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2014 iKC knife...TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE

The time has come to start the discussion on the 2014 iKC knife.

I would again like to shoot for August/Sept delivery date. Something to remember while we talk about this is that a short run of only 50 or so knives means we need to tie in with a maker that is already running a knife and tweak that one to make it our own. The reason for this is most SFO's require a minimum order of 250 or more. Also I would like to keep it less than $125.00 delivered to you. I have some eyes checking out whats available at a factory or two but always love to hear your ideas. Remember, this is YOUR knife

Here is a pic of the official annual knives we have done so far

Tags: 2014, annual, club, iKC, knife

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Luke Grimm on May 17, 2014 at 9:34

Thanks Jon, I'll look for some Frog Lube and give it a try. So far I have been working it open and closed, its so sharp I have to wrap the blade though :-)

Your right about the scales they are Winterbottom and I agree it is a fine look and feel. Now if we can get Queen to add a Wharncliffe and maybe a small spear to a similar 3-1/2 to 3-7/8 folder I would jump at that for the club knife...

Luke

Jon Salmon said:

Hi Luke - Beautiful knife. Is that a Winterbottom jig on the bone handles? I love it !! I wish Queen would do more of that and less "worm groove" jiggng. You might try "Frog Lube" (just google it) to "loosen" the action of the blades. It is an amazing protectant and lubricant. I use it on both knives and firearm components. You heat the metal with a hair dryer, apply the product, allow it to dry, and wipe it off. In the case of knife joints, instead of wiping it off, you just work the blades several times Bonds at the molecular level, and makes steel slicker than teflon. Cheers - Jon Salmon

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Permalink Reply by Jon Salmon on May 17, 2014 at 11:14

I agree about the club knife, IF we can get Queen to use ATS-34 blades. Otherwise, I'm rooting for a Canal Street Barlow or Canittler. Jon

Luke Grimm said:

Thanks Jon, I'll look for some Frog Lube and give it a try. So far I have been working it open and closed, its so sharp I have to wrap the blade though :-)

Your right about the scales they are Winterbottom and I agree it is a fine look and feel. Now if we can get Queen to add a Wharncliffe and maybe a small spear to a similar 3-1/2 to 3-7/8 folder I would jump at that for the club knife...

Luke

Jon Salmon said:

Hi Luke - Beautiful knife. Is that a Winterbottom jig on the bone handles? I love it !! I wish Queen would do more of that and less "worm groove" jiggng. You might try "Frog Lube" (just google it) to "loosen" the action of the blades. It is an amazing protectant and lubricant. I use it on both knives and firearm components. You heat the metal with a hair dryer, apply the product, allow it to dry, and wipe it off. In the case of knife joints, instead of wiping it off, you just work the blades several times Bonds at the molecular level, and makes steel slicker than teflon. Cheers - Jon Salmon

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on May 17, 2014 at 14:27

The 154CM steel is another fine steel that is respected by most knife makers and users. I am very well impressed by it.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on May 17, 2014 at 15:54

LOL RON!!

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Permalink Reply by Max McGruder on May 17, 2014 at 17:34

From what I understand is ATS34 is Japanese and 154 CM is American and pretty much the same almost identical steels.

154CM comes in sheets so Knife blades are much easier making in sheet stock.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on May 17, 2014 at 17:49

I own knives with both steels and they are hard to beat, when it comes to stainless.

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Permalink Reply by Max McGruder on May 17, 2014 at 18:38

I carry a Lannys Clip for an edc and like it alot and it's 154cmand I do believe I have a knife with ATS34 but can;t remember which it is off hand that I used to use for a edc.

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Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on May 17, 2014 at 20:05

Hey, I'm with Ron on this.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on May 17, 2014 at 20:26

I heard a while back that Japan was going to stop making ATS134 and that the world is just going through the left over stock of steel. I am not sure if that is true but if it is, 154CM is just fine. The people that want this kind of stainless steel, 154CM is every bit as good as ATS134. It may very well be the same steel, I don't know. I do know they are both fine stainless steel for knife blades and that's coming from a Carbon Steel lover.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on May 18, 2014 at 6:08

Excellent Ivars, then all we have to do is figure out how to get that company to tool up to make 50 special run knives. I truly wish having an SFO made were that easy. Then I could and would have produced anything we wanted.

When you go out to a companies page and you see a knife for less than 100.00, they have prices that are based on profit per piece and they had to make many to get there. The easiest way for me to show you is GEC.

151113 model for 2013

Ebony Wood 58 pcs. no #
Nifebrite Acrylic 58 pcs. no #
Rust Red Jig Bone 63 pcs. no #
Smooth Ivory Bone 57 pcs. no #
Antique Yellow Jig Bone 24 pcs. no #
Cocobolo Wood 14 pcs. no #

Look at the numbers! Short runs each and every one! But they made 274 and them in Tiduite alone, That is why tying in with something already in their Production schedule works.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on May 18, 2014 at 6:14

With all of the above being said, the reason I include you all in this discussion every year is as stated, because you SHOULD care what knife we choose, it will be yours after all.

What you have done is give me and the manufactures we have asked to follow this some broad ideas that have been narrowed down some. They know what they have in their production schedule or what they can put together to meet our needs. They are bringing to Blade with them ideas and costs, based on your discussion. From there, a 2014 knife is chosen

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Permalink Reply by James Cole on May 18, 2014 at 12:05

Please allow me to assist Jan with clarification of this problem.

What she is speaking to is known in both manufacturing and economics as “economy of scale.” A simplified explanation is; the more units we can produce with the resources at hand the greater the profit. Again to keep it simple, the basic equation for a manufacturing company is: fixed costs + (variable cost per unit * number of units produced) / number of units produced = cost per unit.

So if we have $250,000 in fixed costs, $18.50 in variable costs and we produce 1 unit (knife) the cost is $250,018.50 for that unit. Now if we produce 1000 units with the same fixed and variable costs we come up with $268.50 per unit, at 10,000 units $43.50.

If we have a price point and a percentage of profit in mind we can work backwards to find the number of units we must produce in order to meet our goals. That said, if we wish to sell our knife for $100 and have a profit of 15% then using the previous numbers we find we will need to produce 3652 knives. I rounded up one since it's hard to sell a partially assembled knife.

This is, of course, capped by the maximum number of units that the factory is capable of producing.