BrandantR
Well-Known Member
Greetings, my fellow Knife Dogs and blade junkies. I’ve been making folding knives for about a year and a half now and have loved the journey so far. Each knife that I have made has turned out a little better than the last as I try to improve my skills in at least one area for every knife I make. I have folder number 21 on my bench now and I ask myself, “Self, when will I be ready to start selling a few of my knives?”
I make my knives as a hobby and a passion with no real desire to do it as a fulltime job, at least not at this point in time. But, on the other hand, it would be nice if my hobby could at least pay for itself. Not to mention that I’ve been using some fairly rudimentary tools and would love to be able to upgrade to a real 2x72 grinder instead my 4x36 from Homedepot and my melamine disks with sandpaper glued to the edges and chucked up in my lathe to produce my hollow grinds. Yeah, I know, that’s pretty sad.
All of the knives I have made so far I have either given away to family members or kept for my own collection. As I’m sure you all know, the cost of materials can be quite high and I try to use good quality materials for all my knives. I know that I’m my own worst critic and I see every flaw that exists in my knives. I know that perfection is a long ways down the road from where I am now, but I think the quality of my knives is pretty good and I'm quite proud of them. But, then when I look at photos of knives made by the big names in the industry, I have to hide my head in shame. Maybe I’m just setting the bar too high for myself right now, or maybe I should just keep working at it until I reach that “flawless” point and start selling then.
So, after all my ramblings, and thank you by the way for indulging me, my question to you all is, when did you know your knives were good enough to sell?
I’ll try posting a few pics tonight after I get home of a few of my knives in order for your comments to be more subjective when offering advice. I really want some honest opinions here, so please don’t sugar coat it; just call it like you see it. My skin is pretty thick, so don’t worry about offending me.
I make my knives as a hobby and a passion with no real desire to do it as a fulltime job, at least not at this point in time. But, on the other hand, it would be nice if my hobby could at least pay for itself. Not to mention that I’ve been using some fairly rudimentary tools and would love to be able to upgrade to a real 2x72 grinder instead my 4x36 from Homedepot and my melamine disks with sandpaper glued to the edges and chucked up in my lathe to produce my hollow grinds. Yeah, I know, that’s pretty sad.
All of the knives I have made so far I have either given away to family members or kept for my own collection. As I’m sure you all know, the cost of materials can be quite high and I try to use good quality materials for all my knives. I know that I’m my own worst critic and I see every flaw that exists in my knives. I know that perfection is a long ways down the road from where I am now, but I think the quality of my knives is pretty good and I'm quite proud of them. But, then when I look at photos of knives made by the big names in the industry, I have to hide my head in shame. Maybe I’m just setting the bar too high for myself right now, or maybe I should just keep working at it until I reach that “flawless” point and start selling then.
So, after all my ramblings, and thank you by the way for indulging me, my question to you all is, when did you know your knives were good enough to sell?
I’ll try posting a few pics tonight after I get home of a few of my knives in order for your comments to be more subjective when offering advice. I really want some honest opinions here, so please don’t sugar coat it; just call it like you see it. My skin is pretty thick, so don’t worry about offending me.