Here is another one I just finished up, but still needs one final polish. This one is 1084 with dyed Buckeye Burl scales and stainless pins. The tang has some very simple filework on it filled with black epoxy. This one was done for a friend to give to his brother for Christmas. The scales extend a hair farther forward than what i typically like but this is how he wanted it, as he liked the proportions of the knife, but has larger hands yet didnt want the handle extended. Any comments or criticism are welcomed. The scales look wavy due to poor camera and the background color but i was having a very difficult time getting a decent pic of this one. There are not wavy as the pictures seem to show.
I'll third that. It's a good looking knife. One question: Did you make that knife for his specific purpose (i.e., hunting, camping), or was it just a design he liked? There are so many possible types and designs for knives. I'm always curious why someone picks a particular one.
He had a general shape and idea that he was after and we worked from there. He wanted a long clip with a decent point to it but enough curve or belly to the edge to make longer sweeping motions when skinning. This is to be a general purpose hunting knife, to do most tasks from initial field dressing to skinning and breakdown. Blade is 4.5 inches with a 4.25 inch cutting edge, and handle is just a hair under 4.5 inches as well, for a total length just under 9 inches. The blade is 1.5 inches wide at the widest point right near the ricasso, and is made from 1/8 stock. My biggest problem is when people want to purchase something i have made or have asked me to make them one i have no idea what to charge ever. How do you guys figure this out or how should i go about valuing a knife like this? This one also has a kydex belt sheath i will try to get a picture of soon.
Price is such a subjective area its hard to comment but I'll take a stab (pardon the pun) at it. I'd say that hand made knives such as we make start at about $150 and go up from there. I'm not referring specifically to this knife, rather knives in general. Add bolsters, better (or harder to work with or stainless) steel, premium handle materials, leather sheaths, cosmetic touches (fireworks or engraving etc) and you could easily justify charging quite a bit more. Add something exotic like mokume, integral bolster, exotic handle scales and you could sell for $500-$1000 or even more. In the end, price is justified by what someone will pay for a knife.
I agree with Big. The simple answer is that the price is determined by what the market will bear. I think, however, that many makers overvalue their knives, which can make people shy away from buying any custom knives. Certainly a well-known maker can command a higher price based on his name but most of us aren't there (yet ). At the same time, it can be hard for us to come up with a realistic valuation on something we've put so much of ourselves into. A simple way to do it for a hobbyist is to take the base price (cost of materials) + 20%. The cost of material could factor in the cost of belts, gas, and other consumables needed for making the knife. That doesn't give you a huge profit on a single knife, but it does help the obsession pay for itself. Some makers think they should be compensated for the hours they put in making the knife but I can't agree with that. To me that's just a good argument for someone to go buy a factory made knife. Once you become famous enough for your knives to be "in demand", then you can charge a premium on them.
I agree completely about not being able to charge anything for your time basically. This knife in particular i sold for 70 dollars with a kydex sheath. I am by no means fast at making them so what it basically works out too for me is materials plus about 1 dollar per hour. Occasionally people offer more than what i would ask, sometimes i sell for less just to get them gone and buy more material. Since 1084 is pretty cheap i have been just figuring steel at 1 dollar per inch, cost of handle material. and about 10 bucks per knife for belts, that puts me at about 40 bucks in material on this blade, plus the small cost for a kydex sheath. probably in for about 50 dollars total and selling for 70. Hooray for making 20 bucks on roughly 20 hours of work, haha. Its a good thing i love doing this and have a good full time job or i am pretty sure i would be starving. Basically right now though i am just trying to improve my skills, try some new things, and get the ones i have made out there to spread my name and make enough to continue to buy material. Now if i could get my stupid 2x72 no weld grinder running im pretty sure i could save a considerable amount of time. The current 1x30 is far from a hogging machine. The new one is laid up as the drive shaft i ordered showed up warped and the vibration is too extreme to run it. Hopefully i will be able to get it straightened or find a new one fairly soon.
