All About Pocket Knives

I'm still trying to learn much more about knives and I am full of trivial questions so I know the details of "why." For example....

1. What goes into the decision making of what type of steel to use for a knife? If a company wants to make a Linerlock, what makes them decide to use 7Cr17MoV, 8Cr13MoV, 154CM, etc. Is it what the knife would be used for? Is it how the steel will gel with the body of the knife? And, overall, just what makes a knife manufacturer pick the material used for a blade?

2. Same question as above for handle material. Does it have anything to do with the steel used in the blade? Does the handle have to be able to withstand the steel used for the blade's use? The stronger the blade, the tougher the handle? Or am I way overanalyzing with this question?

3. What makes one linerlock $25 and another is $500? Is it handle material? The steel is rare?
I know some steels for blades have been done from old battleships and rare things like that, but I am talking straight steel from no special source.

Pretty much lots of business economics. What can we sell? What is the market demand for it? How much can we sell it for? What steel do we have the capability to make blades from? What steel and handle materials can we get, and for what price? What is the minimum amount we can buy?

Not every knife maker has the right skills and process capabilities to use some materials. Certain steels for example cannot be forged in an open furnace. Some require cryogenic tempering. Some have to be machined instead of forged. Do we have capability to machine steel of that toughness? How much tooling will be needed and can we afford it? Where can we get it? Can you outsource that part of the process? What material you ‘“want” is just one factor. Whether you can work with those and other limitations may dictate what steel you can use.

Differences in material cost per knife, one knife versus another, might seem small. But if you are making hundreds or thousands of knives from that material, the cost difference per knife is multiplied and can be substantial. Can you afford to buy the minimum amount required by the supplier? Or is there someplace where you can buy a smaller amount (scrap or surplus from somewhere).

If you want to use “x” steel but the steel supplier will only sell a minimum of 1 ton, or x billets of it, can you make and sell the number of knives that minimum amount of material will make? How long will that take, and can you afford the interest and carrying cost for that long? And so on.

Lots of marketing and economics decisions, having a lot more to do with it than just whether a particular material is best for the knife you want to make.

As for your last question, cost has some bearing on pricing, however it is far from the only factor. Communists excepted, no reasonable business plans to sell product for less than the cost to produce it. However the price should be whatever the market will bear. If you can sell the product for $500, why sell it for less? How many can you sell at $500 versus how many at $50, and how much profit do you make at each selling point? What is the competition? Do the research and homework and price it accordingly.

Ken

Ken,

I apologize for not responding sooner with a thank you. I appreciate your response and detail to my questions!