What's your knife output?

[Andrew Garrett]

I'm always frustrated because I never have time to get into the shop. However, I did the calculations this morning and discovered that I am doing more than I thought I was!

I've been making knives for 16 months (as a hobbiest) and have completed 28 knives and 22 sheaths. I currently have 8 knives at various levels of completion, with 4 more ordered.

My rate of completion is 1.75 knives per month. Not as bad as I thought it was considering how slowly I work! I'll aim for 2.5 over the next year.

It's good to take stock now and then, so... how are you doing? It will help me to determine where I am on the bell curve.

[Ed Fowler]

I have never been able to make over 50 knives a year, So far this year I have completed 18. Average hands on time on a knife 58 hours.

[Drac]

That's a hard question for me that a lot of people have been asking lately. As I learn more some things increase my speed some add more time. I've started using stones for sanding and cut my hand finishing time down to 1/8th of what it was but if I try file work (that's try haven't succeed yet) it triples the time. Like you I've only been doing this as a hobby for a short time, about four years, so I'm still in the lower portion of the learning curve as it were. Every little thing I learn seems to cause big changes in how I do things.

Jim

[Coutel]

My focus is not production of how many I can make in a period of time, but how many can I make that I am proud of.......and the more critical I get, the less I make!

Usualy between 20 and 40 hrs per knife is common....or longer.........Complete maybe one every two or three weeks depending on available time spent in my shop.

I like being able to work when I want and stop when I want.

[Don Halter]

As a hobby maker and much less time now for hobbies than I used to have, I only make about 1 knife every six weeks.

I have about two or three dozen partially finished knives laying about at any given time, though!

[Andries Olivier]

Anything between 10 and 30 per month. (Part time) Anything between 6-8 hours per knife for real basic knives and up to 100 hours on a fancy piece. Orders for at least 4 months at any given time.

[ranger1]

Like so many others I only have limited time in the shop.My output varies depending on the type of knife.Lately I have geared myself more towards the perfection of the art.But anyway I probably complete one every 3 to 4 weeks.I am working on my first piece with file work,That takes time,but I am pleased with the results so far.



Hopefully it will get better with time.Blade mag had an artical on file work and step by step instructions on how to do this pattern.So I followed that.
Seems the more I learn the longer it takes to make a knife.

[DC KNIVES]

I am probably down to 20 a year now. It runs in cycles and has gone up and down for the last 15 years.Started out like gangbusters then learned some new stuff then slowed till I got that under control then back up again. But now like Kevin and some others its just trying to make a better knife. The knives I make today are not only better but are considerably more time-consuming to make with more hand finishing, more complicated handles and blade designs and my sheaths take way longer than before. But I am happier making knives now than I was before and that makes it worth slowing down.Dave

[DC KNIVES]

By the way, I forgot to add that that is some nice filework Andy, looking forword to seeing that one completed.Dave

It all depends on how you do it. I do mostly stock removal and not as much forging as I used to do and find that this year I am at about 60 knives. Everyone has their own way but now I find at I am more likely to grind 15 or 20 blades at one time to cut down on changeovers and etc. DO 10 guards at a time and then handles and then do sheaths. In between I have finished 5 individual blades for custom orders. When I get back to forging then normally 3 t 5 blades at a time. Hand finishing takes longer and longer every knife and new methods with sheaths keep adding to the total. All my sheaths are stamped instead of plain and the finishing methods I have been shown all add up in time. Worst time of year will be two months when football-turkey and deer season roll around and then I slow to a crawl. Mike

[rhrocker]

What's my knife output? Oh, roughly 1/3 HP

I'm like a bunch of you guys, it's still a hobby (enjoyable), so I've never really considered time involved, but should. Some take a long while, and some don't. Ed Fowler says 58 hours (hands on). If I were to attempt his style of knife, it would take several hundred hours, and end in failure I'm afraid. Would like to get up into the country one of these years and learn something!

[B. Buxton]

It all depends on what I'm working on. I'm working on a piece right now that I have well over 50 hrs. in and still have a ways to go, and that didn't include the 12-15 hrs. I had in making the damascus for it. But I never was real fast, more worried about quality then time.

Happy knif'in

Bill

[McAhron]

I average 6-10 a month.I devote about 25-30 hours a week(I also work fulltime).My knives take as little as 3-6 hours for a small neck knife to 30 hours for a 8" bowie.I do stock removal and forged work,and spend about 20% more time on forged work than stock removal.It seems the longer I have been making knives,the longer it takes to make them as I find new ways to improve the quality.

100.999%

[jph]

Geeze, I am almost ashamed to say this..

High carbon stuff, in "knife lengths"..18 to 25 a week, depending on the actual pieces....high carbon swords...5 or 6 a week...

Pattern welded....well that depends upon what it is and the pattern but I figure 6 or 7 a week in "knife/dagger" lenth pieces....composite swords about 1 a week...

Please note that I am a full time maker and my set up is such that there really is very little (if any) "wasted time" in "production"...

JPH