What does the blade steel actually cost?

Mecha said:
Earlier this year I had the chance to acquire two bars of old rare titanium alloy suitable for swords, from a cache overseas.

The bars were only $125 each, so $250 for the two bars. These are irreplaceable relics of a bygone era, at least 40 years old, and I paid much less than they're probably worth.

Shipping was about $450, so now we're at $700.

The bars had to be cut lengthwise, with a distal taper. Waterjet service for this was $325, not including driving there and back ($50 and half a day).

Total cost to have the two bars in hand ready to forge: $1075.

Hand-forging time for one bar: One day.

After several grinding sessions, and obliterating $150 (shipped) worth of ceramic grinding belts, I have one sword billet that's not even ready to be heat treated yet (and one raw blank that's yet to feel the unstoppable force of my hammer). It will take another $150 in belts to get it to the heat treatment point, before grinding and hand-shaping some more.

The two bars only cost a mere $125 each, but it will be like $2000 before even one of them is turned into a finished blade, not even hilted, and not counting the hours of work it took, or the cost of the tools needed to do it. It's ridiculous and I must be mad and/or stupid. BRB going to KMS. 🤣

Just an example of how quickly the costs of making stuff can spiral out of control waaaaay beyond the price of the raw material.

EDIT: Oh ya I forgot: also had to spend an entire day driving to use someone's hydraulic forging press on the one billet also, before hand-forging. It's insane.

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I wish you wrote a book on This.... lol. I have so many unnecessary questions :D
idk if you could give aprox size/weight? $450? OUCH!!!

was it smuggled out on a secret mission?
Bribe money? hahahha
 
Dav1 said:
Many factors but here in the UK we aren't as lucky as you are there in the US. I'd happily pay what some of your best makers charge, most seem reasonable to me for what you get.

Here in the UK we have some custom makers but I ain't paying £400-500 for a 4" "bushcraft" knife in 01 steel or similar when I can get a Joker or TBS for a quarter of that. There are a few good custom makers who charge what I'd consider a fair price for materials, design, etc... But we are a country where if someone can rip you off they will.
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The problem in the UK, which is likely the same I have in Spain, is that we don't have as many local knifemakers who could compete with each other, which means that basically they can charge whatever they want. Same happens with the much higher prices for commercial knives from US brands... We get charged a lot more considering the current exchange rates. And with the customs nit picking on one and every package that comes from the US... buying overseas can be a disaster. I have had a few bad experiences with knives bought on the exchange here in BF.

Mikel
 
Steely_Gunz said:
Everyone is an armchair economist and "knows" what a fair price is 😉

As others have said, tooling is expensive, labor is expensive, factory space is expensive, transportation of raw materials is expensive, transportation of finished good is expensive, marketing is expensive, insurance is expensive, warranties are expensive. These elevate the cost of a knife, because making knives is what is paying for all that. The steel cost may not even make it to the first page of the expense report.

Conversely, what the "cost" of the knife can be affected by the "worth" put on the market. Is your company well known to put out great products and stand behind them? Is your product an "it" item where the scarcity and demand mean that it will sell for more $$$? Economics 101.

I've said it before, but everyone is rah-rah 'Merica capitalism until they have to pay the going rate. Then it's highway robbery and unfair and outrageous costs 🙃
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Really? I don’t see much complaining (about USA products). For example look at all the complaints when Microtech started producing the Bravo in China.
For the same price (or more?!?) as the USA made Elite 🤷‍♂️
Now that kind of thing is trippy to me. Luckily, they’re both worth about the same on the secondary.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
I wish you wrote a book on This.... lol. I have so many unnecessary questions :D
idk if you could give aprox size/weight? $450? OUCH!!!

was it smuggled out on a secret mission?
Bribe money? hahahha
Click to expand...

Oh, there will be a book. 😆

Those bars were about 32" X 1.3" but to be fair, there were a couple of smaller bars of a different alloy in the box too.

Origin is classified. :oops: But you're not too far off the mark, HAHA! Shipping options were...limited.
 
Mecha said:
Oh, there will be a book. 😆

Those bars were about 32" X 1.3" but to be fair, there were a couple of smaller bars of a different alloy in the box too.

Origin is classified. :oops: But you're not too far off the mark, HAHA! Shipping options were...limited.
Click to expand...
OUCH.
 
Mecha said:
Earlier this year I had the chance to acquire two bars of old rare titanium alloy suitable for swords, from a cache overseas.

The bars were only $125 each, so $250 for the two bars. These are irreplaceable relics of a bygone era, at least 40 years old, and I paid much less than they're probably worth.

Shipping was about $450, so now we're at $700.

The bars had to be cut lengthwise, with a distal taper. Waterjet service for this was $325, not including driving there and back ($50 and half a day).

Total cost to have the two bars in hand ready to forge: $1075.

Hand-forging time for one bar: One day.

After several grinding sessions, and obliterating $150 (shipped) worth of ceramic grinding belts, I have one sword billet that's not even ready to be heat treated yet (and one raw blank that's yet to feel the unstoppable force of my hammer). It will take another $150 in belts to get it to the heat treatment point, before grinding and hand-shaping some more.

The two bars only cost a mere $125 each, but it will be like $2000 before even one of them is turned into a finished blade, not even hilted, and not counting the hours of work it took, or the cost of the tools needed to do it. It's ridiculous and I must be mad and/or stupid. BRB going to KMS. 🤣

Just an example of how quickly the costs of making stuff can spiral out of control waaaaay beyond the price of the raw material.

EDIT: Oh ya I forgot: also had to spend an entire day driving to use someone's hydraulic forging press on the one billet also, before hand-forging. It's insane.

SZnICOH.jpg


HyksVED.jpg


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An eyeopener!
 
Last edited:
Beelzebubba said:
I'm trying to find comparative knife steel prices, like for pieces of 6"x2"x1/8" of every type of steel.
I keep hearing that the type of steel can make big $ difference. Show me how much a blade sized piece actually costs! I can't find that one anywhere.
Yeah, I know that machineability and such has to be factored in, but I'm talking bare essentials. An extra ten minutes machining shouldn't cost that much...
All I hear is why I should spend more, always more, and I suspect that we are being played!
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If you think that you are *played* with knife , do the math about the car you drive 🤣
 
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