How do Knife Makers make Money?!

If you are making one knife at a time then no, you won't make a thing. You have to make them in batches. You don't heat treat one knife you heat treat several in an oven. That is the only way you can make it profitable.

Private and public shops makes a

What about, the fully equipped, small makers that make, (CNC) mass produce quality folders, I'm sure the industry is highly competative, is their a better market manufacturing something else, batch lot. Not mass pro

You enjoy it it’s a hobby and you can make a few bucks on the side.

Everyone in this country is paper chasing and hating life, blaming everyone else for their problems. Politicians, family, mexicans, all while just assuming everyone hates their job. Fewer people today than ever in history get to be their own boss. Fewer people actually do something they enjoy, that they are passionate about. We were told from a very early age in America that money was what mattered most. So many jobs we discredit in our younger years for fear of working too hard for too little. All corporate bullshit to manufacture our population into obedient slaves.

you are exactly right. I make knives and I also do wood work. Like outdoor furniture. People all the time think I charge to much for my products. I always say buy the tools, materials and see how much you have in it. LOL. I am also retired

What was stamped on that blade? Stainless or Taiwan either way I don't think he made that knife

Where in Ga? I’m on the coast.

Some plain talking here, appreciate it Sir ....... Subscribed.

Looking to get into forging. Very informative. Great video. Thank you.

What’s up from Nebraska!

I love that you went to attack the moth with the knife, brilliant.

A job.

Great video. A lot of people would LOVE to raise a few chickens and then sell a few eggs and make some money. It can't be done. Why? 99 percent of the egg market is dominated by egg producers with production facilities that are vertically integrated. They have reduced the cost of eggs, through competition, to an insanely LOW level. When you go to sell YOUR eggs and want to pay for your expensive hobby it just isn't going to happen. The egg producers buy feed at a FRACTION of the cost of the hobby egg producer. They have machines that do absolutely ever portion of the production including the washing and packaging.
I can buy a Mora knife off of Amazon for ten bucks. And , it arrives at my house for free. Literally. Is there ONE home builder on the planet that can compete with that or would WANT to?

I see the comments on this video loaded with people who say something like "I enjoy making knives and pretty much just try to cover the cost of my materials and maybe make a couple of bucks. " This is another reason why making money on knife making is difficult. The market is flooded with hobbist makers who sell their goods practically for free. If making knives was NOT fun and a ready source of free materials the price of knives in general would reflect that.
People ask them selves "Why can't I make money doing "this thing" that really enjoy doing?" The answer is right in the question. There is NO fun hobby that pays big money. Find a hobby doing something people hate to do and cannot do without special equipment and special skills if you want to make money.

I like getting the "why pay that price when I can go to Walmart and spend $50 on a knife for just as good of quality". 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Yea ok. Keep thinking that.

How to make $1M in knife making ? Start with $2M.

You narry a bit went full blown mr. miyagi on that bug😂

Where would you even go if you wanna learn to forge in general. I’m in my senior year in highe school and would love to start making my own knives tools etc

This is my idea- buy one acre of land in Alaska it goes pretty cheap, build my own house and shop. For power I’ll use solar panels. Water I’ll have a rain collection system and if need be I’ll go to town to get some. I can probably hunt my own food. For the solar plan led they will be putting there juice into a battery that will store it. For income I’ll be a blacksmith and blade smithing. I’ll buy equipment in bulk it means it will be cheaper. Basically my plan is to be low taxes but still make a decent amount of money

Good job thanks

Still you net $200 in 4 hours make 2 per day and you have $400 in 8 hours. If you made 2 knives a day 5 days a week 52 weeks of the year you would net roughly $104,000. Sounds like a decent paying job to me.

Garry Fisk? You mean Jerry right? Lol

I dig it

I like knife making but my first two sold items were an ice chisel from a 20lb weight bar and a toilet roll holder.

Talks perfect sense.

$450 is rs 32,753. I can buy a second hand 150 cc bike for dat.

You seem like the kind of dude I'd love to work with.

I’d imagine by selling knives

$60G for a knife!!!??? that damn thing better never need to be sharpened! :p

What happened to the day when you loved working with Metal. And not doing it to get rich 🤑 boy how times have changed

Great vid. Much wisdom. Thanks. I subscribed

You can probably charge more now based on your name

I just started making knives and my thing is I use old steel the older the better right now I'm working with leaf springs from a 1986 f250 they are 1095 spring steel made in the good old USA I plan to stamp 1986 on one side and 1095 on the other they will all have handles made from a 200-year-old hickory tree that I cut down when it died of natural causes on my own property.

Let's say I'm just starting out and just want to make billets what would you suggest for pricing

Hey are you the genius that heated a thin piece of steel 300 degrees hotter than jet fuel burns to make your intelligent claim that the TWIN TOWERS were not a controlled demolition. The smartest thing you did on that video was not allow comments cause there would be 90% of the comment would disagree with you. Your’re a coward and know that most comments will disagree with you, and that why you disabled comment Einstien.

I'm not that famous either lol. I'm forging for a living and started on a threadbare shoestring. Knives have always been my most popular order item and the least profitable. But I have to produce durable inexpensive knives for the common man that still look worthy of owning. My customers are generally mercantile or farm and home stores. I won't fart with less than six at a time. So I'm forced to make some knives to keep the shop running in the black. But you are 100% correct about how it cuts your shop rate. I profit more comparitively from selling 1 set of tongs than I do from six knives.

**Awesome video and I for one really appreciate it!** I think so many people walking around knife shows and seeing what the prices are think oh that's easy I can do that! It's no wonder that beginning knife makers sort of just fade away after a while. So why can't I get a great deal on a good used grinder? lol God Bless and good luck. 🔪🗡

That is perspective you do great work don't limit yourself

I came up with .25 per hr. With all the designing and sweat and time involved.

I do it as a hobby and I enjoy it. I’ll go to Gun shows sell some here and there do some custom orders but it’s all for fun. I have a regular job that pays for it the tools and materials. I’m gone 2 weeks then back a week and in that one week home I make knives

Trent is right on. I am a hobbyist knife maker and find it to be very labor intensive work. I see knives online selling for surprisingly low prices like $150 - $300 that would need to be sold for $500 - $1000 for the knife maker to make any money considering the labor involved and the materials like the steel, fancy wood or resin scales, G10 spacers, Corby fasteners, etc. None of these are cheap !!. Many knife makers put 20, 30 even 40 hours or more labor into one knife including hours of hand sanding and polishing and that's with their top of the line equipment. It takes a hobbyist without all the fancy gear even longer to make a knife. Consider their equipment costs. A 2x72 grinder $2500, heat treat oven $1500, drill press $500, bandsaw $500, Parks quench oil $150 and $100's on abrasives etc etc. Selling a custom made knife for $250 is a losing proposition. They'd make more selling burgers at McDonalds.. People ask me if I plan to sell my knives and I say no...I'd not get what they are worth. It's a satisfying hobby to create a beautiful knife and leather sheath. Oh, that's another thing...leather and dyes and special tools are also expensive and leather working is also labor intensive. This is NOT a cheap hobby, but I'll be darned if I'm going to do all that work and practically give them away. I'd rather keep them or give them to family and friends.

Sad that they don’t make good money

The people that actually are making real money in this field are the companies that make the machines, tools, and supplies for knifemaking. Lol

I'm retired and do it as a almost sustaining hobby. I use high end steels, and do everything in shop. Takes me about 10 hrs per blade, I'm lucky to get $250/ blade. I'd starve if I was trying to support myself doing this.

I getting into knife making as a hobby and possibly 2nd income. Does it make more sense making more at a time?

Watched this video again. He is right on. The knives I make I do more than 4 hours just hand sanding alone. In total I'm putting about 30 hours into making a nice knife. When you consider material costs of steel, exotic wood, aluminum or brass for a bolster/pommel, G10 liners on some, pin stock, G10 epoxy, sanding belts, Dremel bits, sandpaper of multiple grits, power hacksaw blades, buffing wheels, polishing compounds, propane, Parks 50 quench oil ($60 a gallon), and there is more. Now consider a leather sheath, cost of leather, dyes, finishing oils, thread and needles, specialty toolkit, stamps, and there is more. I also bought about $1500 in tools. When I add it all up with labor at a modest $20/hr plus materials about $70 a very fair price is at least $600 for a knife and sheath (some are fancier than others so more labor time and worth more) that is a "one of" custom build. With many nice knives (likely many mass produced) on the market from 150-400 I can't be bothered trying to sell mine. I'm sure not going to work for $2/hr. It takes a lot of skill and talent to make a nice custom knife and sheath unless it is a mostly automated process. I can't afford a CNC machine, a mill, a lathe, a heat treating oven, etc so my work is mostly by hand with a few basic tools. I've made about 55 knives in the last 2 years so far and each one is different...no two the same. People that see them in person are always impressed and always say I should sell them, but the market is flooded with cheap knives, so unless you have a recognized name, it is just not realistic.