Thompson Talon Knives

[DarkPilgrim]

My family has been making knives now for 45 years or so and I am just starting in on the trade, Ive been at it for 3 years. We have always sold our knives almost exclusively by word of mouth and small local swap meets but now I would like to go a little further with it but I don't know where to begin. Are there contests or shows to enter? How are hand made custom knives advertised? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Hard to imagine a family knife business that does not know of the knife industry! You will find a lot of knife shows all over the USA ,and worldwide,too.Do a search on google for knife show.There are knife magazines ,like "Blade" that have show listings.Those magazines also sell add space and do articles on family knife businesses.Most knife club and guild shows have a knife judging competition with several categories to enter.The big shows are the Blade Show in Atlanta,Blade Show West,and several others.You can also sell your knives on this and several other forums in the "For Sale" area.The final suggestion is to get a web site.

 

[DarkPilgrim]

Thanks. I know it sounds strange but it's one of those things where my grandfather just started making knives and selling them to the locals in central Minnesota and my uncles just kept on doing it that way after he died. We have done dozens of small knife shows and just last week we sent a knife to Africa to a doctor who saw one of our knives in Alaska. I would just like to see if there is better way to do things, But maybe that's just my youth talking. I'm going to check out the for sale forum here.