A good friend is a professional oboist, she also makes her own reeds, when I made a knife for her, there where only a few things that where important: "Stays Razor sharp no matter how much of what you cut with it, and when it gets dull, can be sharpened easily" and "No irregularities along the edge"

A lot of reed knives are essentially straight razor blades with the tangs stuck into dowel rods.

Tony
 
Exactly! A simple slicing blade.I had access to microtome blades and used them,often.We used to strop them on a glass sheet charged with a wet rouge paste.Many of the symphony guys carry a straight razor in their case.
 
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