Sometimes knifemaking is frustrating!

Daniel Macina

Daniel Macina

Well-Known Member
Sometimes knifemaking can be so frustrating! I feel like like I'm always building Forges or grinders for the shop and they never work quite right. They generally work alright but I'm kinda a perfectionist and if it doesn't run perfectly the way I want it then I'm just never happy with it. I'll get there I guess but it seems like I don't hardly ever get to make knives or do much blacksmithing. Just frustrating sometimes.
 
Lol hey man I feel ya I love making the blades but having to deal with the homemade grinder that won't track or the propane forge that won't heat up gets so STRESSFUL! I just wanted to make knives I didn't want to have to become a welder, a fabricator, a metalurgist , a leather worker , and a machinist but then I go right back at it pushing through the stressfulness and irritation into something very worthwhile like how I ended up with a 2x72 grinder that I never could have afforded to buy new or a functional propane forge to have consistency with my heat treating
 
This is a real frustration when first starting out. The root question comes down to "do you want to spend your time making equipment, or spend your time making knives?" Well, that sounds simple but it's not. Why? Because most of us aren't sitting on a pile of money to buy everything we need at once. Knifemaking is difficult. It just is. And the things that make it easier are very expensive. This is why I firmly believe that there is no point making knives unless you are selling knives, unless you're just independently wealthy and love making knives for fun.

The good news is that knifemaking is one of the few hobbies in which it is extremely easy to make enough money to pay for itself. The learning curve is steep, but in no time you can be selling knives. The hardest thing many of us face is getting our prices up where we actually begin to make money. But once you do, the knives you make will finance all the stuff you need to make them faster and easier.

I started out with a 30 year old bench top drill press and grinder that I borrowed against my 401k to buy. Stupid financially, but it has paid off in spades. Now I have the shop of my dreams, and knives paid for it. I only say this to point out that it took about five years to get where I am- and I wasted the first two years because I wasn't asking enough money for my knives and was caught in a death spiral of working my butt off and never having any money to show for it. Don't repeat my mistake.
 
John Wilson said:
I wasted the first two years because I wasn't asking enough money for my knives and was caught in a death spiral of working my butt off and never having any money to show for it.
Click to expand...

Yeah lol I'm definitely going through that right now and have been selling my knives for VERY cheap just because they did not measure up the the high bar that I had set for myself but I'm starting to correct it
 
I simply like making things and so building the 2x72 was a very enjoyable project in itself, and with it working as well as I had anticipated it has made knifemaking a much improved process as has the 2 forges, anvil and associated bits and pieces I have made to advance my output.

When I decided to get serious about making knives I sold one of the custom rifles I had built and put the money into a fighting fund to buy the materials I needed to build the equipment I needed to make a decent start without having to "make do". since then it has been better than self supporting and is bringing in a reasonable return over expenses.
 
Whenever I read a thread where someone is absolutely baffled by purchasing a grinder instead of building one for "so much cheaper" THIS is the reason why. *and I'm not taking about anyone in the thread*

I'm not independently wealthy but my wife and I have been working our entire lives and we don't have kids so we've socked away a few bucks.

I've also been a longtime knife collector and sold a couple high end knives to finance a lot of my shop.

So before I ever made a single knife I had a TW-90, a mini mill and a surface grinder ready to go.

I don't fault anyone for building their own machinery and tools but I'm SO glad I went the route I did.

It allowed me to hit the ground running without have to fix and adjust and modify along the way. I just concentrate on making knives.
 
I feel your pain Daniel. It's a balancing act trying to get started in knifemaking. Tools are expensive and it's hard to justify spending money that you don't have. My wife and I are not independently wealthy but we are fiscally responsible. So I'm in a position in life where buying tools is doable, and time in the shop is rare. So when free time is available I'd rather make knives and not tools.

That said if I wasn't able to afford tools for knifemaking I'd wouldn't hesitate to take a small loan to pay for some good equipment. I truly believe there are three tools no knifemaker should be without, and try to be cheap when purchasing. A good grinder, a good drill press, and a bench vise. All the other tools can be paid for once you start making good knives with good equipment that you are not fighting.
 
I am seriously considering buying a grinder in the new year. I have a grinder in the works now through so we'll see how that turns out. Part of the problem is I make very little money and can only put MAYBE $200 into knifemaking a month. So it would take me all year of saving up to buy a grinder. Might be worth it. Forges on the other hand I can never seem to get just right and looking at the prices I feel like I'm getting ripped off compared to what I can buy the materials for. All well I'll get there. The trouble is I've run nice forges and grinders in others shops so I know what I'll be missing if I just cheap out.
 
I’m all for being handy and saving money. But in my opinion, and it’s just an opinion, it is crucial not to think of a grinder as an expense. No! The grinder is a cash producing machine. If you want to make money that’s the golden goose in this game. That grinder is the most versatile tool you’ll ever own. It makes money. It will help you make other tools.

My only regret now is that I didn’t get the best grinder available when I got mine. I dearly love my KMG. I wish it was a TW90 now that I’m doing folders.

Deliver pizzas at night. Sell things you don’t need. Take on odd jobs. Whatever. But find the cash for a good grinder with variable speed that takes readily available attachments. Grinders MAKE money.

Ty is so right on a good drill press and vise. Those and a grinder put you in business. Everything else can come in time, and will.

A Porta-Band in a vise makes a fine metal saw. A SWAG-OFFROAD table for it makes it a damn good machine.
 
I bought my first grinder, a Wilton square wheel on the company's credit card I worked for and had them take $20.. a week from my check. of course that was a long time ago and that machine was $800.00 then.
all good things come with time, like John said, with a grinder and a good drill press you can build machines.
you can either build or buy, buying being the fastest way to getting good machines that generally work out of the box. building is another story, if you have the means and confidence by all means go that route. but I think all of us have seen some Rube Goldberg machines in our day, and then there's the dangers involved with wiring, fires and things flying apart.
Then, some people are so cheap I think if they knew their time was coming they'd build their own coffin.
One thing that I've noticed is a lot of folks build their own machines and then tinker with them forever to try and get them right, that would drive me nuts and probably keep me up at night thinking of my next move to make it right... meanwhile the clock keeps ticking away.
 
JW is bang on as usual, lol.

Just to add to JW, some have the funds but do not wanna pay out if they are not good, skilful enough to make knives to his high standard to enable a high selling price.
My knives are sub standard but improving, most are sold, raffled, auctioned at country sports days for my fav charity, I do give some away, I make zero profit but the enjoyment of progressing hobby is ace.
 
I like building things. So a lot of the equipment I built or am building is just fun! Problem is I have Elderly parents and time is at a premium!
 
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