Stiffhorns.......ADVICE WANTED!

RJSmith

RJSmith

Joined
Apr 10, 2002
Messages
138
Hello. For those of you who don't know me, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rick Smith and i first started making knives in 2001. I continued making blades until 2007 when i decided to take a year long break from knifemaking. Well, one year ended up turning into three years due to personal and job commitments and i recently picked up knifemaking again in spring 2010. Over the past nine months I have been fortunate enough to make some nice improvements to my shop, including a new mill and various grinder upgrades. During this time i have worked to bring my level of fit and finish up to a point where i now feel comfortable in presenting my knives to the general public for sale. So, my question for the makers and collectors of bladeforums is: How should i price my knives? Specifically, how would you price the following three blades if you were me? The specs are as follows:

Blades: ATS-34
Bolsters and pins: 416 Stainless
Thong Tubes: 303 Stainless
Handle Materials: Tan canvas Micarta, Red linen Micarta, Desert Ironwood
OAL: 7 3/8"

Sheaths: 9oz vegetable tanned leather


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Assuming you are making user knives, not safe queens, I would give at least one away to get input on the knife design and the knife/sheath package. Give it to someone who will carry it and use it everday.

Your pictures don't show the spine, is the tang tapered? How thick is the blade and handle? What is the hardness of your blade?

Your sheaths may be a weak link depending upon how the person wants to carry your knife plus the fit/finish doesn't appear to be as fine as the knife. They should match. Does it have a belt loop on the back, clip? A good sheath is as important as the knife for a user.

Price for a new maker would be what you could get for them which is not just the quality of the work, but where you are selling them. Check the knifemaker's for sale forums to get an idea of prices and what sells among knifeknuts.
 
brownshoe said:
Your pictures don't show the spine, is the tang tapered? How thick is the blade and handle? What is the hardness of your blade?
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Hi, yes these have full tapered tangs, made from 5/32 stock and hardness is 60rc as per Peters Heat Treat. The sheaths don't have a belt loop or clip, they are designed to be carried in ones pocket. Thanks for your input!
 
I agree, one of the set should be tested, but not as a give away, but by you. You need to know what your knife can do, not second hand from someone else.

I would hesitate to even try to tell you at what price you should sell your knives. If they test well, in your opinion and you can pass along that information, then I, if I was a potential buyer, would consider the purchase at about the +- $200 range considering the materials used, (steel and handle material). As with all things, your prices can be adjusted upward as you begin to become more well known as a quality maker.

Your sheaths seem adequate, but I cannot tell if your sheath has a welt or not. If not, it would be a very good idea to have welts in the next ones. You also might consider a better looking sheath IF you use more expensive handle materials. As Brownshoe said, the sheath quality should match the knife quality.

Paul
 
sheathmaker said:
I agree, one of the set should be tested, but not as a give away, but by you. You need to know what your knife can do, not second hand from someone else.

I would hesitate to even try to tell you at what price you should sell your knives. If they test well, in your opinion and you can pass along that information, then I, if I was a potential buyer, would consider the purchase at about the +- $200 range considering the materials used, (steel and handle material). As with all things, your prices can be adjusted upward as you begin to become more well known as a quality maker.
Your sheaths seem adequate, but I cannot tell if your sheath has a welt or not. If not, it would be a very good idea to have welts in the next ones. You also might consider a better looking sheath IF you use more expensive handle materials. As Brownshoe said, the sheath quality should match the knife quality.

Paul
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All I would add to what Paul said - IS - get the best photos you can. :)

Some photo guy runs around here saying something like that? :D

If you can't sale some here on Bladeforums? Somethings wrong? :confused:

Such as.... Price?..... Photo?..... Sheath?...... Poor fit & finish?....Your reputation?

Start low and work your way up on your price, like Holger aka cockroachfarms use to say - a makers has to pay his dues.....:):thumbup:

You should do OK - Good luck,

Todd




.
 
I agree with Paul "one of the set should be tested, but not as a give away, but by you. You need to know what your knife can do, not second hand from someone else." I assumed if you built 3 you have tested the design yourself. Other people's hands, carry tastes and cutting chores will help give you insight. If you give it away, to someone you know who will use it regularly and hard, you will get a better insight since they have no "investment" to protect.

I also agree that your sheath must have a welt, it adds years to the life a sheath and helps protect you and your pants :)

An in-pocket sheath with no-clip would make me nervous about losing it, particularly since it's a 7 1/2" knife. Many people (me too) do not like back-pocket carry. Right now I have a similar knive, a 20 yo Mike Franklin, 6" (2mm thick blade, no tapered tang, 2mm thick ancient micarta scales) in my front right pocket. I got it used w/o sheath. I made a flat sheath with a clip (old style clip with no rivet) and a rare earth magnet inside (between the deerskin liner and "holster leather" outer skin.) The magnet is overkill, but it helps me "psychologically". It's a deep sheath, so I have a lanyard to help pull it out.
 
A dangler sheath or a clip sheath usually matches this Stiffhorn pattern vey well.

ELDE
 
Those look very nice. I myself like the pocket sheath. For what it's worth; I've seen stiffhorns by a fairly unknown maker command 350 to 375 on a purveyors website. His sheaths weren't as nice. These had mammoth ivory and ironwood scales with red liners.

Good luck with your knifemaking.
 
Those are very nice knives. You have a lot of talent. The previous posters are correct, the sheaths MUST have a welt, AND must be properly made, because even with a welt, I have had them cut through the stitching very easily! :eek: Anyway, these blades are screaming for a dangler style sheath with a nice burnished edge! :thumbup:
 
Thank you guys for commenting. I appreciate hearing from you, it really does help me to get an idea of what other people think of my work :thumbup: . As for the sheaths, I probably should have posted a side view of them, so here goes:

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As you can see they do have welts. To date, i have never made a sheath without one. It just seems like a no brainer as far as safety is concerned. I also cement all of my sheath parts with a very strong contact cement, and personally i don't think there is any chance of them falling apart or failing under normal sane use.

While I personally do like the pocket sheath, i am considering doing other sheath types for this style knife. I do have a supply of pocket clips which i have yet to use, so maybe I will offer potential buyers an option for that. I also like the dangler style sheath. I have been wanting to make one for a while but so far haven't gotten around to it yet.

You also might consider a better looking sheath IF you use more expensive handle materials. As Brownshoe said, the sheath quality should match the knife quality.

Paul
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Thanks for your input Paul! Eventually when i start making some higher end knives, perhaps I can hire you to make some sheaths for me. Your work looks amazing!



Will you tell me how wide this knife is? Thanks Robert
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At its widest point, it's approximately 13/16"
 
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RJ, now that I see the side view of the sheaths and some of the back....a few more comments, not sugar coated at all, just plain truth as I see it, and meant to help, not criticize.:thumbup::thumbup:

1. Your edges are rough, need to be finished nicely, (edged and burnished)
particularly the back layer.
2. The back side of the sheath should be finished as well/good as the front.
These don't look that way in the photo.
3. The whole sheath is thick for a pocket sheath. I can tell you how to fix this
on the next ones if you will call me.:D

Paul
 
Thanks Paul. I am going to try to call you towards the end of the week, when i get back in my shop. :thumbup:
 
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