Time required to make a knife and the "how much" question.

Rick has some great points. I think Dmitry might do well at an art gallery or other high end venue.

My wife and I used to sell nice handmade jewelry at a mall and thought because of the foot traffic we would do well, but bombed. We did great once we moved into a high end location with only a percentage of the earlier potential customers. It was funny, people went from questioning the authenticity of our fair priced work to tipping for no reason and buying more just based on our recomendations. :D
 
Really interesting thread. :)

First off, I love your work!!! Pieces like the White Lily knife on your site, are pure art.... especially with the beautiful stand you created for it. :eek: :cool: :thumbup:

Now a lot of my thoughts on this are probably biased by the fact that I found out a few years ago that I have ADD. Not the "crazy kid bouncing off the walls" hyperactive kind, the stare out the window thinking about 500 things other than whatever it is you're supposed to be concentrating on kind. Getting that diagnosed and treated was a mountain of a step up in helping me.

Then finding Angi who is amazingly supportive and also manages to keep me going in a fairly straight line without nagging--- was the biggest positive change for me.

During those changes in my life, I went from feeling that EVERY knife I make has to be as close to a museum piece as I can get it---- NO MATTER the time or costs involved.... to feeling that even if I have to make some "sacrifices" to be a full time knife maker, that it's still better than any of the sacrifices I've made to work for a$$holes other than myself. ;) :D

Now I can tell from your work and your posts you are not willing to make sacrifices in quality, which I am glad to see because that's exactly how I feel!!! However, instead of spending 4 weeks on one art knife, a guy can spend 3 days a week working on his art knife, and 2-3 days a week working on "bread and butter" knives. This allows the high end creative outlet, but also allows more knives to leave the shop that will help pay the mortgage.

I don't think a maker that CREATES a crazy amazing damascus fighter with ivory handle, but can also BUILD a scotch-brite finished utility piece is less of a maker... I think they are more of one because they are not only making more money, but they are reaching a much broader demographic. At a knife show, there are a handful of people that can afford to buy a $2,000 knife, and only a couple actually will.... but there are hundreds (thousands at Blade Show) walking around that can and will drop $200 on a knife. That's a broad audience to draw in.


And another huge thing here, is I don't believe you can charge an hourly rate for your high end knives anyway. People don't care how long it took you, they care about how great the knife is and your name/place in the market.

There are a handful of makers that have taken this to a point in which they can easily sell a knife for $5k+..... keep that in mind for the long reaching- BIG picture. Just because a guy is a starving artist today, doesn't mean he always will be.

I might be misunderstanding, but it doesn't sound like you used the best outlets for dealers either. Places like BladeGallery sell a lot of knives and have a huge customer base.

So if I have a point here, it's to not trap yourself in a bubble. Keep an open mind about it all and REALLY try to explore all your options. :)
 
There's a store in Kirkland, WA I go to occasionally that carries high end pieces. The store is called Epicurean Edge. Their website is http://bladegallery.com. They sell the kind of knives Dmitry makes... and a lot of other custom knives. They sell billets of damascus and unfinished blades too. It's where I bought the first blade I ever put a handle on. You might look into the costs of doing business with people like them that have an established clientelle and can move your high end products that might not sell as quickly through your own web site.
 
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