What part of knife making do you like the least?

Spalted said:
arthritis is getting bad in my hands so sanding is not much fun. Last week I had to work on my plumbing and I can honestly say I would rather hand sand with arthritis rather than do any plumbing.
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I'm getting arthritis too. Its not fun.

Rhinoknives1 said:
I has a retail spot here in S. cal Santa Monica for a few years for my sharpening, customs and production knives. I closed it last july when retail had finally gone to compete shit. Too expensive to keep so its back to my garage.

Just one word of advise. Never call any government agency and asked whats the code here or there type questions because then they will send someone around to check on you that wants to make it look like they are working for at least one day out of the month!

Let them call you or stop by on their own accord. You never know what demon you can let out of the bottle by calling them:eek:
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Yea I gave up and have been just trying to fly under the radar. Luckily, when the fire inspector did stop by our park of warehouses, I happened to know him. We didn't have any violations, luckily, but he did give me a couple of hints to clear up just in case.
 
I don't mind cleaning the shop. It is so small I usually do it while I heat treat.
I am still new enough to like the leather work and sheaths design.
I guest my biggest problem would be dealing with the "tweakers". The guys that send a thousand emails and want to completely re-design every aspect of the knife for the same price. "I think your knives are perfect. Can you make the blade an1/8" longer, the handle a 1/4" shorter and .020 narrower. Could you find some ironwood that is 2 shades lighter, and make the sheath from 8oz leather instead of 9oz.? Can't wait to see my new knife next week!" I get kinda frustrated with that some times.
 
I really dislike when your knife is almost done and you notice scratches in the ricasso where the handle meets it! The second time this happened to me I about threw the knife across my shop. Its always tedious getting those scratches out and how did they get there any ways! Shop gremlins must die!! :D
 
bigin said:
I guest my biggest problem would be dealing with the "tweakers". The guys that send a thousand emails and want to completely re-design every aspect of the knife for the same price. "I think your knives are perfect. Can you make the blade an1/8" longer, the handle a 1/4" shorter and .020 narrower. Could you find some ironwood that is 2 shades lighter, and make the sheath from 8oz leather instead of 9oz.? Can't wait to see my new knife next week!" I get kinda frustrated with that some times.
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^this

worse still are the daydreamers

There are these people out there that enjoy shopping. You see them at the malls etc. And they take that window shopping mentality with them to machine shops. Experienced buyers and people who have worked in industry a while understand the value of other people's time and concise communication. But a lot of hobbyists and people without an industrial background view purchasing in much the same way as shopping. They'll ask a lot of questions and get pricing on stuff that they honestly have no intention on ever doing anything with the information. "What are my options and what do they cost" is a valid question, but a long segue into pointless hypotheticals can be an endless time-suck.

My brain changes gears to slow for a lot of that and it puts a dent in my day without yielding anything of any real value.
 
Trying to drill pin holes with a freebie drill press that has over an 1/8" wobble :mad:.... A lot of filling after wards was needed. Thank god for Harbor Freight. Got myself an 8" press for $50!
May be cheap tools but, I've been using Harbor Freight tools for years without problems.
All my tools from there have a 2 year no questions asked warranty. The cashiers say in 1 year and 11 months bring it back and we'll give you a new one, even if theres nothing wrong with it!
Now thats service!
 
Sanding/filing down scales. I work in my apartment most of the time, so no power tools. All the scales I've bought have been way too thick, like a quarter inch, I like to have them down to about just above 1/8th inch, so it takes me a half hour of rubbing them against some rough sandpaper that's taped to my countertop to get to the desired size.
 
Gendry said:
Sanding/filing down scales. I work in my apartment most of the time, so no power tools. All the scales I've bought have been way too thick, like a quarter inch, I like to have them down to about just above 1/8th inch, so it takes me a half hour of rubbing them against some rough sandpaper that's taped to my countertop to get to the desired size.
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You need to check out Alpha knife supply.
 
Two things for me... I really hate profiling and rough grinding. Just don't like getting metal slivers in my feet, no matter what shoes, pants, etc. I wear. Two, anything with cocobolo or desert ironwood. They clog belts something fierce, and make me sneeze, respirator or not.
 
bigin said:
I guest my biggest problem would be dealing with the "tweakers". The guys that send a thousand emails and want to completely re-design every aspect of the knife for the same price.
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Like many makers, I cut my teeth in this business doing custom orders that no one else wanted to do.

I now understand why no one else wanted to do them ;)

Nathan the Machinist said:
^this

worse still are the daydreamers
There are these people out there that enjoy shopping. You see them at the malls etc. And they take that window shopping mentality with them to machine shops. Experienced buyers and people who have worked in industry a while understand the value of other people's time and concise communication. But a lot of hobbyists and people without an industrial background view purchasing in much the same way as shopping. They'll ask a lot of questions and get pricing on stuff that they honestly have no intention on ever doing anything with the information. "What are my options and what do they cost" is a valid question, but a long segue into pointless hypotheticals can be an endless time-suck.

My brain changes gears to slow for a lot of that and it puts a dent in my day without yielding anything of any real value.
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I hear you. Answering a ton of e-mails/phone calls and presenting a boatload of drawings for approval is a terrible way to try to make a living. I very rarely accept custom orders anymore. I have a fairly wide range of standard models, and plenty of options for each one. That works out a whole lot better for everyone involved.

In fact, I recently let my website hosting expire, and I'm still not convinced I'm going to renew it. It honestly didn't bring in much real business... mostly "looky-lous" and "time-vampires". The forums and social media and word-of-mouth have been much more efficient at helping me put my knives in peoples' hands, and helping me put groceries on the table.
 
I don't like the dust from shaping handles and the clean up that goes along with it. I have a decent containment system but my area is just getting to small. I wish I had the space for a clean area.
 
JT, I made the mistake of offering too wide open options on my first pre-order sale. I love making my customers'knives exactly like they want them, but it's a big administrative time drain keeping track of five different blade length and handle length requests. On the next batch I'm going to have three standard blade shapes, each in a long and a short version and a long handle and a short handle version. My customers can build a knife from there. I still like offering a bunch of options for customization, but the actual pattern will have to be standardized a bit, or it's going to get unwieldy.
 
Brian.Evans said:
JT, I made the mistake of offering too wide open options on my first pre-order sale. I love making my customers'knives exactly like they want them, but it's a big administrative time drain keeping track of five different blade length and handle length requests. On the next batch I'm going to have three standard blade shapes, each in a long and a short version and a long handle and a short handle version. My customers can build a knife from there. I still like offering a bunch of options for customization, but the actual pattern will have to be standardized a bit, or it's going to get unwieldy.
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Brian,
This is where having my blanks water jet cut has saved me a ton of aggravation. I show them my Asian Chef blades.

"These come in three lengths mr/mrs customer. 4 3/4", 7 3/7" My most popular of the three and 9 3/4" for the serious chef. I then show them my 6 1/2" Rhino Chop, my 6" Sandwich and my 9 3/4" slicer that can come with a carving fork. My 4 1/2 or less Paring, my 7" Santoku and my 4" Mini Santoku. " So they have 10 choices there and then we talk about handle woods or Kirinite.

I can morp my Paring into a B & T, or a little recurve boning so I really still have more than ten blade choices! LOL
 
Cody Hofsommer said:
For me it's guards, I really like hidden tang knives and a good lookin guard really makes the knife, IMHO, but I don't like making them.
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I feel the same.

It takes me forever to make a nice knife, I wish I had more time to spend in the shop, but my family time takes priority.
 
I love all he comments here about people who waste your time playing "100 questions" and "now , just how much will this cost". I quit taking custom orders from people about two years ago and my life has been much more enjoyable ever since. The less I care about selling my knives the happier I get. I now have much less patience with the "experts " at knife shows who want to tell me how to make a good knife. I don't waste much time with them because I don't care if they buy a knife. Life is good again. Larry
 
I cut all the way through the wood on one of Aldos tubes before I even realized they had wood caps. I'm thinking "how is this cardboard so #@%! tough?!"

DF, I've always liked your attitude. This one's for you bud.

[video=youtube_share;c_t1oNXU5CE]http://youtu.be/c_t1oNXU5CE[/video]

:)
 
Traveling to shows wondering if my knives are with me in checked luggage. The morning of the show being so tired that I could use another couple of hours of sleep, and having to deal with customers when I am worn out trying to look and do my best. Shows were more often exhausting, probably because more often than not I went east, losing an hour with the time zone difference, its all cumulative. The room service bill ate up a lot of profits:)
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
^this

worse still are the daydreamers

There are these people out there that enjoy shopping. You see them at the malls etc. And they take that window shopping mentality with them to machine shops. Experienced buyers and people who have worked in industry a while understand the value of other people's time and concise communication. But a lot of hobbyists and people without an industrial background view purchasing in much the same way as shopping. They'll ask a lot of questions and get pricing on stuff that they honestly have no intention on ever doing anything with the information. "What are my options and what do they cost" is a valid question, but a long segue into pointless hypotheticals can be an endless time-suck.

My brain changes gears to slow for a lot of that and it puts a dent in my day without yielding anything of any real value.
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This was one of the callers the day I decided that I was going to close my retail shop' Its was Sharpening, my customs and retail production knives.

Hello Westside sharpening! How can I help you? Do you sell spyderco? Why yes, what model where you interested in? Well I want to know what models you have in stock? Well what kind of knife pattern are you interested in? They make well over a hundred models Can you tell what you want to use it for?

Well I just want to know what models you have and if your prices are IN LINE with Amazon's prices? Me Laughing! You haven't even told me what kind of knife you want AND YOU WANT A PRICE CHECK ON ALL OF MY INVENTORY? Well I want to know how much they are?

Sir,
I'm open till five today. Come on down! Well what about the store up the street? What about him? Does he carry Spyderco?

Why don't you call him! Whats his number. CLICK! as I hang up the phone

I then and there decided to go to my customs and sharpening only!
 
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Jason Fry said:
Two things for me... I really hate profiling and rough grinding. Just don't like getting metal slivers in my feet, no matter what shoes, pants, etc. I wear.
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Wait a minute . . . you're from Texas- don't y'all wear cowboy boots? :D I switched to wearing them every day since college and never looked back, except for some Chuck Taylors if my feet have a death wish while grinding.

For me, it's cutting out blanks like a bunch of other people- except I'm still doing it with an angle grinder. :grumpy: A horizontal/vertical band saw is on the order list.
 
Jason Fry said:
Two things for me... I really hate profiling and rough grinding. Just don't like getting metal slivers in my feet, no matter what shoes, pants, etc. I wear. Two, anything with cocobolo or desert ironwood. They clog belts something fierce, and make me sneeze, respirator or not.
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Before shaping woods that clog belts, squirt a little WD40 on the new belt. Even ironwood won't clog the belt after that.;)
 
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