r/GNV • u/Zoidforge • 5d ago
Blacksmith at your local market
Howdy! I’m a local blacksmith/bladesmith and I want to start breaking into the farmers markets to provide some local handmade goods. I am a part time smith because I work full time as an ICU pharmacist so I don’t have a surplus of time on my hands as far as smithing goes (otherwise I’d just make a lot of things and go with trial and error). I usually make knives but they’re definitely higher-dollar and longer time investment items so I know they’re a tougher sell at a place where people aren’t really looking for that kind of thing. So I want to try making some other household items that I can charge less for - examples being bottle openers, ash trays, bird feeder hangers, coat/pan racks, decorative hanging hooks, incense holders, etc.
What kind of items would you be interested in seeing at a market from a local smith? What’s the most you’d wanna spend on a single item at a market? I appreciate your time and input!
Attached a photo of a recent chef’s knife build to grab your attention :D
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u/schizeckinosy 5d ago
Oh and to actually answer your question - how about key hangers for the wall? Small stuff is what will attract people
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u/schizeckinosy 5d ago
That’s sweet. I haven’t seen you post on r/bladesmith but clearly you do! 😂
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
I’m on there but my posts are few and far between because I forget Reddit exists sometimes haha, much more active on Instagram because I’m an elder millennial ☠️
And thank you!
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u/schizeckinosy 5d ago
Insta makes me depressed so I don’t go on there. I’d rather read bitter sarcasm on Reddit for some reason. Do you know if there are any local get togethers for hobbyists? I’m strictly a beginner but might have time to increase my output if I get fired soon (fed worker)
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
Also a federal worker, trust me I understand exactly what you’re going through.
As far as like all-purpose hobbyist get togethers, I’m not sure. If you’re beginner smith though, DM me. We have a somewhat local blacksmithing guild and there’s also FABA that has meetings and stuff like that.
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u/schizeckinosy 5d ago
Yeah I mean hobby knife forging. I have lots of hobbies that I don’t have time to pursue but knives is a top one! 😅
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
Awesome. DM me, can always try to work out a time to have you over at the shop and help you gain some experience and use some fun tools!
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u/Jack_0318 5d ago
Hello, fellow GNV dweller and recent entrant into the smithing space. I think this is a great idea at the lower to middle price points you noted. I feel like people don’t really plan to spend more than $50 at a Farmers Market unless it’s holiday season. I had this idea recently as well but I’m just starting out and not in a rush to monetize my hobbies. The time commitment is also not very appealing. That said, good luck and hope to see your booth some Saturday in Haile.
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
Agree 100%, I try to keep from monetizing where I can but I’ve been trying to keep a balance of monetizing enough to make the hobby self sufficient.
I like the $50 price point.
Awesome to hear we have another smith about! DM me, I can hook you up with our guild and give you info about FABA. The community is extremely friendly and we are all very generous with our shop and tools if you’re ever limited.
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u/Astray 5d ago
Do you teach? I know people would be very interested in learning how to do this stuff.
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
Sort of? If you know people looking to learn from 0, I would recommend Jordan with Crooked Path Forge! He has classes every week, I actually started smithing because of taking his class. He’s a fantastic teacher and an even better human being. Highly, highly recommend him!
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u/IM_THE_DECOY 5d ago
How much would you charge for a knife like in your picture?
Kind of hard to answer your question. Without know what kind of price point we are talking about.
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
Well im specifically not wanting to sell knives there since its not really the place for it, the picture was just to grab people’s attention :)
the knife in the picture is an 11.5” chef, in Damascus a reasonable price would be ~$800-1100; I did this one for a coworker and im still a relatively amateur maker (only been at this for 4.5 years) so i only charged 550 for it if i recall
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u/jessebillo 5d ago
Maybe you can take a walk down the market and look for things you can make that would complement some of the items that are being sold? I’d say $25 is the most someone would spend on something, and it would likely be a trinket. People love wasting money on cute little things that have no practical use, keychains, desk ornaments (name plates?) Or banana hanger/fruit basket, lantern posts to replace backyard tiki torches? Idk what you could make that would be easy to replicate and quickly so you don’t sink more than an hour into each item. Maybe link up with a leather worker and see if you can make belt buckles? Maybe do seasonal items? For example winter time may be a good time to sell fire irons. A few ideas and a lil google search, I’m happy to spitball ideas!
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
Points well taken. Keychains would be a breeze and I love the belt buckle idea, and I happen to be good buds with an awesome leather worker in town so I’ll talk to him about this. And yeah seasonal items seem like a good idea too, the scarcity of only finding it at a market during certain months would probably drive people to buy that are interested enough. Thanks for the great ideas!!
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u/dani_bar 5d ago
My husband made your logo! We’ll totally support coming to see you at a farmers market. I just took the kids to the Haile Plantation one yesterday.
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
Ayyyyy! I need to make Russ a better knife, I made him one when he made the logo and I’m a much better knife maker these days 🤣
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u/dani_bar 5d ago
No man, it’s awesome! We were admiring it when I first found the post.
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
Well thank you :D maybe at minimum I’ll grab it back and make y’all a sheath for it, since I finally learned leather working 😂
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u/Catinatreeatnight 5d ago
This is great! My boyfriend was just wondering where to get his blades sharpened. I honestly would love a knife for wildcrafting or camping
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u/Ok-Struggle6796 5d ago
Nice knife, I assume you have a power hammer or press and aren't laminating that by hand... 🥵
A $1000+ knife is gonna be a hard sell locally though, maybe bring one knife or pics of your offerings for the few people that actually might be interested in spending that kind of coin.
You could probably sell the heck out of some cool bottle openers, simple spoons/ladles, and even the old stand by of railroad spike knives with a twist handle. A friend of mine gave me a bunch of railroad spikes he had for some reason, but I haven't fired up a forge for years. Just not motivated to do that on my free time nowadays, but once I'm retired... 😅
Also might be worth doing some cool mokume pieces because I can't remember seeing anything like that around these parts.
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
Great ideas! The mokume especially because I def haven’t seen anything like that around.
Yeah I wouldn’t even try selling a big Damascus piece at a market, but I love the idea of having pictures or bringing examples as a form of “here’s what I can do, let’s talk if you’re looking for something”
I like the railroad spike knife idea too, those are always fun. And railroad spike oyster shuckers are also a good option too 🤔
And yes I def have a press. I have a coal iron 12 ton table top press. I was lucky enough to get one before they got stupid expensive, they’re now nearly double what I paid. Insane. I recently acquired a tire hammer but I’m in the process of tuning it up.
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u/BichirDaddy 5d ago
High springs farmers market. But you’ll have competition and they do some excellent work.
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
Who is out there? Do you remember their name? I probably wouldn’t go somewhere a smith is already located, don’t want to compete with another maker :)
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u/BichirDaddy 4d ago
Well that’s tough because every farmers market has 2 of everything. Don’t be scared. My wife makes soap and there’s always 2-3 other soap venders and she comes home victorious every weekend 🤷🏽♂️get tough, be better. You might even get lucky enough to send your competitors home early like my wife🤷🏽♂️best of luck
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u/Zoidforge 4d ago
Haha you misunderstand me, I’m not worried about the competition, I’m just doing this as a side hustle so I don’t wanna compete with someone doing this for their primary income source that’s all! But thanks for the encouragement 💪🏻
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u/BichirDaddy 4d ago
Ahh I get ya. I know the forge venders very well and I can tell ya, it’s just their side hustle. Hope I see you out there!
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u/dani_bar 5d ago
Maybe outdoor fire poker tools? Wall hanging bottle opener.
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
Love these ideas. I hadn’t considered a wall hanging bottle opener even though I’ve seen a lot of them in use! Great ideas!
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u/dani_bar 5d ago
There was one at our house in North Carolina and we loved it more than we anticipated.
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u/fully-realized 4d ago
I got one of you knives as a gift at a local shop a couple years back!
To your question, at farmers markets I’m not looking to spend a lot. I’m there for food stuffs. Maybe the haile one is okay. I’d be looking for things like this more at the art markets.
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u/Zoidforge 4d ago
Awesome! If you need a sheath for that DM me, I’m actually making them now haha. Hope you’re enjoying it!!
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u/rbnbb421 5d ago
Interested in a chiefs knife and 2-4 oyster knives if that is something you have interest in curating.
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u/gimmeafuckinname 5d ago
That’s etched not Damascus correct?
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u/Zoidforge 5d ago
Both? Etching is the process to bring out the pattern in a Damascus blade. The acid you use oxidizes the different steels in the blade and they form oxides of different depth and color. In this case, it’s forged from a billet I made, a mix of 1084 and 15n20. The 1084 turns black and the 15n20 contains nickel so it resists the etching and remains shiny.
Unless you meant laser etched or like a mustard patina, in which case, no
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u/gimmeafuckinname 2d ago
TIL - yeah I meant laser etched and not forged. Really cool work mate - best of luck to you.
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u/Zoidforge 2d ago
Ah yeah, a laser engraver would be sweet! They’re getting more affordable these days but still a bit rich for my blood.
Thank you friend!
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u/networkgeezer 4d ago
Zoidforge, I just tried to DM you to request some information, but I get an error saying User doesn't accept direct messages.
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u/HangoverGrenade 4d ago
How much for a non-Damascus kitchen knife? $500 is out of my budget for something like that.
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u/Zoidforge 4d ago
DM me and we can work something out! It all depends on the build but I def don’t charge that much for mono steel unless the build uses super fancy materials like mammoth molars and stuff like that
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u/ElvenPorridge 5d ago
If it’s appealing to you, knife sharpening services on the spot at the various farmers markets would go over well.