I've personally found through the years that I've been making knives is your niche may change depending on current markets and the call for different blades. Then again I also had one of the forged and fire runner-up asked if I wanted to hammer out blades for him because I could hammer out a better blade than he could 🤷 the other thing I learned is that you can't be a master of every style of blade my best advice is to pick three different styles and stick with them and become known for them
Thanks for the feedback. Love the last part of your comment on mastering just a few things rather than trying to be the jack of all trades. I do agree with that. Thanks again Little Bear!
Great information, thought about this a lot, because of the question,why would someone buy a knife from me?, especially the price I want. Pricing handmade knives is an interesting topic . At the moment I'm at the stage of giving my knives away to friends.
Hi Negev. It’s a good opportunity to request honest feedback from your friends so you can make some tweaks and improvements! I hope you found the video valuable!
Enjoyed interesting wish to do knife making as a hobby ,gives one food for thought ,I think try various to see what I enjoy most and move forward with that thanks enjoyed video😊
I've tried selling knives but my problem is when I get it finished I don't want to sell it I'm going to have to sell something this is an expensive hobby
Cheers again Andy. As long as you are enjoying what you do - that is a great starting point! Then while you progress, you should find the same type of customers that keep coming back to you. (Literally) write down their person and create a profile from there on the type of people that like your style! I hope that helps!
Thanks so much for the more in depth look into finding your niche! I also really appreciate your hard work. I’ve naturally built a niche around spoon carving and figurine carving before I even got into making knives myself. Now I’m freed up to make knives full- time, but I still get pulled away to knives I’m not as interested in making- chef knives, bushcraft knives (although I really do enjoy the later). So I may be answering my own question here, but if I already know what I want to make, even though my niche audience is mostly makers themselves should I deprioritize chef and bushcraft knives and focus on perfecting carving/whittling knives? Also, do you have any suggestions on how to use google trends effectively? I’m not that tech savvy.
Hi Philip thanks for watching and for your input! Great question by the way. It’s not always a straightforward answer as you can imagine but to me, there is nothing wrong with going off a tangent every now and again as sometimes, the best inspiration comes from doing things you’re not usually good at. You also learn a lot of new skills from other things, then put that newly acquired skill back into spoon carving (I hope that makes sense). The other thing worth mentioning is there is great pleasure as well in deviating away from your main craft IF you find a “creative block”. It will help you to take a break, avoid burnout, and I’m sure that desire to continue with spoon carving will come back out even stronger.
Great advice! Thanks so much for your timely response. Funny you mentioned trying new things as I took some milling bandsaw material, left the temper as is and made a nice all- round kitchen knife with it. No glue either, thought I’d go with the ultra old-timey look. Probably add epoxy if I go to sell a few. Oh and I’ll look you up on Instagram. Cheers!!!
Good example: 22 year-old John Miller of BGM Knives out of New Hampshire is a custom knife maker who has developed a real following with his own distinct line of knives. Check him out.
@@UKBladeshow I have two of his CKK knives (one for my son who lives in London) which are very utilitarian. Excellent handmade quality at a reasonable price. The wait is long but he's a pleasure to deal with and very talented. Also check out Meglio Knives out of Oceanside, CA. I've got his Gyuto in MagnaCut. A real slicer.
Wow thanks for the feedback and lovely to hear that you found the content useful! And yes, the most important thing is implementation! Let me know if there's any help or topics you want help with - I'll try and do my best to help!
Cheers dude! This is a weird topic for knife makers (I don’t see many people talk about this so I wasn’t sure if the video could be helpful) but I do know that a lot of people in the industry need some support to grow and thrive. Thanks again for watching Brad and speak to you again soon!
Great points... I have a friend who suffered knife/swordmaking burnout due mainly to taking custom orders for 20 years (part time). The problem he has with making the same thing over and over is it's boring and he is very curious... can his niche be "experimental" blades?
Hi Anatine! Thanks for the question. My question in return is - you mention it was 'custom orders' but he burnt out from making the 'same thing over and over again'? I am a little confused with the dilemma as custom orders usually means you won't make the same thing twice? Am I missing something? Experimental blades can be a niche for sure - but it needs to be a bit more specific i.e. decorative, movie props, etc.
@@UKBladeshow The burnout was from custom orders.. pressure from clients wanting diverse items while he tried to be efficient. Your advice to find a niche would have helped there. Doing things efficiently (making similar knives over and over) was boring for him... so it was a catch 22... the niche was boring but the challenge of producing diverse custom work at close to factory prices was too much. I think he would have done better just working on whatever he wanted... but that didn't always sell like a custom order does. On the upside he mastered a lot of skills.
How many knives do you sell at the moment? How many knives do you think you need to be selling to make it even?
I've personally found through the years that I've been making knives is your niche may change depending on current markets and the call for different blades. Then again I also had one of the forged and fire runner-up asked if I wanted to hammer out blades for him because I could hammer out a better blade than he could 🤷 the other thing I learned is that you can't be a master of every style of blade my best advice is to pick three different styles and stick with them and become known for them
Thanks for the feedback. Love the last part of your comment on mastering just a few things rather than trying to be the jack of all trades. I do agree with that.
Thanks again Little Bear!
I think Sandy Jack could sella nail file at this stage and still have 2k people pressing the refresh button on his site :D
Hahah yeah true.
Great points that work well for any small maker and not just knife makers
Thanks for the comment threecatforge!
Great information, thought about this a lot, because of the question,why would someone buy a knife from me?, especially the price I want. Pricing handmade knives is an interesting topic .
At the moment I'm at the stage of giving my knives away to friends.
Hi Negev. It’s a good opportunity to request honest feedback from your friends so you can make some tweaks and improvements! I hope you found the video valuable!
Enjoyed interesting wish to do knife making as a hobby ,gives one food for thought ,I think try various to see what I enjoy most and move forward with that thanks enjoyed video😊
Cheers Mark! Happy to hear you found value in this particular video! Hope to see you again in your journey through knife making!
I've tried selling knives but my problem is when I get it finished I don't want to sell it I'm going to have to sell something this is an expensive hobby
Hahaha true! You’re definitely very much an enthusiast if that’s the case mate! Thanks for the comment!
again some interesting things to think about, mind I am limited with what I do and want to do as want to keep things mostly traditional
Cheers again Andy. As long as you are enjoying what you do - that is a great starting point! Then while you progress, you should find the same type of customers that keep coming back to you. (Literally) write down their person and create a profile from there on the type of people that like your style!
I hope that helps!
Thanks so much for the more in depth look into finding your niche! I also really appreciate your hard work. I’ve naturally built a niche around spoon carving and figurine carving before I even got into making knives myself. Now I’m freed up to make knives full- time, but I still get pulled away to knives I’m not as interested in making- chef knives, bushcraft knives (although I really do enjoy the later). So I may be answering my own question here, but if I already know what I want to make, even though my niche audience is mostly makers themselves should I deprioritize chef and bushcraft knives and focus on perfecting carving/whittling knives? Also, do you have any suggestions on how to use google trends effectively? I’m not that tech savvy.
Hi Philip thanks for watching and for your input! Great question by the way.
It’s not always a straightforward answer as you can imagine but to me, there is nothing wrong with going off a tangent every now and again as sometimes, the best inspiration comes from doing things you’re not usually good at. You also learn a lot of new skills from other things, then put that newly acquired skill back into spoon carving (I hope that makes sense).
The other thing worth mentioning is there is great pleasure as well in deviating away from your main craft IF you find a “creative block”. It will help you to take a break, avoid burnout, and I’m sure that desire to continue with spoon carving will come back out even stronger.
Great advice! Thanks so much for your timely response. Funny you mentioned trying new things as I took some milling bandsaw material, left the temper as is and made a nice all- round kitchen knife with it. No glue either, thought I’d go with the ultra old-timey look. Probably add epoxy if I go to sell a few. Oh and I’ll look you up on Instagram. Cheers!!!
Good example: 22 year-old John Miller of BGM Knives out of New Hampshire is a custom knife maker who has developed a real following with his own distinct line of knives. Check him out.
Following him now on IG - thanks for the recommendation!
@@UKBladeshow I have two of his CKK knives (one for my son who lives in London) which are very utilitarian. Excellent handmade quality at a reasonable price. The wait is long but he's a pleasure to deal with and very talented.
Also check out Meglio Knives out of Oceanside, CA. I've got his Gyuto in MagnaCut. A real slicer.
Fabulous video, very useful content. Thank you! Now to implement the tools… oh boy…. Haha
Also I enjoyed the video edit. Was captivating while delivering great info
Wow thanks for the feedback and lovely to hear that you found the content useful! And yes, the most important thing is implementation! Let me know if there's any help or topics you want help with - I'll try and do my best to help!
Great points
Cheers RMOR knives!
Great advice 👍🏼 (New Forest Forge)
Cheers bud I appreciate you taking time to watch the vid!
Great video vinz, you cover some key points... well put together and easy to take on your advice, thanks mate 👍
Cheers dude! This is a weird topic for knife makers (I don’t see many people talk about this so I wasn’t sure if the video could be helpful) but I do know that a lot of people in the industry need some support to grow and thrive. Thanks again for watching Brad and speak to you again soon!
I appreciate the business side focus of the channel. Thanks ya'll.
Cheers Cody! Hopefully you’ve learnt something from the video!
Great points... I have a friend who suffered knife/swordmaking burnout due mainly to taking custom orders for 20 years (part time). The problem he has with making the same thing over and over is it's boring and he is very curious... can his niche be "experimental" blades?
Hi Anatine! Thanks for the question. My question in return is - you mention it was 'custom orders' but he burnt out from making the 'same thing over and over again'? I am a little confused with the dilemma as custom orders usually means you won't make the same thing twice? Am I missing something?
Experimental blades can be a niche for sure - but it needs to be a bit more specific i.e. decorative, movie props, etc.
@@UKBladeshow The burnout was from custom orders.. pressure from clients wanting diverse items while he tried to be efficient. Your advice to find a niche would have helped there. Doing things efficiently (making similar knives over and over) was boring for him... so it was a catch 22... the niche was boring but the challenge of producing diverse custom work at close to factory prices was too much. I think he would have done better just working on whatever he wanted... but that didn't always sell like a custom order does. On the upside he mastered a lot of skills.