Knife Making Startup Costs....Need Input/Help

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If I got everything straight after reading all you posts:

Part time job
Outsource the blade profile to be cut by wire EDM
you do most of the afterwork in your yet to be made knife shop (as part of your wood shop)
you have to make 50 units of the same quality and finish
by September/15
you never did a single finished knife.
you almost dismissed pure gold advise by Brian Evans & many others

I see a 100% chance of failure, but I also sincerely wish you to prove me wrong.

I hope you can document with pictures and comments the whole endeavor.


Pablo
 
Is this just a troll trying to mess with everyone?

Even if he can learn how to do all this knife making perfectly, and get the 50 knives and sheaths for fall of 2015, hes selling them for $190 each for a total of 9500 bucks. That is a pretty good price if you ask me and god knows how he could convince anyone to pay that. The fact is, that still is not worth working yourself to the bone for the next 8 months trying to achieve. If you pull it off perfectly you have lost money unless you consider your time free. PEU is correct at assessing a 100% failure rate but while he might have meant you can't make the knives, in my opinion making them would be a loss.

Im just not sure what your end game would be here, clearly you aren't in it for money, or to become a well known/respected knifemaker

I have only made a few knives now, but if I had to make my first knife 50 times and make them all the same, with a prospect of 6 more people ordering 50 more each, well, I wouldnt.
 
The dangling carrot is future purchases, but he first need to submit 50 perfectly finished sheated knifes that leave the customers wanting more...


Pablo
 
I over heard someone talking and thought they sounded like they were knowledgeable. Then I listended closely and realized that they were throwing around enough buzz words that don't make much sense. It reminded me of Sarah Palin. Plans, words and sounds bites simply will not work in then end. You must execute and execute well.
 
PEU said:
If I got everything straight after reading all you posts:

Part time job
Outsource the blade profile to be cut by wire EDM
you do most of the afterwork in your yet to be made knife shop (as part of your wood shop)
you have to make 50 units of the same quality and finish
by September/15
you never did a single finished knife.
you almost dismissed pure gold advise by Brian Evans & many others

I see a 100% chance of failure, but I also sincerely wish you to prove me wrong.

I hope you can document with pictures and comments the whole endeavor.


Pablo
Click to expand...

PaulBC said:
Is this just a troll trying to mess with everyone?

Even if he can learn how to do all this knife making perfectly, and get the 50 knives and sheaths for fall of 2015, hes selling them for $190 each for a total of 9500 bucks. That is a pretty good price if you ask me and god knows how he could convince anyone to pay that. The fact is, that still is not worth working yourself to the bone for the next 8 months trying to achieve. If you pull it off perfectly you have lost money unless you consider your time free. PEU is correct at assessing a 100% failure rate but while he might have meant you can't make the knives, in my opinion making them would be a loss.

Im just not sure what your end game would be here, clearly you aren't in it for money, or to become a well known/respected knifemaker

I have only made a few knives now, but if I had to make my first knife 50 times and make them all the same, with a prospect of 6 more people ordering 50 more each, well, I wouldnt.
Click to expand...

PEU said:
The dangling carrot is future purchases, but he first need to submit 50 perfectly finished sheated knifes that leave the customers wanting more...


Pablo
Click to expand...

PT Doc said:
I over heard someone talking and thought they sounded like they were knowledgeable. Then I listended closely and realized that they were throwing around enough buzz words that don't make much sense. It reminded me of Sarah Palin. Plans, words and sounds bites simply will not work in then end. You must execute and execute well.
Click to expand...

Thank you all for the input
 
I am sure you have lighting in your woodworking shop, however more lighting will help you. A combination of LED floods, LED spots and some halogen lamps will make your finish work better. To remove a scratch, first you need to see it. Best of luck. -Doug
 
Mad....

Don't get to Mad about the doubts we all have.

Every year we have a new person who comes on the forum with often a very similar plan as yours.

Not that long ago we had a new maker in a motorcycle club making pretty much the exact same business plan as yours. He met the same advice swore he would show us we were wrong.

He had guaranteed sales as well

But like so many in the past he disappeared when it came time for him to actually produce the knives.

Please stick around and keep us updated on your progress.

It would be nice to see at least one person in all the years actually make it.
 
PT Doc said:
I over heard someone talking and thought they sounded like they were knowledgeable. Then I listended closely and realized that they were throwing around enough buzz words that don't make much sense. It reminded me of Sarah Palin. Plans, words and sounds bites simply will not work in then end. You must execute and execute well.
Click to expand...

hey!

no trashing Pallin, She had aleast made it to the Governor's office first!;)
 
PEU said:
If I got everything straight after reading all you posts:

Part time job
Outsource the blade profile to be cut by wire EDM
you do most of the afterwork in your yet to be made knife shop (as part of your wood shop)
you have to make 50 units of the same quality and finish
by September/15
you never did a single finished knife.
you almost dismissed pure gold advise by Brian Evans & many others

I see a 100% chance of failure, but I also sincerely wish you to prove me wrong.

I hope you can document with pictures and comments the whole endeavor.


Pablo
Click to expand...

PaulBC said:
Is this just a troll trying to mess with everyone?

Even if he can learn how to do all this knife making perfectly, and get the 50 knives and sheaths for fall of 2015, hes selling them for $190 each for a total of 9500 bucks. That is a pretty good price if you ask me and god knows how he could convince anyone to pay that. The fact is, that still is not worth working yourself to the bone for the next 8 months trying to achieve. If you pull it off perfectly you have lost money unless you consider your time free. PEU is correct at assessing a 100% failure rate but while he might have meant you can't make the knives, in my opinion making them would be a loss.

Im just not sure what your end game would be here, clearly you aren't in it for money, or to become a well known/respected knifemaker

I have only made a few knives now, but if I had to make my first knife 50 times and make them all the same, with a prospect of 6 more people ordering 50 more each, well, I wouldnt.
Click to expand...

PEU said:
The dangling carrot is future purchases, but he first need to submit 50 perfectly finished sheated knifes that leave the customers wanting more...


Pablo
Click to expand...

PT Doc said:
I over heard someone talking and thought they sounded like they were knowledgeable. Then I listended closely and realized that they were throwing around enough buzz words that don't make much sense. It reminded me of Sarah Palin. Plans, words and sounds bites simply will not work in then end. You must execute and execute well.
Click to expand...

AVigil said:
Mad....

Don't get to Mad about the doubts we all have.

Every year we have a new person who comes on the forum with often a very similar plan as yours.

Not that long ago we had a new maker in a motorcycle club making pretty much the exact same business plan as yours. He met the same advice swore he would show us we were wrong.

He had guaranteed sales as well

But like so many in the past he disappeared when it came time for him to actually produce the knives.

Please stick around and keep us updated on your progress.

It would be nice to see at least one person in all the years actually make it.
Click to expand...

Well I guess we'll all see them, if I succeed, good, if not, guess we'll go from there....
 
DougSeward said:
I am sure you have lighting in your woodworking shop, however more lighting will help you. A combination of LED floods, LED spots and some halogen lamps will make your finish work better. To remove a scratch, first you need to see it. Best of luck. -Doug
Click to expand...

Yes you can never have too much lighting!
 
Reflecting on this thread and its companions here at BF and elsewhere I think we can agree that Madupree while, perhaps, a fair to middlin’ woodworker, is not a modern, manufacturing engineer, nor is he a cost accountant.

1) Making 50 (I’d make 60 to allow for some missteps) “custom” knives like this at almost any decent (well equipped) neighborhood job shop would be a no brainer. My best friend is tool & die maker with 40 years of experience and his own well equipped, prototyping, model shop. He says he could do this project in 6-8weeks, given all the shipping around of stuff he’d have to do. He’d outsource everything he could to experts. He’d get PRECISION ground metal (in quantity) from someone like Aldo and have it all waterjetted/EDMed somewhere the metal supplier knows and trusts. (To get the best possible price he might have all this work, including grinding) done overseas if he didn’t need them on any particular date.) Probably EDMed for precision and with any needed cleanup done by those people. Then off to heat treat, where, after all processing is completed, it would be straight and flat and test at RC 59/60 after cryo treating.

2) He’d have the wood/handle material done the same way (once he had the EDMed blanks in hand): cut, drilled, profiled. All ready for glue up. A minor part of this job really.

3) Meanwhile, he’d have the blanks sent to a grinder where they’d make sure not to overheat them and that they’d all match. Talk about your nasty, wet, dirty job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4) Then with his “custom made” knife kits in hand he’d put them together at his leisure. Hopefully ending up with all of this at a very reasonable cost and very little grief.

Then with the profits from this Fortune 500 knifemaking adventure he can outfit his own shop with the best tools money can buy and proceed with the personal education he’ll want on the way to becoming a “custom” knife maker.

Corey "synthesist" Gimbel
 
Well when everyone sees my '1st knife I ever made, now 50 to go' post, ya'll can have at it!!!
 
AVigil said:
Every year we have a new person who comes on the forum with often a very similar plan as yours.

Not that long ago we had a new maker in a motorcycle club making pretty much the exact same business plan as yours. He met the same advice swore he would show us we were wrong.

He had guaranteed sales as well

But like so many in the past he disappeared when it came time for him to actually produce the knives.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly, Adam.

Remember this one? http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ome-shop-for-small-production-run-NEED-ADVICE

I've actually wondered if it's the same guy coming here and posting these threads . . .
 
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