Tourist knife design??

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Mokwepa

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Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa
Morning guys.

So here is my plan.

I want to forge a knife that i can attempt to sell in our curio shop at the safari lodge where i work. We get allot of very wealthy guests that im sure would like to take a amature homemade knife home with them as a souveneer. I would stick with my original name (Bartia Blades) and give a info sheet with the knife that tells the story of the lions (the Bartia brothers) and how the knife was constructed, how long it took, where the steel comes from (a game drive vehicle that has seen many years of game viewing) and the type of wood used and any other interesting facts about the wood indigenous to the area.

I am not a pro but the guests that come to our lodge buy a whole bunch of other home made cr^&%$p just cause they got it on safari. I wouldnt mind benefiting from this mentality, it could help me buy more tools, if it works.

Do you think it'll work and if so, what blade design do you think would be good for a souveneer from Africa (ie. a rugged bowie like the one i recently made, or a utility knife etc.)?
 
Is here some type of bush machete that is commonly used? This may be something tourists will wish to purchase, especially if you tell them that they are used by locals on lion hunts. Perhaps have local women weave something colorful into a sheath?

Some sort of of big bowie also sounds good (I'm thinking of the type carried by Crocodile Dundee -yes, I know that's Australia).
 
I would think a bushcraft style knives. The designs are simple. It is very popular knife. I think they will eat it up. But I would make a variety of knives. I would do Damascus also because it has the "Wow" factor. I would stick to Carbon steel too. Keep them true to the style knives they carry in safari. i would also mention in your introduction letter that you have authentic safari style knives for sell to take on the safari.
 
Black Toe: Thanks, sounds good and makes sense.

I was thinking about a bowie as well, something large that looks like it'll protect you against man eating lions. The locals, just use regular machetes which are not very interesting.

Have you got a pic of a "bushcraft" style knife.
 
I think the last couple knives you made would be a fine style for the purpose. They'll eat'em up.

Make both a big "safari wall hanger" and a smaller utility knife. Those with more money than brains will never use a knife, and will prefer the wall hanger. Those few, like us, who appreciate hand made things, and knives in particular, will gravitate towards the utility knife, and will actually carry and use it. Both groups are valuable customers, so keep your quality high and quantities low.

Don't be afraid to price them commisserate with the effort you put into them. Just because it's cludged up in a make-shift forge doesn't lessen its value. Take special care with symmetry, straightness and heat treat.

But this part is important. I've found over the years that hobbies morphed into jobs can kill the hobby. Be careful not to commit yourself to a production level you cannot maintain. These are handmade things of significant effort, each one unique, and in short supply. Make'em only because you want to, not to fill an order.

J
 
I agree with J whole heartedly. he echos my thoughts. Print it out and hang it on the wall.

Aditionally I would make a few 3 or 4 inch knives for the wimpy, whipped " I want a knife but not a big scary one crowd"

Stay focused and safe,
Doc
 
But this part is important. I've found over the years that hobbies morphed into jobs can kill the hobby. Be careful not to commit yourself to a production level you cannot maintain. These are handmade things of significant effort, each one unique, and in short supply. Make'em only because you want to, not to fill an order.
Click to expand...

Very wise words, I certainly agree.

I would sell the knives for a fair amount. I dont really need the money but if i sold one now and again for a price that i feel equals the effort, then bonus, I can buy some more tools. If no one buys it, then i still have a cool home forged knife :)

I think it would be hard to see a knife go, after all that work. The bowie that i made is increadibly valuble to me and i would not part with it for lots of money. Its too special and the first one that im realy proud of (like the others but not as much as the Bartia Bowie).
 
I've been dabbling in this now for 4 years, and I've made about 2 or 3 dozen knives and other objects in that time. I've not sold one yet. I gift many of them to friends who I know appreciate them.

I figure that a simple 1 day forged knife, like the one I edc, might reliably sell for about $100. But there's about 10 hours in it..... And my time is worth more than that...

That said, anyone who wants can come to my forge and we'll make the knife they want in exchange for just the fuel it takes to make it. Not more than a handful of people have ever taken me up on it.... That's been instructive to me re: human nature...

J
 
Yep. You have to figure your hours.
I considered working in metals some time ago. After figuring material, tool, and fuel costs I dropped that idea. I couldn't break even, even if I didn't even add in my labor!

I switched to stoneware and earthenware pottery. I made an adequate profit, but the fun factor went away pretty quickly.

So. In one field I lost money but maintained my interest. In the other field I made money but the stresses and repetition destroyed my interest.

Which of these "hobbies" do you think that I still dabble in?
 
Waldo, what were your material and fuel costs???

I run my forge on about $15 per day in fuel (Royal Oak charcoal) and all materials are scrap springs or music wire.... The only consumables beyond that are cut-off wheels and grinder wheels....

Not sayin' you're wrong at all, you echo my thoughts pretty well... Just curious.

When I was in university I mountain biked. Built and fixed my own bike and a few for friends. Was great till I worked at the bike store. Killed it.

Repeated that a few more times with computers and such before figuring it out.

Have been giving some thought to becoming a machinist... But.....

Mok, continue knife making as a hobby. You'll easily be able to make more knives than you need. Sell the excess, a couple a month if you do this as regularly as you have this last month or 2.... But never forge to just sell.

J :)
 
I was doing poured and modified black-iron sculpture in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Some on commission, some on spec. The iron was trucked in from Birmingham, the green sand could be picked up locally, and the University let me use their facilities while I was attending classes. I had to pay for fuel and consumable supplies. I didn't have a big enough "name" to demand enough for my work to actually turn a profit, and my "name" wouldn't improve while I was a student. Tool costs for setting up my own studio would put me too far into the red, especially when fuel and raw material costs were figured in.

Way too chancy.

So I went to ceramics.
 
Ah, casting.... Much higher energy expenses!

Always wanted to try bronze casting, but like you say.... Cost prohibitive...

I did cast a silver .22 bullet once.... But misplaced it before I had a chance to blow up me gun....

J
 
I'm getting a little bit of bronze and aluminum casting done by sending my molds across the river to Reynosa, Mexico. There are some recycling smelters that can do a decent pour far cheaper than I can. I piggy-back my little jobs on those of a professional monument sculptor that has a studio right across the street from where I work. He trucks my stuff back and forth across the border along with his.

He helps with trucking and contracting the pours for my castings, I help him with his research and marketing.

I still just do it for fun. I've learned my lesson.
 
Sounds like a good idea to offer the knives you make to clients, but they have to be real knives that can be used or no one will ever respect your work or you. They don't have to be refined, there's a whole world of "primitive" knife collectors out there, but they do have to be real.

Produce several of the same pattern and make sure they'll work as knives instead of just knife-like-objects. Make sure they're seen as being used. The tourist will gobble them up faster if they purchase them off your belt (or one just like it) anyway. Make a few with "nicer' handle materials than what you'll carry so that they can buy the "dress" version. You can make much more with just a little embellishment than you'd think. A dangling tooth or claw from a sheath jazzes up the customer's interest if they've just seen such a critter during their stay.
 
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Thanks HSO and others.

I know what you meen.
Used to love climbing and climbed 3 times a week at the SA climbing gym and natural rock. Untill i started working as a belayer, got bored so fast. Wont let that happen again.
 
OK, ive sketched out the knife design.

Basically a dropped point utility knife, full length tang with slab/pinned handle, no gaurd, grooves in the top/spine of the blade for your thumb, lanyard hole through the tang that extends past the rear of the handle, handle will either be wood or bone(if i can find) with brass pins, leather thong with copper wire work and a warthog tusk bead.

Going to make two, one for me and one for sale. Ill see what happens :)
 
If you can find 5mm or less copper or brass tubing you can make pins that are "holes". Not that much more difficult to do than solid pins since all you need is an old punch that you've ground to peen the sides of the tubing out and over, it makes for a very exotic look to most non collectors.
 
That size and many smaller size tubing will be easily available at any air conditioning service place.... I'd imagine there's one not so far away from ya, at least on some of your travels....

Be nice to grind the punch into a hollow ring with a central point (like an impact crater) so that it rolls the edges under smoothly...

'd make a great lanyard attachment point...

J
 
J
Get rid of the Royal Oak Charcoal. :) Start using Lump charcoal or cowboy charcoal. I use Kingsford Cowboy charcoal. Regular charcoal leave nasty impurities in you knives.
 
I am, in fact, using Royal Oak Natural Lump charcoal, oak based.... (Blue bag, not red bag).

I can get it at about $15 per 14kg bag, enough to fire the forge for a good 8 hours doing my average work....

Briquettes contain sand and green sawdust to slow the burn. Poorly suited to forging work.

I've given thought to manufacturing my own charcoal, and one day.... It's not terribly difficult, but while it's easily available I'll get it this way...

J
 
I will have to find some. I don't forge but I heat treat using charcoal. Yes very easy making charcoal. My next thing is going to be making BP
 
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