NZ Arms fair

[13blades]

Last weekend the Auckland Arms Fair was on. It happens twice a year and is the only one of its type in the country. In comparison to places over seas it is tiny. Very small. But still interesting. It can still be the only place to find odd and unusual stuff. I sold four knives. I was introduced to the gun shows by some people who worked next door to me. One day this old guy Dave walks in with a 17th century french cavalry sabre, acid engraved blade, ray skin handle, perfect brass guard and scabbard. This guy is an antique dealer and I found out later that he has the biggest collection of privately owned edged weapons in the country. I've seen it and his place is really a museum. Him and his son in law introduced me to the gun shows when I showed them some butterfly knives I had made. It has been good. I always sell something. I sold two knives within 20 minutes of the doors opening to this one guy who had tried to import switchblades but hadn't done it the right way and had them seized by customs. He bought the stiletto and then ten minutes later bought the ebony handled leverletto. It got me thinking. The stiletto he bought had about 3 people interested in it. I'm going to need more. But the thing that struck me was every knife with a black handle was bought. Is it a psychological thing? It seems the black handles are the most appealing. I always wanted a black handled one years ago when I got into it too. Interesting.
The other thing i did at this gun show was check out the other knife makers. They didn't sell alot. In fact often they don't sell anything at all. I realised a while ago that the more successful knife makers in New Zealand do not display at the gunshows for one main reason. They are busy working on knives and simply do not need to. They have more customers than they can cope with. It made me go over all the reasons why I thought there knives weren't selling. I could think of a few. I am not trying to belittle the skill of any of these knifemakers. In fact I have bought some of there knives my self and I know that they are quality. Its simply a case of not having a specific market or style. Some of the knives were well made but physically un-appealing. They were not at all visually pleasing. And the other thing was too much fantasy stuff. We have alot of hunters and fishers in NZ. They want usefull practical stuff that works and that they can rely on.
I'm slowly learning what type of knives I want to make. And i am learning from the both the best and the worst. Its not coming easy thats for sure. Just the question of what steel to use is an issue. So many types with different properties and sources. Tooling, heat treating and design. It is not simple to me. Every blade mag and new maker i meet just gives me more ideas. But very slowly I am starting to narrow it down. And I will get there.
Thanks for reading.

[Vagrant]

Very imformative
You must show some of you efforts, especially the practical ones

[Cryptomecanic]

Glad to hear it's working out so well!
lots of good info at BladeForums.com
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