just a quick 2p worth, I don't want to upset anybody or get into slangin matches (life's too short).
a maker who is popular will have a waiting list. how long that list is will depend on how popular he/she is and how long each knife takes to make. if you make piece rate for bulk, then you will make a lot and they will either not be of the best quality or they will not be of the highest finish. For example (not a knife granted) Robin Wood turns bowls fast and makes them in numbers that mean he can keep the cost down for his general work-a-day bowls. They are extremely well made and well finished straight off the blade But when he wants to make something a little more refined, such as a silver inlaid mazer (sp?) that is sanded smooth, then it will take longer and so he has to charge more (he will also not be able to make lots of the lower value bowls during that time so has to offset that loss of earnings).
I can make a knife in half an hour from scratch (do a search on BB for a 30 minute knife), but it's not as good or as well finished as one that I take my time over, even if it is no more elaborate. Also certain things just take time/ good glues take 12-24 hours to set, the heat treating can take 5 hours (assuming you don't anneal, in which case add another day), leather dye takes time to dry, wet forgmed sheaths take time to dry, etc, etc. If a knife has say 15 hours of Actual working time in it (ie cutting, drilling, filing, polishing, forging, etc), it will have three or five times that it preparations, setting times, tempering, etc. How much do you think a skilled craftsman should be paid per hour? I can tell you that none of us are on much more than minimum wage once those times are taken into it!
I also made a scandi ground woodlore cloney thing once (only once and under duress from a friend). It took me longer to make the sheath than it did the rest of the knife. I didn't enjoy making it and though I could make them fast and sell them and not incur a long wait (product runs cut time down), I wouldn't or I would go mad and burn out in a lot less time than my waiting list is!
I've a waiting list and that's not because I am taking my sweet time over things to make me feel/look more popular. It's because things take time to work through and there is more to being a professional knifemaker than just making commissions. I have to spend time going to shows, time making pieces to take to the shows, time for R&D (such as improving heat treating regimes to imrove the quality of my work), time scrapping failures and starting over, time sourcing tools and materials, in my case also time teaching, time advertising, time doing all the admin that comes with self employment, etc. If I ONLY worked on commissions then I could maybe cut my waiting list down to half the time, but I would have no stock for anybody who wants a knife now and not in X months, etc. I remember Mik Wardell telling me that he once had such a good commission with a long waitng list as a result that he stopped doing shows and making knives on spec, it nearly killed him and his business. He was burning out and not getting the future work by being caught up in the moment.
