Spyderco fun.

[Gemsetterchris]

Messing around this morning with a cheapo spyderco bug..A first try at setting in steel for me
Took a while to get this far without going over the top with details, so no idea if & when it gets completed.
A good learning experience none the less.

Stones are berrylium sapphire & it was supposed to be abit of an Autumn theme.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Always interesting when others than me having fun,

arnaud

 

[Willem Parel]

I like it very much Chris, must be hard cutting in steel that deep and setting the beads.
But you dis a great job, also on the subject Autumn.

 

[Gemsetterchris]

This cut quite well, probably newb friendly.
Arnaud, It's absolutely necessary to have abit of fun & try new stuff to stay sane..even if it doesn't pay.
Back to the grindstone on monday.

 

[Southern Custom]

Well done. As usual, the cleanest setting out there!
Layne

 

[Gemsetterchris]

Thanks you kind people
It's only a $10 knife, and only an experimental job to briefly "test the water".

I have 2 more of these, I was considering doing a bit more fancy work on..but! Would I be wasting my time?? Do I need a $1000 canvas to start or will a $10 blinged up one sell?
Personally I can't see why not, but then again I understand It's easier "justify" with more expensive material..

What's your opinion..?

 

[mrthe]

Thanks you kind people
It's only a $10 knife, and only an experimental job to briefly "test the water".

I have 2 more of these, I was considering doing a bit more fancy work on..but! Would I be wasting my time?? Do I need a $1000 canvas to start or will a $10 blinged up one sell?
Personally I can't see why not, but then again I understand It's easier "justify" with more expensive material..

What's your opinion..?

if you start engraving on cheap knife will be good to practice and save money, and have fun.....but if you are thinking in sell they , from my point of view not have a lot of sense spent a lot of hours on a piece that collectors will not buy at a good price, and also from the more down you start more harder will be go up and that collectors appreciate and seek your job after,
but well depends on what kind of market you're looking to move.

 

[Dale Hatfield]

Mrthe
I would have to disagree. The knife is a canvas for the artwork . The embellishment should stand on its own. If that weren't the case then a Nickel shouldn't bring what it does at auction or special events The Hobo Nickel Society has created . Being how its only worth 5cents.
Their are only so many people in this world that will spend thousands on a custom hand made engraved knife. However their are millions of people that would be happy to have a fair priced engraved knife.
I have to laugh out loud. We have an artist square in a local town. Even in the mixed artist galleries the artist have priced themselves out of a job. They call em starving artists for a reason. The gallerys have changed hands and most are closed now.They cant pay the rent because they cant sell their wears. Your product line needs to span a full price range.
I have worked as a performance artist. Ive spent the last 7 years as a chainsaw carver, I have worked for the rich and poor. I have work from coast to coast. I made Thousand dollar carvings that I had to moved from show to show. But the hundred dollar carving would always be sold out by the end of the week. Don't get me wrong the high dollar stuff would sell . But you had to wait on them to sell.
Bills don't wait

 

[mrthe]

Well Dale you dusagree but you had say practically the same than me, depend witch type of market do you are looking to move, if you want fast and easy money start from cheap......all the way,you
can't compare an hobo nickel carving with a knife engraving, in hobo nickels the carving change totally the status of the coin, before is a simple coin produced in millions and millions of pieces, after the carving become a unique piece of Art ( but all the way os not the same carve on s dateless and bad coin than on a keydate and uncirculated one for example), a knife can be Not only a canvas for engraving, but a piece of Art where the engraving enhances its beauty.

 

[Dale Hatfield]

Mrthe
The engraving on the knife doesn't increase the quality of how the knife was made. It increases the desire to have , hold ,buy the knife.
The engraving on the coin is the same. Its still a Nickel quarter or whatever. But now It has increased value because of what you sculpted in the surface.
So a no date coin is no different than the cheap knife if the engraving is done well It has added value to the knife or coin.
My guess is Chris has less than 3 hours in the knife work. So on a guess on pricing ,the knife should cost about 120.00 That's 30 hours for for 10 knives for a nice 1200 work week. With 10 hours left over to work on marketing or other projects.

 

[Gemsetterchris]

I get both of your points, I guess there has to be a balance related to time & material.
Seems to me the "middle" market is having a hard time these days (at least with jewellery)..It's either low or high end that seems to remain fairly stable.
Both of these have pros & cons.
I think maybe an hour or two worth of work maybe the limit for these with some relatively inexpensive stones.

 

[mrthe]

This is the question! you are a jeweller like me i think, is for you convenient spent 30 hours of your work week in produce 10 low cost knifes? or is better spent only ten in a high quality one and maybe gain the same money or more?
All is a question of what you want do and wich perspective you want do to your work.
Personally i preferre carve , for example an high quality nickel in a day and sell it for $1000 than carve cheap 10 cheap ones in a week ans sell it for less or the same.
But think in it , collectors want see that what are buyng will be more valuable in the future, if today you sell for 10 tomorrow will be hard sell for 100 or 1000 in the future.
The great problem heare in Spain for example is that knifemakers or jewellers think that an engraving on his work is like add a patina, and din't pay too much for it, and not a good engraving on a good piece will give a double or triple value at the product in my opinion.
Heare hand engravers sometimes work for less than a machine or a panthograph work, and this is not good, if you aren't the first that give a goid value for your work, nobody will do it for you.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Paolo, you make a good point here and I'm aware of that too when engraving those Chinese knives.
The problem in Belgium however is that you are not allowed by law to have even a small pocketknife. And knives that can block the blade are illegal and owning one, even at home is against the law.
That is why I probably could buy those knives that cheap, as the shops had to get rid of them before the new weapon law was voted by the government.

If there was a market here in Belgium for High End hand made knives, I would make some myself and decorate them with stone setting, carving and engravings. But as far as I know, in Belgium there ain't interests for that.

Now Spain where you live, people have a hard time making some money, so it doesn't wonder me that engravers work for the price of a pantograph machine.

The other ting if I would want to sell to collectors, you have to be a bit famous to get a good price for your work, and being over 60 years old, there ain't enough time for me to reach that level.

Anyway, perhaps it is a great subject to start another tread on the subject.

I will try to decorate some stainless steel watches, they aren't forbidden by law yet. But I better hurry before the government do.

arnaud

 

[mrthe]

Yes Arnaud ,Laws are a problem in spain too for things like knifes or firearms,all the way i was only answering to the Gemsetterchris question about our opinions,and yes we have to take in consideration a lot of factors that can be a problem to value our works, was only my opinion not "the best to do" , but maybe yes will be very interesting start a discussion in another thread about that.

 

[Dale Hatfield]

Spyderco
Has a following and it is huge. Its more than a cheap Chinese import. Yet they make low end and high end knives. All of which seam to be of great quality .I still have my first one from 23 years ago. In the world of Western horses and rodeo these guys and gals all carry a knife and most a spyderco. They are used as awards in events some engraved and some covered in silver. The people that win or even buy them are happy to carry them . .

 

[Eric Olson]

I sold an engraved spyderco not long ago for $500 - and it was their less expensive KIWI that retails "plain" for about $40.

 

[Gemsetterchris]

I sold an engraved spyderco not long ago for $500 - and it was their less expensive KIWI that retails "plain" for about $40.

Eric, you are a star
I guess all things are possible, might be an idea to ask the spyderco fanclub what they think on the matter.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

I was thinking why the canvas you engrave does matter, as it doesn't matter for an oil painting, aquarelle or pencil drawing from a famous artist dead a long time.
Perhaps when Phil Coggan or Marcus Hunt engrave on a 5 dollar knife, it becomes worth 200 times more.
Anyway, I'm working on getting famous.

arnaud

 

[Gemsetterchris]

I'm not convinced that it makes any difference, It's the work you do on it that counts.
So long as the cheaper material is good quality..bit like your titanium, it just makes things more affordable for more people even if the actual work costs the same as in platinum.
Engraving costs nothing but time..gemstones have a value plus time.