Surviving on making knives alone...?

Are you making a living Just making knives?

  • Sole Income

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Have a Full Time job

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Have a Part Time Job

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Have a significant other who pay the bills

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
Nathan's right. If you do it right, it's not min wage. Let me stress that being full time is a hard ass job. I filed handles for 7 hours yesterday, my arms flying as fast as I can control the file. When one knife is done, another replaces it in the vise. I'll sand today and tomorrow. No other tasks, straight sanding. Not slow. In fact, filing and sanding comprise 6-8 full time days a month. This leaves my body sore constantly.

I am never out of my half face respirator. My shop is blazing hot in the summers, and frigid in the winters. In the summer the respirator is slimy, and makes you hot. In the winter its warm, but usually, full of snot. No time to stop every time my nose drips.

Being full time also dictates what I make, and how much I charge. I make what I can make well, and efficiently, and I think will sell. I don't get to try to learn folders, or razors, like Butch, because there isn't time. I need to be earning. I havn't been able to learn much forging either. No time for practice. Get to earning. My daughters play softball, and I assistant coach those teams. There isn't time for things like camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, or even much range time. I need to be earning, or parenting. The mortgage is coming. Its always coming. I'm like a donkey chasing an apple.

Its not glamorous, except at Blade Show. I love it though. More than any job I've ever had. And I'm cut out for working for myself. You've got to be a self starter. You've got to make goals, and stick to them. You've got to live within your means. You can't afford much time off. You can't afford to rest when you're sick. (The mask becomes a pool of snot that you dump out during breaks.) You can't stop work and accomplish other errands because you're covered with fricking toxic dust. And other folks think you're an unemployed bum when you tell them what you do. Successful folks don't consider knifemaking a career.

After all that you've got to sell. A lot! Thats the hardest part. If you're booked as a hobyist, that don't mean shit to full time. You'll need to make and SELL a lot more knives as a full timer. I make 30 knives a month. Minimum. I can hear it ticking now. And I'm always praying that folks keep buying them. Keep liking the designs. "Please Lord. Keep letting me improve Lord. These days are yours God. Thank you!"

Some of this post reveals a desperate attitude. That is accurate. Someday I hope to achieve a bit of comfort, and be able to slow down some. Right now desperate is accurate.
 
One more thing. Once you're full time and having to charge for profits, you're really going to get pissed off at hobyists just trying to cover costs and selling dirt cheap.
 
Was easy for me. After moving to Missouri 21 years ago and building a house and shop, I was broke, jobless, debt free and just wanted to make knives. $25-$40 knives the first couple years. Start low, aim high :)

Debt free and cheap livin is what made it possible. 24 cans of beans cost $10 back then.

No health insurance, no retirement, no steady paycheck, no boss, no rush hour traffic.

Just doin what I love :D
 
i know its not a poke but making razors is hardly playing :)
i am lucky to have got picked up on a contract to sell razors and they are what are paying the billls while i catch up on my kitchen knife backorders (i want to reopen my order list the first of the year )
things are going along nicely these days but its still plenty of a rush to get orders and other odd knives finished and classicshaving.com is understanding if i dont get a full month worth of razors made for them till i get my orders finished

i too would like to play around and learn forging more but like said i do the work that pays the bills (now and then i get over to dekers and forge a bit )
 
The only dept I have is on my old place in Washington and I have far more equity in it than I owe. Wish it would sell. Was able to buy the place with shop in Montana with the wife's life insurance. Poor trade I tell you. I also work part time either running industrial piping jobs or working them. I can work a 4-6 week job with 20-40 of OT and good pay and make enough to pay the bills for a while. My equipment is all self built or paid for. I stocked up on a lot of materials while I was working full time. Hoping that my knife building will be enough to supplement my social security in a couple years.
 
butcher_block said:
i know its not a poke but making razors is hardly playing :)
i am lucky to have got picked up on a contract to sell razors and they are what are paying the billls while i catch up on my kitchen knife backorders (i want to reopen my order list the first of the year )
things are going along nicely these days but its still plenty of a rush to get orders and other odd knives finished and classicshaving.com is understanding if i dont get a full month worth of razors made for them till i get my orders finished

i too would like to play around and learn forging more but like said i do the work that pays the bills (now and then i get over to dekers and forge a bit )
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Whoa! I didn't say or intend to imply 'playing' with razors. Your stuff is excellent, and I take every opportunity to see it. Additionally, I really admire how you found a great selling design and are profiting from it. Sorry if that came off wrong up there. I've got nothing but respect for you Butch.
 
Another, slightly different thought: I've been toying for a couple years with the idea of going back to school to learn a new skill, like we hear so much about. Pulling down $24/hr welding beams or something sounds pretty good when you're on the third day in a row of tuna mac and Kool-Aid!

But then again, I'd be right back to putting the profit in someone else's pocket while I bitch about how I'd run the place differently if I were in charge. Not to mention, I know lot of folks with skills like that who are constantly on the verge of layoff's, no raises, decreasing benefits etc. just like I was in the printing industry.

My point is, the days of finding a decent blue-collar job and riding it out with a comfortable middle-class lifestyle till your pension comes through are BEHIND us in this country (maybe anywhere). Without an advanced degree or stroke of luck, the only folks I know of who are actually getting ahead doing what they love are the ones doing it for themselves.
 
"My shop is blazing hot in the summers, and frigid in the winters.
In the summer the respirator is slimy, and makes you hot.
In the winter its warm, but usually, full of snot.
No time to stop every time my nose drips"

AQAULUNG!

Fiddleback you could have been rich with Jethro Tull!


<I'd probably be better off financially if I just masturbated in my spare time.>

Flatgrinder those are scary moves when your free hand has the new knife that just arrived today form the 'dealer' maker! Funny, I think it's ute guys feeding my addiction! No complaints on this side.

There is something to be said about one's integrity that does what he/she believes in and not merely doing. I feel I could trust my back to anyone here.
 
I guess what I was saying in my earlier post is, What is minimum wage in certain areas? Minimum wage where I'm from is $6.50 or something like that, the last I was aware. In some places it could be well over $10 or more.

What I'm saying is that wherever you are from.....the standard is always going to be the price of the knife. I think every maker, and the collector's market knows how to fairly price a knife. A $200 knife is a $200 knife wherever you are, and whatever average income and cost of living is.

I'm just saying it's easier for someone to make a living selling a few simple $80 - $200 knives a week in Kentucky, and old Mexico, than in California, New York, and Hawaii.

It just doesn't sound as impossible or extremely difficult as some people are pointing out here, when there are alot of factors to consider.
 
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I understand your point,psycho78. I live in a small but comfortable house in a medium-size town in central WI and even with heating in the winter, I can stay warm and fed for a LOT less than I could in Madison or Milwaukee, much less New York or San Francisco. That does help a great deal!

Plus I just like it here near the boonies, that counts for a lot too.
 
12345678910 said:
You forgot the taxes, a penny saved is actually 2 earned.


I've seen your shop in your posts and you have an advantage with the weather that allows you to minimize costs with building, heat and such..

As Rich mentioned also, it's easier to keep costs down than it is to make more and, SELL more to get to the same position.
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You must not have been here during the summer or winter.

I work around the weather as much as possible. LOL

... I finally set up a work bench inside the house, (with AC and a heater), but I'm limited to what I can do inside.
 
psycho78 said:
Another thing I have considered is international sales. Alot of makers stay away from international sales, but I've heard that the solution for this is Paypal. Makers could be missing out on those gains too.
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Well, if you look over the horizon, you get a lot of $$$ for a euro at the moment.
And flat rate shipping isn't expensive
 
Hengelo_77 said:
Well, if you look over the horizon, you get a lot of $$$ for a euro at the moment.
And flat rate shipping isn't expensive
Click to expand...

I have sold to the U.K., France, Japan, the Phillipines, Italy... and a few other overseas countries. I sell to Germany but refuse to ship there anymore because I've "lost" 2 packages out of 3 so far. I'll drop ship to France and let them figure it out from there. I have also heard that Russia is horrible for shipping, too.

Try to get in with some dealers. When I started out, I talked a few into taking my knives on consignment (which is a PITA, but an effective negotiation tool.) It really worked out well for me. Just making dealer pieces accounts for 35% of my sales, now..... and no more consignment:thumbup:
 
Scanning quick- talk of the independent knife maker and such. I have never worked for anyone else in my life. Been able to get by doing what I want how I want when I want. It's not easy all the time but saying it can be done. I make knives but also offer raw materials to others. I think one secret is &#8216;a way of thinking&#8217; always looking around and thinking how we can stand out and thinking why someone might buy from us and not the guy next to us. An in, a gimmick, a new trend, all work. I often see other vendors as my customers, especially at a slow show, sort of a captive audience. Internet is a good way to go for those &#8216;stuck&#8217; someplace hey feel is a bad economy. I sell all over the world from Nenana Alaska population 300. I got a $100 web program pay $29 a month for a presence and am in the top 5 in the world for what I sell. Just saying it does not take money or living in the right place. It does take time and work. Just an opinion here guys- but I walk the walk I talk. I&#8217;m poor by some standards, but what is freedom worth and what is survival really? We talk so much about it is it really all about killing bears with your hands and such or&#8212;is it about your heart and being at peace and happy? When I say &#8216;mind set&#8217; I do not buy into &#8220;I am a victim, the economy sucks I will not do well&#8221; crap. I like the economy. It helps cut down the competition. Look at the bright side maybe. (smile). The knife is the single tool we need when the do do is in the fan. We can give all else up but without a knife we can not build a shelter can not get the skin off our food. In the hard coming times the knife maker will be the most valuable person in society. Rejoice. Knives can be traded for &#8216;stuff&#8217; we need. Food- shelter. We will always have a place. I have traded knives for airplane tickets, show entry fees, clothes, women (whoops &#8211; maybe I said to much) but &#8216;etc etc&#8217; so we can think in terms of trading as well as money. Ya I do agree making lots of good &#8216;low end&#8217; seems to be the bread and butter in general. The under $400 or so market. Over $500 is a hard market to get into. Unsure I even care for that market. One tiny scratch and the customer wants it half price. I tend to say &#8220;Next!&#8221; Under $400 seems much less stress. But under $100 and why bother? There are &#8216;secrets&#8217; to getting the time- cost way down. Unsure how others solve this I am kind of a loner but I can turn out a knife beginning with cutting the steel with a torch right through to a finished knife ready to sell in 4 hours. Time is money. There is no reason to work for minimum wages. I bet I do not have $500 worth of equipment to work with. Got it all used at garage sales etc. Speaking of which here in Alaska ya minimum wage is about $10 an hour you can wash dishes for that here. Property cheap I got 9 buildings on 3 lots for 20 grand. We also got 70 below zero and dark all winter and mosquitoes all summer (smile) Keeps the weak and meek away. Ya know a high school kid neighbor gets out of school and first job is $80 an hour. Maybe you guys are in the wrong place? But mostly do not buy into the doom gloom crap- that&#8217;s called suppression. Hang in there!
 
I've been self employed since my mid 20's. Some businesses made a lot of money, some lost a lot, but none of them were easy. The ups and downs of self employment don't bother me near as much as my last boss did.
Chad
 
Me; I wear a few different hats to make ends meet. I love making knives, but making most anything keeps me happy.
I try to keep focused on the work I'm doing at the time; focusing on the money takes all the fun out of it.

Fred
 
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