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ELB wrote:Also, it is interesting how much "pointier" the kukri looks in the second photo compared to the first. That's a nice knife.

It is indeed very nice. I badly want one, but I'm going to pay him for it and not take advantage. A fair amount of work went into those scales.

clarionite wrote:I'd also be interested. I've got one similar to the last pictures you posted. Maybe not quite as long. I use it for a fish/skinning knife. It does a pretty good job, but I didn't pay much for it and I have to sharpen it once in the middle of skinning a deer. I guess that's not bad. But I'd like one with better steel that could finish the job without having to be sharpened in the middle.

PM headed your way too.

His work has come a long way from the last pics you posted. Great job and very well done.

Nice work! I'd like to know more about where the components come from and how they are assembled.

Oldgringo wrote:Nice work! I'd like to know more about where the components come from and how they are assembled.

The assembly information I can share. He makes the scales (grip panels) from micarta which he manufactures in his garage. He uses various materials to make the micarta, from layers of different colored papers, to layers of different kinds of fabrics (I'm working on a source for carbon fibre fabric for him...), in a resin matrix squished together in a jig that he designed and made. When the micarta has set up, he shapes the scales to fit the blades, and uses various hardware pieces (brass dowels, etc.) which he purchases from the blade suppliers to bond the scales to the blades.

You're going to have to do the vendor research yourself on the blades. He has three suppliers so far, and I know who they are, but I'm not going to give the farm away.

Even though he marks up his blade cost a bit, his markup is very reasonable. Tonight, he and I talked about my helping him to buy a bulk purchase of blades to reduce his unit cost, and that is a sizable investment for a young man with a baby on the way. Given the response he has had so far, not just here, but from the walk-in customers at the gunstore where he works, I'm going to try and make that happen for him. He can always reimburse me later once he has sold enough knives to do that and continue to grow the business.

But each individual knife represents a LOT of time in labor and creativity in designing the scales, from colors to be used and the materials to be used, to actually making the micarta, and then shaping the scales), and that is from where the largest part of the price is arrived at. And the micarta manufacture alone can run into consistency problems which are unavoidable as long as he has to work out of his garage, because the weather affects how the materials set up, and its usability when set up.....and he doesn't make one "scale set's" worth at a time. If he can grow this business to the point where he can have a manufacturing facility with control over the temperature and humidity, he'll be able to be more consistent. It's taken him months of trial and error work to get good at it. Trust me, if you want to stay married, you won't want to try to make this stuff inside your house.

Thanks for the info, TAM. A buddy and I made a small belt knife and holster. It has a walnut handle and is pretty neat but no where close to your boy's work.

TAM,

Your son's knives are *beautiful*! Very nice work and creativity. Interesting about the micarta, I must plead ignorance as I had no idea what it was...after looking it up I now know that I've seen it before but never knew what it was. Very impressive how he creates (useful) art out of it!

He is going to be doing business for now under the name "Grimstone Knives". I've already registered grimstoneknives and grimstoneblades .com and .net, and started building him a website at grimstoneknives.com. I'm aliasing the other domains to this one. There will be three phases. Phase one will be completing the site design. Phase two will be setting up a catalog of his work with a simple contact form. Step three will be the creation of a shopping cart.

Phase two will enable prospective customers to contact him about building a custom piece. Phase three will not happen until he has standardized some models and options and can actually build an inventory of those models so that they can ship on demand. Inasmuch as he works full time in a gunstore and is also taking care of a pregnant wife, I don't anticipate Phase three going full boogie until after his child is born in early June. . . . . but we'll see. A lot depends on him.

TAM, has he filed a business name .... county and state?

Just a suggestion in case y'all hadn't considered it.

JD

SewTexas wrote:beautiful

and

TAM he really needs to be signing his work.

Yes he should design a logo and get a simple stamp or etcher. Nice work.

mr surveyor wrote:TAM, has he filed a business name .... county and state?

Just a suggestion in case y'all hadn't considered it.

JD

Tentatively, the name is Grimstone Knives. We've already got the domain name registered and a preliminary website up. Next step is I'll get him registered as a Sole Proprietor.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

mr surveyor wrote:TAM, has he filed a business name .... county and state?

Just a suggestion in case y'all hadn't considered it.

JD

Tentatively, the name is Grimstone Knives. We've already got the domain name registered and a preliminary website up. Next step is I'll get him registered as a Sole Proprietor.

good thinking. File as a S/P and also get a tax I.D. .... and file the dba in county clerk's office.

I'm just going from memory of the basics from my own experiences .... there's probably a lot more red tape than I remember.