[TheForge] need help on a project

[peter fels]

On Aug 4, 2011, at 2:58 PM, Jerry Frost wrote:

> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "peter fels" <artgawk at thegrid.net>
> To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 2:05 AM
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] need help on a project
> 
> 
>>> 
>>> Uh. . . WHERE are you keeping those bottle openers and corkscrews?!?
>> 
>> Oddly, most all of them have been sold to other metalworkers at the 
>> conferences and i'm out of them.
>> This Pg and the next few show some older ones.
>>> http://www.peterfels.com/corkscrw.htm
>> 
>>> I agree though, there is virtually no market for blades here unless you 
>>> can
>>> sell at quantity factory discount rates. Unless you're willing to work 
>>> for a
>>> few bucks an hour (if you're fast) you might as well flip burgers.
>> 
>> We both know some folks who do quite well as bladesmiths..but it's a 
>> crowded and competitive arena.
> 
> I've liked your beverage openers since first view. Heck, most of your 
> hardware strikes me in the fantasy zone.

The gimmick of adding a practical application to a bit of art has kept food on my table for many years.
It's not a compromise i'm delighted with, but it has allowed me some freedom without much of  the painful BS of the art market.
> 
> Yeah we do know some very successful bladesmiths, just none living this far 
> north west, not that I know anyway. I talked to a friend a couple days ago 
> who's been having trouble keeping a roof and food for himself but he still 
> insists on making blades with a hammer, scrapers and sandpaper in a market 
> where most folk don't know hand forged from Ginsu. There are a lot of knife 
> makers here abouts, just not many bladesmiths.

I would think that the upscale fisher-hunter, summer  tourists would be an ideal market.
Even the the guys stuck with their wives on the big cruse ships who are probably desperate for something real and personal, by the time they get that far, ought to be a good market.
When i worked on the fishing boats and fishmarkets, i sure would have paid considerably more than the commercial offerings cost for a superior fillet knife. Good ones were viewed as a status symbol.
> 
> Jer 
> 
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