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Les,
I read your about page. I knew you were out of the service. That does not negate my gratitude for your service. Besides, I think the saying is, "Once a Marine always a Marine!" You, and your wife for that matter, did your part...what ever it was, it was needed.
Back to the post. All the guys make great points. Two points really stand out to me. Mainly cause I struggle with them. Pricing and communication.
For pricing I try to break things down into their simplest terms. I love to make knives period! What is the least amount per hour I can take for doing something I love and make it work? $5, $8, $20 an hour? What ever that is, then you have to figure a way to make knives in an amount of time and with the amount of overhead you have for an amount of money that makes that work.
When I started I actually decided on a few designs that were poplar and broke the whole thing down into steps. I made a sheet listing the steps for each. Then I made those knives and timed each step accurately. No fudging. Then I decided on a price per hour and multiplied that times the hours and added the averaged overhead to get the price for each. I know it seems a long way to go, but I just had to be sure so I could sleep at night. And I gives you a good base line for the higher price stuff where you add file work or unusual handle details.
The other thing is communication. As you can tell by my post, I have a tendency to get wordy. So I have to try and gauge the customer and make sure when I'm bugging them. It seems that the men and women that have bought my 'stock designs' as I call them (knives I can make for the novice collector and avid sportsman relatively quickly out of modest materials and just good fit and finish) are usually buying them as gifts or to skin an elk and don't really want to know much more than the how and when.
On the other hand, the folks who I have made one of a kind customs for are hungry as all get out for every detail. Give it to them! Take the time to shoot them an email updating your progress. Maybe include a quick low res pic of the blade or raw handle materials. All but the most jaded collectors are glutens for that stuff. Always include a personally signed build sheet or authentication for every knife.
But I always try to hold back one or two extras I've added. Just to surprise 'um. Gives them a warm and fuzzy about the whole experience. And in the end, you have to be happy with the price and they have to get a warm an fuzzy about the knife.
The truth is, you will probably work a long time before you get what your work is worth or where your work is worth what you want. So, get what you need and enjoy the journey until you become one of the 5 or 10 smiths that get a 100 times what it's worth. I've looked at your knives and I think you have ability or I and I suspect these other guys wouldn't be wasting their time encouraging you.
chiger,
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