Where's the REAL money in knives?

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Apr 15, 2008
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It seems that when you factor in time spent making, cost of materials, rate of sale, and manufacturing 'machinery' needed to turn out a quality product, sheaths win over knives.

Am I right, or missing something?
 
You discovered the secret. You can tell which homes belong to sheath makers. They are the mansions over looking the valley.
 
Do I sense sarcasm MB? I mean, relatively speaking. I amd not talking about the 'big' names, just the normal guy making what he loves. Big money is meaning the people who slice off a nice living or extra cash. It appears that a quality sheath maker would do pretty well vs. the custom knife maker who must pay and charge considerably more to do their craft.

Although, in Boise, a mansion runs about $1000 in potatoes, so you might be serious.
 
There is a certain amount of truth in your opinions........but in my own personal case I had to make the decision to invest in about $10,000 to $12,000 in new equipment (sewing machines, finishers, splitter, cutting table, work bench, various new hand tools). Then the commitment to actually use all this stuff after it arrived. Then the time it actually takes to become an overnight success is more like four years as you become better known through word of mouth.
Then you arrive at that point you alluded to, and it's roses from then on ......well not quite. You still have to deliver on a timely basis a quality product that 100% satisfies your customer over and over and over, and for me that's fun.

I imagine the average knife maker has a very similar tale to tell.

Paul
 
I know Andy at Fiddleback knives feels the other way. He started out making sheaths and then went to knives. Now he will only make a sheath for you if you overpay him because he feels his time is better spent on making knives. I suspect Busse feels the same way.:D:D

Honestly, they are both art forms. Some do one or the other better and some can do both well.
 
There is a certain amount of truth in your opinions........but in my own personal case I had to make the decision to invest in about $10,000 to $12,000 in new equipment (sewing machines, finishers, splitter, cutting table, work bench, various new hand tools). Then the commitment to actually use all this stuff after it arrived. Then the time it actually takes to become an overnight success is more like four years as you become better known through word of mouth.
Then you arrive at that point you alluded to, and it's roses from then on ......well not quite. You still have to deliver on a timely basis a quality product that 100% satisfies your customer over and over and over, and for me that's fun.

I imagine the average knife maker has a very similar tale to tell.

Paul

quite perfectly told my friend!! I am in my third year of making sheaths and just now have noticed an increase in business and some profit.. I still dont do this full time and dont know if thats what I want. The balance of making sheaths to pay for the materials is finally starting to equal out.. i still have much to learn and still have miles to go, but I love doing it and that is what really matters!

no mansion on the hill here~
 
I appear to have given t he wrong impression as to what I meant by real money. I don't mean millions, just relativel speaking. What I am getting at is that when it comes to time pricing, materials costs, and turnaround of completed goods, I assume that making sheaths is faster, lower costs and retail pricing, etc, would be more profitable that for knives, which are more time consuming and costlier to produce, and therefor have a higher retail.

I see both as art, so I know that both are done as much as love, but it just crossed my mind.
 
I appear to have given t he wrong impression as to what I meant by real money. I don't mean millions, just relativel speaking. What I am getting at is that when it comes to time pricing, materials costs, and turnaround of completed goods, I assume that making sheaths is faster, lower costs and retail pricing, etc, would be more profitable that for knives, which are more time consuming and costlier to produce, and therefor have a higher retail.

I see both as art, so I know that both are done as much as love, but it just crossed my mind.

I understand what you are saying but at the same time you have to understand the levels involved.

I can forge a knife using a hole in the ground full of coal.Then use files and sandpaper on the bevels and finish it with very few tools.Likewise I can make a simple sheath with very few tools and little investment, however no one is beating down my door to purchase thoes type sheaths or knives.

To produce a product that people really want you have to excell above and beyond the norm which takes, more tools,money,skill,and time.
 
I appear to have given t he wrong impression as to what I meant by real money. I don't mean millions, just relativel speaking. What I am getting at is that when it comes to time pricing, materials costs, and turnaround of completed goods, I assume that making sheaths is faster, lower costs and retail pricing, etc, would be more profitable that for knives, which are more time consuming and costlier to produce, and therefor have a higher retail.

I see both as art, so I know that both are done as much as love, but it just crossed my mind.

I think youre right.. there is probably more overhead in knives than in sheaths..
 
Having made both knives and sheath now for nigh onto 40 year it all depends on the level of work and material along with time as to how much money one can make and which takes longer, etc.
I make some very fancy sheaths that may take 40-50+ hours to make, and I can make a simple, basic knife in much less time 3-4 hours (not including tempering time, etc.). On the other hand I can make a very fancy knife (i.e. file work, hand polished, fancy inlaid handle, etc.) that will take much longer than a simple pouch sheath, Whig even when handsewn and cut will take maybe two-three hours tops.
As to startup costs/over head again, it all depends on how much you want to spend to tool up - I keep both sets of tooling, knives and leather, simple so my startup costs and overhead is no where near what others have.
Frankly if you want to make a full time living at either you need to be fairly flexible especially in the beginning and then as you make a name for yourself you can "specialize" more.
As to leather work, to make a GOOD living at you are most likely going to have to make other items such as holsters, etc. Off the top of my head I can't think of one full-time leather sheath only maker (at least not on the custom end), whose sheath making is their only source of income (i.e. no retirement, no wife working, no investments, etc.)
Of course there is also a difference in whether you make bunches of sheaths say for a particular model or models in a production line or semi-production line setup or whether your work is strictly custom - if you choose the former than you need to tool up for it and that will cost, with making custom only you have a much greater choice in tooling costs and they can be quite low, but the same can be said for knives - my first couple of hundred knives were built with a simple forge, railroad tie anvil, hacksaw,a hand drill, and a bunch of files and sandpaper.
Still either way you go you should expect some lean years to begin with and maybe even later dependent on market forces, the overall economy, price increases, health problem, etc. - there are simply NO guarantees, but then again there never are no matter what you do.....
While it's very rewarding to do "this" for a living (with no other source of income I HAVE to make it work), it takes planning and must be run like a business.
Frankly if I won the lotto tomorrow I'd become a hobby maker in a NY minute, but since that isn't likely to happen I'll just plug along doing what I do and love best.....;), but I do not ever for see getting monetarily rich at it....but the other riches help a whole lot in making it worthwhile.....
 
As to leather work, to make a GOOD living at you are most likely going to have to make other items such as holsters, etc. Off the top of my head I can't think of one full-time leather sheath only maker (at least not on the custom end), whose sheath making is their only source of income (i.e. no retirement, no wife working, no investments, etc.)

You know one, and have for quite some time, I'm hurt! :p

Sheathmaking is our only source of income, the wife runs the business part and I make the sheaths. We dont make a good living, its difficult to pay the bills sometimes, but were not starving. :)

Last time I made a holster, its been a long time. I really hate making them.
 
I want to give props to all of you who make bth knives and sheaths, and can make some or all of your living at it. I envy that, and I am currently trying to get my business going in photography, and have a ways to go.

Please don't get the impression that I devalue your craft to a money making issue.
 
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