Todd Begg Tree Frog @ $200, and Kershaw is the ripoff at $20?

[sticktodrum]

Sure, and I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull's ass, but I'd rather take a butcher's word for it. Go troll somewhere else.

+1

 

[chucknduck]

At the risk of being flamed....

I don't pretend to be a knifemaker, but I have taken a few (maybe four) through the full process, from pattern on paper to finished knife.

By the time you add cost of materials and other stuff that has to be done right, like heat treating, the cost of finishing a single knife is somewhere in the area of sixty to one hundred dollars. It depends on how thick the stock is, what kind of handle material you use, and so on.

So, for a one-off, $175 is pretty reasonable.

Now, Todd Begg is a top-shelf maker, with the ability to realize some economy of scale by using his own heat-treating ovens, and his helpers. So his cost per piece is not as high as if it was one guy making each of these.

So, let's say that the cost per piece, out the door of Begg's shop, is fifty dollars, and let's use the high end price of two hundred dollars. That works out to a twenty-five percent markup.

A twenty five percent markup is not bad.

I'm not saying that there isn't a "halo effect" associated with some makers' names, but that seems to be mostly on the aftermarket. I understand that one seventy five to two hundred seems like a lot for something so simple... but it's not outrageous, either.

Not to bash yoyr opinion but i dont think you got all the facts here. For one, you should look up the knife. I think you'll find out your idea of what we're talking about abd the actuall Todd Begg neck knife in question are two very different things.
1) it is not a one off knife, it is a production run that, as stated earlier, todd likely did not touch a single one. More of a "mid-tech"
2)all that hand finishing you describe doesnt apply. Its cera-kote.
3) additional hardware costs? There are none other than the little kydex sheath. It is a all steel 2" neck knife. There aren't any scales or hardware. So, the steel isnt free, no. BUT, like I stated before, when you purchase enough steel like n690 to do a production run, your costs for a tiny neck knife that fits in your hand are pretty paltry.

Again, how anyone could lambast Kershaw for charging $20 dollars for a knife and justify Todd Begg charging $200 for a sharpened bottle opener is beyond me. I probably have no problem all the way up to $100 but above that youre just telling your customers "screw you, you'll pay anything for whatever chessy product we sell."

 

[Kloepper Knife Works]

I'd be amazed if there was more than $15 worth of actual material costs, and I'm stretching to make it that high. If they can't get that knife made for another $40-60 in labor I'd be a little surprised. If they sell @ $200 each then he makes out like a bandit, if not they'll go on sale till the market price is found. Keep in mind that there is also the middle-man markup too, so it's not like all of it goes to Begg.