What Would It Be Called Today?

DanF

DanF

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Apr 17, 2017
Messages
1,478
“The Fifty Dollar Knife Shop”.
When I was just getting into knifemaking back in the early 90s, my mentor sold a fairly large percentage of his knives for $75-$80 each for an every day user without ornamentation. What would that same, simple knife cost today?
Can a simple knife be made today for less than a hundred dollars?
 
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Dan,
The answer is a bit complicated. It depends who you are and who your market base is. The folks who sell at shows and are a known name can get two to three times what a local maker who does it for a hobby.
I would say that the average no-frills hunting knife sells for between $100 and $150 today. I sell them from $75 to $300, depending on blade and handle materials.

As to Wayne Goddard's "$50 Knife Shop", most folks today figure it is about $500 to get any kind of a start with hand tools and building your own simple equipment. If someone wants to have a 2X72 grinder, a forge, a HT oven, and the basic tools and supplies, it becomes the $5000 knife shop.

The cost of making a simple hunting knife, not counting the initial investment in the shop setup, is probably $30 - $10 steel, $10 handle, $10 miscellaneous supplies and consumables.
 
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Are you including expendable/disposables in that $30-$50 cost range?
Steel
Scales/handle
Pins/bolts/thong tube
3 belts
Sandpaper
Dyes/finish
Shipping
And much more when you think about everything we use in the shop for almost every knife

If we build it with plain, budget materials to stay within that $30-$50 cost, would today’s shopper be interested?
I make 120-130 knives per year and can sell them for $120-$150/ knife out in the world but when you count all expenses, that $50/knife cost is difficult to attain/maintain?
 
DanF said:
Can a simple knife be made today for less than a hundred dollars?
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Yeah, if you want to either screw yourself or put out a knife that has almost nothing to it.

The biggest fallacy I see among individual knife makers is this misguided compulsion to compete with factory knives and "semi-custom" knives despite the fact that it's almost impossible to do that without major sacrifice. Imo any handmade knife under $200 with a sheath is a bargain.

A handmade knife has the potential to be functionally, materially and aesthetically superior to anything turned out by an assembly line, and that superiority commands a higher price, and people will pay it if they value the knife itself and the work of the person who made it. If not, that's their problem. Too many makers are trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator and running themselves into the ground in the process.

But to answer your question, I started making knives by grinding on $1 files from the flea market using a $20 angle grinder, so the amount of money requires to start making knives can be as much or as little as you want. Another fallacy I often see is people thinking they need this, that and the other or else they can't start.

To make a knife, all you need is a piece of steel (and a way to harden it if it isn't already) a way to cut it and a way to put holes in it. You can suffer a little til you either save some more money or sell a knife.

Never let anything stop you from making your first knife, make it with whatever you have or can easily get!
 
DanF said:
^ your first sentence +1 👍
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Trust me, I've been there. When I first started making knives I was disgusted by the price of handmade knives and wanted to offer them at a "fair" price... I quickly learned that what some people think of as "fair" really means "fair to me but not to you" and that I was running myself into the ground.

And if anyone ever says your knives are a "good price", you aren't charging enough.

Value yourself, and don't feel sorry for people who don't understand the value of your work.
 
When I started making knives I wanted to make an affordable handmade knife for a hundred dollars. I remembered drooling over knives that I couldn't afford when I was younger and I wanted to make something affordable. The plan never came to fruition because in order to do so would require so many shortcuts and such a low level of fit and finish it wouldn't be the kind of work I let leave the shop. One thing that made it difficult also was the cost of leather and the time involved in making a good sheath.

For me the hundred dollar knife never happened because it would have to be such a rushed low fit and finish that I would never take money for it.

Fast forward over a decade and I still think about an affordable handmade knife with quality materials and a good fit and finish. I recently started making simple brut de forge knives as a way to practice forging and realized I had the closest thing to my old idea of a hundred dollar knife as possible. I price these nostalgically at $120 with that hundred dollar knife idea in mind and I think it's well beyond fair considering what goes into them. I could cut corners and make it less than a hundred dollars. Not handsanding the blade and going with a machine finish, not polishing the circumference and not texturing the sheath would be a start. That would drop the price but would also make for a hideous knife that I wouldn't let leave the shop.

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To answer the question "Can a simple knife be made today for less than a hundred dollars". I think the answer is yes but the definition of simple is the question. Yes I think it's possible but No I don't think it would be desirable. You'd have to eat your labor cost and take too many shortcuts to make it happen.
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
When I started making knives I wanted to make an affordable handmade knife for a hundred dollars. I remembered drooling over knives that I couldn't afford when I was younger and I wanted to make something affordable. The plan never came to fruition because in order to do so would require so many shortcuts and such a low level of fit and finish it wouldn't be the kind of work I let leave the shop. One thing that made it difficult also was the cost of leather and the time involved in making a good sheath.

For me the hundred dollar knife never happened because it would have to be such a rushed low fit and finish that I would never take money for it.

Fast forward over a decade and I still think about an affordable handmade knife with quality materials and a good fit and finish. I recently started making simple brut de forge knives as a way to practice forging and realized I had the closest thing to my old idea of a hundred dollar knife as possible. I price these nostalgically at $120 with that hundred dollar knife idea in mind and I think it's well beyond fair considering what goes into them. I could cut corners and make it less than a hundred dollars. Not handsanding the blade and going with a machine finish, not polishing the circumference and not texturing the sheath would be a start. That would drop the price but would also make for a hideous knife that I wouldn't let leave the shop.

View attachment 2980002

To answer the question "Can a simple knife be made today for less than a hundred dollars". I think the answer is yes but the definition of simple is the question. Yes I think it's possible but No I don't think it would be desirable. You'd have to eat your labor cost and take too many shortcuts to make it happen.
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The knife maker is a man doomed to become the very thing he initially resents...
 
Crag the Brewer said:
Rich & Greedy?
Awe...Shucks. I guess I'll just have to deal with that outcome.... :(
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I meant more in terms of a beginner knife maker not understanding quite what goes into a handmade knife, lol

I sure wish you could get rich making knives, usually it seems like I spend more money on it than I make from it! But that's okay, a man's gotta have something to do.
 
DeadPineKnives said:
I meant more in terms of a beginner knife maker not understanding quite what goes into a handmade knife, lol

I sure wish you could get rich making knives, usually it seems like I spend more money on it than I make from it! But that's okay, a man's gotta have something to do.
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Something that I think is hard for a Lot of us is....when it comes to money, we should be making what Others want, more than what We want.....

I know, I probably struggle with this, too. :/
 
I was at a show in Vegas many years ago and a guy was selling his knives for $100 or less. He was very loud and would bark at everyone walking by, like at a carnival.

He was using words that almost sounded correct like military spec and 69 Rockwell (most steels don’t get that hard).

By Sunday at the show the makers around him were very tired of him. One very well known maker asked if I would come “deal with him”.

You all know that I can be very abrasive so I started in on him with a bunch of technical questions that he couldn’t answer. After about five minutes he packed everything up and left the show.

For the rest of the day I had a steady stream of people thanking me.

Not my proudest moment but someone had to do it.

Hoss
 
I have been told many, many times I should up my prices, BUT, as I am a part time maker, and the price can still cover my costs plus a small percent over, I am satisfied with the price of my knives. With material costs and service costs going up, however, that may change in the near future.

CAN a knife be made for under $100? Sure. but what is the maker not considering. Power, tools, abrasives, time, postal costs, etc....
 
Crag the Brewer said:
Something that I think is hard for a Lot of us is....when it comes to money, we should be making what Others want, more than what We want.....

I know, I probably struggle with this, too. :/
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I've struggled with that as well and with my new designs it's not gonna get any better! But I'd rather be recognized by a few for what I feel represents me that by many for something I don't.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
Something that I think is hard for a Lot of us is....when it comes to money, we should be making what Others want, more than what We want.....

I know, I probably struggle with this, too. :/
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That's a tough row to hoe sometimes, the key is finding clients that trust you as a maker. I don't do a lot of true customs pieces for various reasons but I'm fortunate to have clients that are willing to give me an idea and let me run with the ball. Involve them in the direction along the way and give them options, that's a win/win for the both parties. Gotta be able to say No when someone asks "Can you make this exact knife?", 'No, but I can do what I'd do on a knife with that purpose' is the answer. No good client wants to stifle your creativity.

When it comes to money, it's like the old saying, "If you want to make a million dollars as a knifemaker, start with two million". Nowadays that might be three million. Paying off your tools and covering supplies is a win, anything past that is a bonus😆
 
^ need a double-like button for that statement
 
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