Y'know I don't think even using the most exotic of materials would add up to 1K for a Bowie knife, atleast not one that would be a useful/practical one lol. 1K Bowies are made by renowned makers, with their reputation and skill being the two most expensive attributes put into their blades! The Bowie I want to make is a fantasy style Bowie blending influences from Japan, the Viking era and traditional American bowies. I guess then I could say making it with some antique Japanese adornments could put the price up. Good post @Bluefish!
Oh wow... funny you mention it... i was just reading an article about some of the most custom knives made and they seemed like they'd be pretty expensive. Lot's of custom carving in the handles (which seemed to be metallic and exotic wood with inlays of other fancy stuff - oh yeah, gold and diamonds natch). There was a Japanese chef's knife where the hamon was specifically made to look like Mt. Fuji with a moon rising behind it. Crazy stuff. I would guess that by the time you get to that level of craftsmanship, as Griff suggests, the skill going into it would be the most expensive thing. And to think, i was devising a way to sell mine at a bargain bin price in hopes of recovering "some" of the cost of the material. Meanwhile there's people out there making knives out of meteorites and handles out of diamond encrusted Unicorn horns with dragon bone inlays (real dragon bone - no joke - i saw it in this video game i play : )
It’s not hard to hit a 1k for a 9 » Bowie. Top quality Damascus ivory ,musk ox , are just a few things will run up fast . Ingraving fancy case and you’ll be up there . Add your time . If your ordering these things from the US money exchange will high on it. I see reg hunting selling for 400.00 to 500.00 so 1k is not hard to hit.
Making one that sells for $1K wouldn't be hard -- if you have the skill and reputation. Spending that much building one is a little harder. It depends on whether you're counting the cost of just the material you use or the amount you have to buy. Damascus can be expensive to buy, but is fairly cheap to make. Most of the cost will likely come from handle material and decorative features, like inlays (gold is always good for a chunk of change).
I always wanted to use a piece of meteorite in a knife. Here you can see 7 grams of pallasite meteorite clocking in at $430 USD.
Okay, I've changed my tune on this one! As I am now putting it more in perspective of me making one, and not clouding the question with 'Anyone,' making one, including master blade smiths. So of all the different types of steels I have looked into, and even though I admire it, I have never really looked into purchasing a Damascus billet. Holy crap! Who are they making these for? The average billet I found with rough dimensions of 2"W, 11-16" length and 0.186-0.250" thickness is anywhere from $500-700 bucks! Is this for knife makers making knives for themselves! Lol, who could make a knife out of this and turn a profit? Certainly not me at my level of experience! That's American by the way, so my 1K Canadian Bowie knife would be 2/3rd's cost in steel alone That said, I do like this: https://vegasforge.com/razorwire-2066.html?
Yup Damascus is extremely labour intensive. This is why most of us make knives for the love of the craft.
Hey @dancom I thought we knifemakers were all millionaires lol. @Griff Vegasforge do make some nice stuff but all the top guys making Damascus is expensive stuff. But like in anything you get what you pay for in most cases. My best is feather Damascus someday I’m going to break down and buy a piece.lol
I think you have to be exceptionally good and/or exceptionally fast to make any real money knifemaking. There are just so many knife makers out there. So competitive.
How do you make a million dollars knifemaking? Easy start with two and spend from there. Damascus or San mi steel is very labor intensive and expensive to make. If I wanted to make a bowe that cost a thousand it would be easy. I would use stainless over high carbon Sam mi ($200ish) A nice mammoth ivory handle and a little engraving if there was enough money leftover. Some big name makers spend a grand on handle material alone. Spending is easy making money is tough
Check out Alabama Damascus steel. They are fairly reasonable for price vs quality. Ive yet to order but follow the page and see the work from makers using it, looks great. And yes, id use Damascus, mammoth, silver,and some exotic wood. Add a high end leather sheath, boom 1000 CAD haha
