What do you spend the most on?

I spend more time ordering abrasives(belts and hand sanding paper) and I hate shipping costs. Shipping adds up cause there is really no one stop shop that has everything I need. There is even less that carry what I need around my region.
 
Steel #1
I spent easily over $10,000 last year just off the top of my head
Big surprise with me making a lot of damascus.
Del
 
Abrasives, leatherworking, propane

I don't count handle material as a cost because I include the price of the handle material into my pricing calculations. I've also started including 1/3 the price of all my abrasives used (sort of a SWAG'd depreciation factor), I don't have a good handle on propane costs because I'm just converting back to propane from waste oil. I'm keeping track of time/usage so I'll have a good idea of costs in the near future.
 
I thought about all of this already, and here's my current line up:

For a fixed blade that is 12" or under for Overall length

Steel: $2
Wood for handle: $1
Sanding belts: $3
Sandpaper: $3
Leather (sheath): $1

The rest of the stuff is too cheap to even list. I'm at about $10 per blade at this time, but that will probably go up once I get a 2x72 grinder, so the belts will be more expensive.
 
I don't spend a lot on grinding belts (I mill)
I don't spend a lot on endmills (I use older endmills for this, and intelligent machining strategies)
I normally don't spend too much on scales (I use good quality, but normally relatively plain wood or micarta)
I use excellent steel, but there just isn't that much steel used in a knife.

My heat treat setup was thousands of dollars, but that was an expense I had before I got into knifemakeing.
My knives are mostly milled, don't ask what CNC mills cost, but again, that was an expense I already had.

Leather is not that expensive
Stainless foil is not that expensive (argon can be, but I stopped using that)
Sandpaper is not really that expensive

None of it is really that expensive. The total cost in a simple knife, including machine depreciation and electricity (hidden costs), is about $40. The single largest expense might be endmills, but I'm using cutters leftover from other work. Otherwise, $60 divided over ten blades would be $6. Steel about $5. HT about $4. Scale material can vary widely.

My single largest "expense" in knifemakeing is time. I have turned away better paying work to make knives. I don't regret doing that.
 
See guys..,if you have unlimited access to awsome cnc machines and leftover endmills then knifemaking aint much at all :p glad we all have it :cool:
 
Shows
Engraving
ivory and stag
Shop improvements

There is no end to my want list. Major want is engraving education and equipment.
 
i treat grinding belts like there free (burn a blade after heat treat and tell me how much you saved on that old belt being reused )
that said i have gator belts in house that are all but a year old and still grinding
they are worth the cost
hog with blaze or some other hoggin belt and then just clean up with the gators
next my guess would be burl blocks and then shipping (im shocked every year what my shipping costs were)
 
I use aluminum oxide belts for grinding and average 10 to 20 4" blades per belt while batch grinding, large bowies will take one belt every 3 or 4 blades so abrasive cost is negligable when considering 440C steel costs or handle material costs. I pay about $7 each for 3 X 97 belts.

In the long run I consider belts to be free on the economic scale of things.

The most expensive item by far is shop rent but at the moment that is unavoidable.

George
 
Bruce Bump said:
Shows...
Click to expand...

Very good one Bruce, how did I forget that one considering what we are busting our hump for in about a week:o

I got advice from some old timers back when I was starting out that I believe all newcomers would ignore and think is bunk, and that is "never look at a show as an income opportunity". After all we all want to sell at a show, selling out is great! But it costs so much more to sell a knife at a show than it does to drop it in the mail at home that if you look at it as profit versus loss your net gain is pathetic:(. Blade can easily put you $1,200 to $1,500 in the hole, even doing it on the cheap like I do (I have never seen the inside of a room at the Renaissance Waverly, heck all I need is a bed and a shower and I'm not taking it home with me).

Shows are P.R. and P.R. always costs money and a well placed ad will cost less than taking 4 days off and traveling across the country to man a show table. The only real payoff is getting to meet all the good people who have come to see your knives. :thumbup:
 
Glad to see I am not burning up more belts than most guys here. I agree that I get more belt life out of batch work, especially on the smaller knives. The bigger blades just eat them up. Hopefully that will change a little with my new VFD set up.

I agree with the shipping cost thing. Prices for shipping have gone up quite a bit over the years, so I do try to order as much as I can at one time from the same supplier.
 
Now that I've thought about it, I should edit my first post, as shipping was more than belt cost.
I spent around $3500 last year with the Post Office, shipping W2 and knives.
Lot more W2 than knives :)
 
Belts and then steel. Steel has gone up alot too. I try to make the aluminum oxide belts last by using light pressure and keep them clean. The belts tend to load up when I grind off scale after heat treat and while grinding stabilized woods, especially when grinding across the grain at the pommel end. When doing these two tasks I try to use an old belt, after that they are worn out.
 
Belts, handle materials and keeping my wife happy with all the time I spend doing this. That can get pricey.

I thought for a while that I was the only one who used, what I thought to be an excessive amount of belts on one blade. I have seen post where people were rough grinding 50 knives on one belt:eek::)and I thought to myself; how is that done.
On a large fighter I will use 4 new belts of different grits and then pass them down for handle work.

A good thread, Fred
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top