Just hit 500 custom kitchen knives made in my shop

I was cleaning up my order book last night and did the count. It took me eight years to get there, starting with simple paring knives in my garage. The big jump came after I switched to 80CrV2 steel for most of my blades about three years ago. It holds an edge so well for kitchen work. That number, 500, really hit me. It's not just a tally. It's 500 families cooking with something I made by hand. It makes all the long hours at the forge feel worth it. Has anyone else hit a personal milestone that made you stop and think about the craft in a new way?

3 comments

3 Comments

lee_reed5d ago

I used to think mass production was fine, but your 500 handmade knives changed my mind.

theagibson4d ago

Yeah, that "flipped a switch" part is so real.

hugo_robinson255d ago

Yo, that's a huge number, congrats! It reminds me of my buddy who makes leather belts. He hit 1000 a while back and had a similar moment. He got a random email from a guy who said he'd worn one of his first belts every single day for a decade, and it just got better with age. My friend said it totally flipped a switch for him. It stopped being about making stuff and started being about making stuff that lasts for people's actual lives. Your 500 knives thing hits that same feeling.