Ok normally would not wade into this but feel the speculation should be put to bed. Aside of whether people like the product or not as I am fully aware you will never keep everyone happy although we do try! However, I can honestly tell you that these numbers are remarkably close to the mark.
Consumable costs are the thing missing here, we use the best abrasive belts, foils, and polishing compounds available to name but a few consumables. For example, our custom-made heat treat foil alone is £6 a packet (per knife) used only once. Some of the belts are £20 each and will do 8-10 knives then go in the bin. Menzerna polishing compound is £30 a bar and will do 10-14 knives dependant on steel type, and that is just one polishing stage of 3. We mirror polish a lot of our knives and all the initial work is done by hand, 2 hours of the total build time, a further 45 mins on a polishing wheel. Even shipping a knife through a secure courier is £8 not to mention the £10 worth of custom packaging and the £15 a square foot leather we use to sheath it, these are just some of the costs to consider.
There are multiple videos of us working in the shop and if you still do not believe it you are more than welcome to visit, and I will give you a detailed tour. As a limited company our accounts are a matter of public record so also feel free to look us up on companies’ house.
We started Emberleaf because it is what we wanted to do with our lives, we will never be rich men but we endeavour to be happy ones doing a profession that started as a hobby making the best possible tools we are able, Money has never been a big part of our lives, we wouldn’t have spent 10 years in the Army if it were wealth we were after! More often than not we spend money on more tools to make new and better products or mainly because it looks interesting or fun!
For the record, until Feb this year we used no computer aided tools, we invested in a laser engraver (I am of the opinion that it’s the best solution for marking steel to avoid stresses in the metals and offers a better finish) anyway this is the only piece of kit that has any computer functions and it only engraves the logos. Someone mentioned that we use a pantograph to cut out handles... well a pantograph is used for engraving or for scaling images, we bought it to make folding knives as they require a high degree of accuracy to mark out the part.... its 50 years old and we are yet to even plug it in.
Yes we do supply to the trade to a number of well known gun brands as well as a few private dealers, Last year we made 623 knives, 90 of which were the Ray Mear Bushcraft knife, a further 163 were to the trade, these trade accounts enable us to make in much larger batches and they are mostly all the same models/materials but also allow us to work in longer time frames.
We are not some evil faceless corporation out to squeeze pennies from unwary buyers. No smoke and mirrors if you want to know something about Emberleaf Workshops then please just ask, or arrange a day and pop down for a brew.
Best Regards to you all.
Dean - Bladesmith Emberleaf Workshops
- it sound like a cracking blade - send us a pic
One is a hand made knife by a famous Finnish knife maker. I have use it twice and then put it back in its wooden box. I have had plenty of good knives and the only problem is loosing them.
