An estimated FIVE minutes after everyone thought, hey things are looking up again a new scare word popped up all over the place. Like whack-a-mole people wouldn’t shut up about it: RECESSION Ugh. How about some breathing space, right? But if you’re one of those bladesmiths for whom making knives is more than a fun […]
Murat
From Stone to Steel: A History of Knives and Blades
Knives. What would we do without them? No, literally. Imagine hunting an animal and carving meat without a knife. Imagine trying to cut down a tree without a sharp, durable blade. For a more modern-day example, imagine opening your Amazon package or eating a steak without a knife. Knives give us comfort and convenience––more importantly, […]
Can You Post or Advertise Knives on Instagram in 2022?
With nationwide discussion about weapons and safety, many knife-forging citizens wonder if they can post or sell their passion on the ever-popular social media platform, Instagram. ➡️ Short answer:Posts & Content? Yes!Ads? Depends on the knife. Not-so-short answer: When it comes to content, a lot is allowed—for the relevant exceptions see below. But your ability […]
Makers of Kitchen Knives Get their Hosting & Online Shop Accounts Suspended
We’re hearing this again and again: knife makers who happily sell kitchen knives suddenly get their accounts suspended. The reason? They’ve been found to violate the Terms of Service for selling “weapons”. Of course, these makers haven’t suddenly started selling combat knives—they have been selling ordinary kitchen knives. Until one day, boom, their account was […]
The Truth about Instagram Hashtag Advice
There is a lot of hashtag advice out there. We make some observations ourselves—because we think that hashtags are a necessary tool in a knife maker’s marketing tool box to break out of the follower bubble. But. There is a lot of “do what I say” advice out there that isn’t quite 100% open about […]
Banned Instagram Hashtags that Knife Makers Should Avoid
As a knife maker on Instagram, hashtags should definitely be part of your toolbox. One thing to look out for is “banned” hashtags because they can seriously screw with your marketing efforts on IG. So let’s talk about why they are dangerous and how to recognize them. What does it mean that a hashtag is […]
How to Keep Track of your Custom Orders
How do you keep track of your custom knife orders? What systems exist to make this easy? Here, we’ll share a few examples from the community. All knife makers mentioned here have graciously allowed us to share how they stay organized. The point of this blog post is not only how others do it—but also […]
Watermarking Knife Pictures? Why Bother?
Makers about Marketing—these are posts where makers share about their marketing ideas, strategies or approaches. These posts often but not always represent our views—and that’s the point. We want to give room to a wide range of ideas so YOU can choose from what fits your needs. This post was written by @made_by_jon, a Canadian […]
Makers About Marketing: Philadelphia Knife Company
We ask you makers about how your marketing journey, so we can all learn. Many of you are doing an incredible job at figuring out marketing for your niches. So, we’re asking you how you do it. @phillyknifeco was nice enough to jump into the cold water and guinea pig this new Q&A format. Thanks […]
How to Build a Heat Treat Oven Control Box
This guide about how to build the control box for a heat treat oven is part of the Knife Material Matters column by Keith from knifematerial.at. You find Keith’s guide below—I’ll explain the very basics of heat treatment before so everyone gets an idea what this is. 🙂 Read Keith’s previous post An Abrasive Discussion or visit […]