Not to buck up against the 'Fears and Satisfactions' sticky, I thought this might be an interesting thread not just for what I suspect to be a very few of us but also for those wondering about going full time only. We shall see. Perhaps it will be a dud but worth a try I wonder and besides I am interested too in finding out who is in the same boat as I chose to be. This may lead to comments helpful, discouraging, and/or hopeful, and etc. to potential upstart full timers since I know this bunch well enough to expect some good advise from.
My thread question: who of us is full time only. In that I mean there is NO supplimental income. The wife, girl friend, dad or mom, or who ever provides NO income to the house hold at all. Only your knife making pays all bills, all everything. In saying that I do not intend to exclude those that have done this before social security paybacks but do mean that they must have been full time only before attaining them. No suppliments, no nothing; just your customers paying all your costs - even food and beer and everything else. If Uncle Joe left you a house to collect rent from - well we don't have to be too picky but you get the idea.
For me, I went full time because I lost my job of about 15 years. I was self employed all that time and that, I believe, made it less scary for me to just change my self employment. After all I had been making knives as a love anyhow. My view is that I was less experienced than should have been to go full time when I did but circumstanses made it an easier choice at the time.
I suspect because I can not think of all situations there may be those that say yes but. Well okay. Lets hear it. If there is a military pension or whatever else you deem exemplory, fine but you get the drift of the thread question - that is your knife making keeps you and yours alive and well and all utilities on and so forth.
RL
My thread question: who of us is full time only. In that I mean there is NO supplimental income. The wife, girl friend, dad or mom, or who ever provides NO income to the house hold at all. Only your knife making pays all bills, all everything. In saying that I do not intend to exclude those that have done this before social security paybacks but do mean that they must have been full time only before attaining them. No suppliments, no nothing; just your customers paying all your costs - even food and beer and everything else. If Uncle Joe left you a house to collect rent from - well we don't have to be too picky but you get the idea.
For me, I went full time because I lost my job of about 15 years. I was self employed all that time and that, I believe, made it less scary for me to just change my self employment. After all I had been making knives as a love anyhow. My view is that I was less experienced than should have been to go full time when I did but circumstanses made it an easier choice at the time.
I suspect because I can not think of all situations there may be those that say yes but. Well okay. Lets hear it. If there is a military pension or whatever else you deem exemplory, fine but you get the drift of the thread question - that is your knife making keeps you and yours alive and well and all utilities on and so forth.
RL
Been fulltime for 15 years with no other income in the family. My wife has been taking care of our son, the books and web site. I make around 50 knives a year (55 this year), house and shop are paid for, we drive older cars/trucks, no car payments, we don't drive around wasting gas and we do not like to shop. I did buy a new boat though, no payments, ya just gotta go fishing. We live good, eat good and have fun, our house is small but the shop is large 
No home owners or health insurance 
about 5 weeks ago the place I worked for was bought out, and things went south. I have been keeping up just off of my forge, at this point I don't know how long it will be before I have to look again, or if I wil be able to swing it. 
