Surviving on making knives alone...?

[Rick Marchand]

Hey Rick, you neglected to tell your buddy Sam about that program!!!!!

Not sure there is an equivalent U.S. Government program, buddy... look into it! .... or flee to Canada, man..... you can crash on my couch.

...Here is a video I made talking about this subject.
Much Respect from Texas...

Mike.... excellent video... you are doing spectacular, man. Stay honest and give thanks for your success, brother. May you continue to evolve and grow!



Rick

 

[Snody]

Thanks Bro..
You Rock Dude.
I really appreciate it man.
Knifemakers Rule.... I am proud to be amongst you guys....
Get at me if your ever in Texas..361 443 0161.
[youtube]YsCu4dhVq0E[/youtube]

 

[peter r]

between sharpening, and making knife scales (only started about 8 months ago) i take home about 500$-1000$ net per month. i started after i lost my last job. and the income has allowed me to stay afloat. im by no means living the high life, but we do ok.

 

[Hengelo_77]

I haven't made enough knives to start selling them.
But I plan to. I don't see knifemaking as a potential job.
I look at it like this, If I can pay for some extra tools, materials and equiptment with my work, for the coming years, I'll be a happy man.
And if I'll bring in some extra cash that I can enjoy spending on the family after those years I'll be very content and happy.

One question I've had for quite a while now for the full time makers.
How many knives do you guys make and sell per month?

 

[butcher_block]

when ppl ask i jsut tell them the facts
im a full time starving artist
have been for the last 4 years but now things are going great. Had it not been for my fam and now my loving GF (TO BE WED AT A POINT LATER) i would never have even had a shot at this life

things to remember
even if you make 3k a month what about how mych taxs you haveot take out of that and how bout health ins. and all the other bills

you can talk abuit some of the big $$$ numbers that you intake but what you get to keep is far less

can you make a living off of knives sure but you had better be ready to not have a lot of nice things
and better be ready to work more then 10 hour days most days (shop time and internet/sales and marketting time/ oo and book work )
make that 12 hours a day and weekends
i tell ppl that i only work Wednesdays tho (is it work if you love doing it ) cause everyone thinks that being self employed is take off when ever you want. what they dont want to hear then is that if im not working then i make no $$ so all the hours need made up at the end of the day some how

 

[Snody]

and better be ready to work more then 10 hour days most days (shop time and internet/sales and marketting time/ oo and book work )
make that 12 hours a day and weekends

Thats some real talk right there...
[youtube]S6ZATcvag1M[/youtube]

 

[tekapo]

I do not make knives. I am a businessman and have made friends with a few knifemakers here.

I think from my opinion, there are two roads. If one is in it to make a living, they are making what the masses want. The lessons I have learned the hard way, is the masses do not always like what I like. Therefore it takes a personality similar to mine, to be my customer. That ends up making the buying pool very focused.

The other road is the true artisan craftsperson who is making a knive for creativity and arts sake. It is not about the money but their statement.

I see some makers selling knives in the $100-150 range and several sell each day. I am sure they are making a living. But when I see a knife come up for $500-1,000 and it is beautifuly executed, it still does not sell. It's a lot of money for a safe queen or a user.

There are some really good knives out there. There are some really well marketted knives out there. The well marketted knives are not necessarily good knives.

I too am selling a luxury item. I am finding the guy with 'money' is still buying. Maybe one really nice piece and not 3-4 like a few years ago. The average guy is hurting. He is the one not buying the $50 piece he was a few years ago. I sell gold jewelry and you cannot get much more luxury than that. Espeically in these times and record high gold prices. I can justify a new $500 slasher much more than a $500 chain!

On the other hand are guys/gals buying knives for investment. A knife that sold for 5-10 thousand dollars ten to twenty years ago can be had for 30-40% of the price paid back then. Perhaps the value will come back as times get better. Perhaps not. I see the same value/devalue in custom firearms.

Just my two cents. You all have my respect and admiration. Those that can make a living doing something they love, and those doing something they love rather than selling out.

Charlie

 

[ccdanielwm]

I cant answer the poll because you have to first make money off of one of your knives. I have made a few and pretty much given them away. I have 5 kids so I stay at home. Daycare costs more than a good paying job. My wife works and I don't because her job offers benefits and mine did not. I feel that you should do what you are passionate about whether you can make a living doing it or not. That said I am passionate about knives: knowing about makers, making them, the equipment, pretty much everything, but I would not put my kids in daycare to pursue a full time knifmaking career. I do however work on knives when I can.

 

[tattooedfreak]

Rick, thanks for the info, I didnt know about the program, although I know there are grants out there for starting businesses.. however I wont be that route for a few years yet. I am currently in the military and have at least 7 years left before I need to think about anything else. I really just started with knife making a couple of years ago and only make a couple knives every few months, with few being actual orders. Hopefully I will be able to garner more interest as time goes by (and get better as well so that when the time does come to leave the steady, reliable income of the military, I won't have to work full time at Home Depot or Mcdonalds....

 

[Ed Caffrey]

The last post reminded me of how I planned/executed my route into full time knifemaking... I had been making knives on and off before I ever joined the military. At about my 10 year mark in the military, I realized that if I stuck it out till retirement, I would be able to retire at age 40, with a retirement check that would come in each month, as well as having one of the best medical insurance programs available.... so at that time I started making the plans.

A few years before retiring, my Mrs. and I started paying off every bill we could, and made a pact that once I retired, we would live off of her income and my retirement check.....and that we would do our best to never exceed that. That way when times were slow in the knife shop (as we all know happens) we would not be living above our means. So far it's worked wonderfully. Upon my retirement, the only thing besides monthly bills we had to worry about was our mortgage.

The point being, that rather than jumping into knifemaking full time without any idea of HOW I was going to do it, I made a plan, and have stuck to it. As several others have mentioned, there is much more to consider than just selling X amount of knives per month. I think if a person develops a plan, executes it, and sticks with it, through both the good and bad times, then being a full time knifemaker can work out. Each individual's situation is different, so there is no "one size fits all" plan of success. However, I truly believe that the old saying holds true....."Fail to prepare...prepare to fail"

 

[Dan Pierson]

Right on Ed! My wife has been talking to me about a business plan for her jewelry and
enameling business. As we discussed last night: A business plan is very important as
long as it's important to you. A plan has two main parts: a goal and a plan (duh) for
reaching the goal. Goals are specific. Not "I want to be a full time knifemaker". More like,
when I retire from the military I will be able to survive on my military benefits and X
dollars a month from selling knives I've made, I will have acquired the following necessary
tools and materials to do so, and I will have developed the following skills I will need.
Without a goal there's no point in planning. The plan may show you that you can't attain
that goal. Pick a new goal and start again.

All of this is A LOT of work and introspection. All of it is also a lot of guessing and
estimating of the type that few of us are comfortable with. You can start without doing
it and have a great hobby that may someday make some money (guilty). Your chances
of having a successful BUSINESS are greatly improve if you do it and keep it up (plans
aren't static, you need to redo them every year or so).

I'm not at all good at this personally, but I've been in several start ups and know people
who are good at it.

 

[Rick Marchand]

My chest tightens when I hear statements like "it takes money to make money", "nothing in life comes easy" and other comments that read as if you have to suffer to make ends meet and self employment means grueling hours.

It is only true if you've already made up your mind that is HAS TO be that way. It DOESN'T HAVE TO be that way. You can work less, for yourself, doing something you love and be happy. Now, before you tell me to piss off... I'm not trying to cram rainbows up your butt, here. It takes knowledge, planning and determination. (notice I didn't say "sacrifice"? that was intentional.) Nobody is going to hand you your dream job on a silver platter. It may take years in planning (Like what Ed did.) but if you do it right and have the proper attitude, there will be no suffering. Prospective goals change everything.

If you are working a decent paying job you hate, just to get by and pay the bills... yeah... that sucks. Now, find a way for that same job to finance a future career change in a field you love, living a better life.... suddenly, 2-3 years doesn't suck as much. Folks dump their savings into years of schooling to receive a degree/diploma that will land them a career they love. I don't know about you, but I have never been the student type... I can't stand classrooms, lectures, exams or any institutionalized education. THAT would be hell for me. Working a crumby job for 2-3years to save up and plan a new life is more my style.

Find out what you really NEED to be happy. We had to tighten our budget and were feeling the strain. So we sat back and disected our family's lives to see what needs were real and which were imagined. I won't get into details, but we cut about $500 in monthly expenses within the first 10 minutes! No real sacrifices were made... just smarter descisions. We live in a newly built home, with 2 happy kids, a dog and three vehicles. We watch movies, go on vacations and I run a business out of my garage. Our combined income (now) is less than what I was (alone) making 4 years ago.... yet we are happier and living a better life.

It troubles us to see our friends who make double the income we do, struggling to get by and complaining they have no money, only to turn around and jokingly mock us for not having a 60" widescreen HDTV with surround sound and an X-Box 360. The big crisis in my wife's family right now, is that her sister is going to have to "cut back" this Christmas because they are experiencing financial "problems".... They have 3 kids, each with an I-phone (as well as the parents), X-Box 360, inground pool, hot tub, 60"+ LED flatscreen HDTV with Blu Ray, 2 kids are in competitive dance, 1 kid in travel hockey, some Dodge Giant Super Diesel Monster truck... and too many more toys than I care to think of.... they go to Tim Hortons 2-3 times a day and order delivery because "its easier"...... My heart bleeds purple panther piss for them..... Time to reassess your priorities, folks.

Sorry I'm wandering here... I'll just quit now.

I just don't want people to think that making a living from doing something you love is unattainable.


Rick

 

[delbert ealy]

I don't exactly fit the mold either, my wife only works 10 hours a week, but thats mainly to get out of the house and mad money for her. I have been doing this for 24 years now, but for only 4 years full time. All the money to pay the bills comes from my income. We live modestly, with a few perks(cable tv and internet) and we live in an area of the country that is not very expensive to live in. I said I don't fit the mold because I make knives, damascus for sale, and gold/silver mokume jewelry(alough the latter has really tanked in the past 2 years). My talent and capacity for making damascus has really made us able to live on my income alone for the past 4 years, but the diversity helps.
Del

 

[butcher_block]

i love my job as a knife maker and cant even think abut what a "real" job might be like
i was in the corps and worked for famely before i started making knives so i know all about extra hours and little pay and how to live on it so being a poor happy knife maker was easy
no you dont have ot work 24/7 but when i first got started it was close to that

 

[james terrio]

It troubles us to see our friends who make double the income we do, struggling to get by and complaining they have no money, only to turn around and jokingly mock us for not having a 60" widescreen HDTV with surround sound and an X-Box 360...... Time to reassess your priorities, folks...
I just don't want people to think that making a living from doing something you love is unattainable.
Rick

Quoted for truth :thumbup:

 

[NickWheeler]

Well here's a perspective I didn't see in the thread so far.

I had a high paying job at a paper mill in the maintenance department. 450 of us were all laid off at the same time... they used a funding program we paid into while working there, to send us to vocational school. I already had an engineering degree, so I had to sign up for two degrees to be considered full time.

The WHOLE time I was working on the welding and machining degrees... people (including instructors) would ask me, "Do you want to do this for a living? Or just use the skills for your knife making???"

Honestly, I want to be a knife maker when I grow up. I tried to do it for 5 years full time in my early twenties, and I honestly did almost EVERYTHING wrong. The only thing I did right, was get my name out there in a fairly positive light.

So now I'm done with school, I have twice as much shop tools as I have shop, and I need to move. My DREAM home just came up for sale... DREAM PLACE. It's 2.5 clean/flat acres with trees, a beautiful 1925 farm house that's been COMPLETELY redone inside and out, a 3 bay shop attached to the house by a breezeway.... and the REAL SUCKER??? The previous owner had a fabrication business there and had a 40' X 100' shop with 3 phase power on its own meter put up!!!!!!! That is literally 7 times the floor space I currently have. Of course it has an office, bathroom, large storage loft, and 8'X12' powder coat kiln inside as well.


So I sheepishly start talking to bankers (since I know my recent work history isn't exactly what THEY dream of :foot: )



banker - "I'm sorry, did you say that you're a... uh.... "knife" maker??????"

me- "Um, yes, that's what I do."

banker- "Do you have have at least two years worth of verifiable income with your net profit and loss statements?"

me- "Um.... NOOOOOOOOOO, I've been in school for the last two years. And I was working at a mill the 3 before that and made about 12 knives in that time"


bankers {all in unison!!!}- "Yea, there is absolutely NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WAAAAAAAAAAAY we can help you."


When I worked at the paper mill, I was pre-approved for a home loan that was over $100k MORE than the asking price on this dream home of mine....


As bad as I want to be a knife maker as a grown up.... I just don't know how feasible it is.

 

[NickWheeler]

Oh, and just for the record... you might feel that reading my description of the property above that we were trying to buy something like a mansion with too much shop. That is NOT the case. It's a simple, clean, cute place that is in the town I grew up in, and close to my family.

I wouldn't even know what to do with all that shop for awhile, but the list price on the property was $35k LESS than comparable places in the area that have NO SHOP AT ALL. The owners have been "renting it to own" to a friend for two years that suddenly bailed, and they just want to hurry up and sell it.

So it wasn't a filet mignon appetite on a burger budget.... it was a BBQ'd steak on a free ketchup packet budget!

 

[Justin.Mercier]

I just make an occasional knife here and there as a hobby, but I know a lot of craftsmen who are 'full time craftsmen' who only survive because they were career military people first, and then 'retired' and that covers the basic bills. Its very hard to make a living as a crafts person these days. Very few people are willing to spend good money for something hand made with how easily it is to get something cheap and mass produced that might look the same / similar at wallmart or target or something.

Another turn of the phrase from above "The best way to make a small fortune as a craftsman... is to start with a large fortune"

 

[bacustomknives]

I didnt vote on the poll either, im a full time maker, sometimes it like a light switch you cant make enough knives for the demand then a week later its down to selling one or 2 knives, i have a wife and 2 children,my wife does work daily as a nurse for the state ,but most of her money goes into the gas tank running from home to home, and its still hard to maintain everything and take care of all the bills coming in,but is that are fault? My opinion no, its are goverment hanging us out to dry, but thats a total diffrent conversation, for those who do have good jobs and wealth,dont become a knifemaker you wont make it! Feel bleesed were your at!

 

[Hengelo_77]

Our combined income (now) is less than what I was (alone) making 4 years ago.... yet we are happier and living a better life.

Those are very wise words!
When I was 17-19 I learned the trade of shoerepair.
After that I traveled a bid and worked myself up in to sales and making good money wearing a suit and sitting in an office.
Then I had a sporting accident and lost everything.
My hart sank trough the floor when my docter tolde me I would never be doing my old job again.
Well, to get on with my life I got back in the shoe business.
I had very little money but I was so happy being in a workshop again and being productive with my hands again.
In retrospect that is worth more then the company car and the money I had before.
(shoes arn't knives but the idea is the same)