Knife Price Calculator

maxcutter03

Well-Known Member
How do you guys calculate the price of your knife? My wife just made me a program that has a price per in calculator and other slots to input cost of materials, shop time, heat treat, sheath, and even a discount slot. Just plug in the numers and it calculates it for you. Its still a rough draft right now, but it will make knife pricing easier for me in the future.


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Looks like a good start. I would encourage you to think about "hidden" costs and get them into you bid sheet. Things like grinding belts, sand paper, hardware for handle assembly, makers marks supplies, reamers, files, dremmel tool supplies and the list goes on. You do have a miscellanious section, which is good, you just have to make sure that if you are going to use this area to capture all of the "other hidden" stuff that you put a big enough number in. These items can really eat up cost and often times you don't even realize it. My experience has been the more thought and detail the better. It's tough to make a buck as a knife maker. The devil is in the details.
 
Thanks for your comments Big Smitty!! This is why I posted it so that I can get all the ideas I can.
 
You can make a second worksheet with all that stuff listed and have the total auto-populate the MISC spot on this form. Don't forget about Electricity, mail costs for ordering materials, gas to go get stuff, shoes to keep your wife happy so she does not get mad when you are in the shop, etc...............
 
Bob you crack me up.......shoes to keep the wife happy...LOL

Yeah you could do that in excel but not every one me included knows a lot about excel. When I get it all figgered out, it will simplify pricing for me. I want to capture the cost of electricity and misc. expenses under one tab......ie.....service charge, misc. expense. Like I said its a rough draft and I appreciate all your input.
 
I would like to have a copy when you get it finished Marv. I had a knife making friend here today that said he had a loss of $3.50 per hour to make and sell a knife. (grin).
 
i'm no excel EXPERT, but i can try and help, if you need anything pm me :)

great prog.
thanks to your wife :)

there is also a factor on might want to consider, time it takes to sell the knife, the more time passes the higher teh expense, altho its intangible, but if u sell u get money, u get more stuff , make more , and so on

but the longer it takes to sell the higher the intangible yet very real cost
 
I did a worksheet a long time ago when I first started. It was amazing to see the costs add up. Here are few things I had on mine from what I recall:
I always figure two belts per knife. I might use several grits but I would figure I used up 2 of them.
Adhesive $1
Pin material $2
General shop charge - $5/knife (wear and tear on machines which will eventually have to be replaced or upgraded)
Electricity - a couple bucks
Bolster material (416ss isn't cheap)
Handle material (often more than the steel)
Finish material like wax, oil, etc.

If there was a sheath involved, costs would go up another 1/3 for me.
 
Bob you crack me up.......shoes to keep the wife happy...LOL

heck yeah!
The gal I was with for 11 years insisted I take her for dinner when I finished a knife!
After work,I'd come home, then disappear into the shop until dinner (which I usually made),then back out to the shop...
Shoes and Surf-n-Turf needs to be calculated for sure!:3:
 
i think i would like to get a copy of this. Looks like it could help out a lot. thanks for posting!
 
Tracy, You're absolutely right, about the wear and tear. I've seen this discussion many times in various media, and they always leave out the wear and tear on machinery.
I did a worksheet a long time ago when I first started. It was amazing to see the costs add up. Here are few things I had on mine from what I recall:
I always figure two belts per knife. I might use several grits but I would figure I used up 2 of them.
Adhesive $1
Pin material $2
General shop charge - $5/knife (wear and tear on machines which will eventually have to be replaced or upgraded)
Electricity - a couple bucks
Bolster material (416ss isn't cheap)
Handle material (often more than the steel)
Finish material like wax, oil, etc.

If there was a sheath involved, costs would go up another 1/3 for me.
 
These are all good points and I am noting them so my wife can make changes to the original. The charges like shop rates are plugged into the program, you just punch in the hours and when you hit calculate it does the math for you. The metal, price per inch calculator automaticly puts the cost of metal used into the metal slot. . It can be programed just for you with your shop rates.
Some of the cost that are being brought up are some that I have not thought of but could be captured under Misc. charge. Every one has there number to put in that blank. My wife brought up maybe a "Set up fee" this could capture your belts, sand paper, glue, pins, files, drills, or what ever you want to capture. If there were a blank for every expence, there would be 150 slots to create and fill to get your price. This program would help you get from point A to point B quickly.

Bob.........there won't be a slot for your wife's shoes!!! Sorry!!! But I will see if a slot can be added for customer name and knife type/name and see if it can be set up so that, that calculation can be saves into your database.
 
maxcutter: did your wife get this calculor done?
It looks to me like she's sharp!
vern
 
This would be a great shop tool to have. Its like the reloading calculators that can tell you how much each bullet will cost. Very Handy.
 
There is a local muffler shop I do some welding for when I can and he adds 6% to the cost of the materials for consumables (cut off saw blades, Oxy.Acet fuel, safety glasses, gloves, brackets, etc.....) maybe that would be an idea to incorporate.

The way I work the knife would probably have to sell for $50K just to cover my trial and error, building a special tool to do something, trips to the store for stuff and all the work I have to do because I don't have a machine to do something in 5 minutes.

Are you going to sell this when it is complete? Is it Excel based or a database of some kind?
 
Don't forget projected shipping, web costs, and advertising. Your cost will vary greatly too if you are mass producing and buying in bulk, but that shouldn't necessarily be reflected in the final price. Just because you develop a way to make thing easier and more profitable for you doesn't mean you need to pass all of the profits on to the consumer. The customer is paying for craftsmanship when buying a custom knife, not just materials.
 
I don't make my knives to sell to others; I make them to have something I want that I made. So I've never considered the total cost.
Still, this is a good idea not only for the individual in business, but also someone like myself to see if, for example, a $300 chef's knife is actually costing me more than buying it!
 
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