Making what you need.

[Blogman]

I'll say it. Greed.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I don’t sell stuff at fairs, but if one does it costs a bunch to be there. Fees to have a space, travel, motel, then on top of it the materials and time to make the items. I too like to look to get ideas and make stuff myself. Not all of us have the time or skill to do that. Works out for all.

 

[longcruise]

I get a lot of enjoyment from making my own stuff. None of it is very special and I'm no judge of PC.

Some of the stuff: shooting bags (lots of them), loading blocks, knives, powder measures, cappers, ramrods, range rods, sights, belts, and a few guns.

 

[Blogman]

Sorry, lost my glasses for a moment. I do have to retract my statement for the most part. While many items are made P/C and the work brought with it I have seen some things that have me in awe. I'm stating there are some folks that cobble things together just to make a sale and they are mostly peeps buying it (tourist) that know nothing of what it is.

 

[smo]

There are a lot of talented artisans out there Guys.

Their quality workmanship and artistic abilities are what drives the prices higher than your average run of the mill bag.

As stated above, not all have the talent or the time too attempt making a higher quality bag.

When I attend a show or shoot with Vendors, I’m always in awe at the quality of workmanship many display.

 

[Sidney Smith]

It is a good thing the vendors can't charge you for looking. You can get some pretty good ideas by just "eyeballing" someone else's high priced stuff. It is puzzling why some people charge so much at some of these shows and get-to-gethers.

Exactly. I understand the vendors have come, some of them from a long distance. I also understand they are burnimg up a weekend to be there, and need to make a profit. However, some of these vendors price their products probably 300 to 500% above what it cost to make an item. I mean a small loading block for $15. Come on. It probably cost the man .10c for the wood, another .25c for the amount of stain and shellac, and ten minutes of his time to crank out. At most, a reasonable price for said item $5. He'd still make a nice profit. But like many vendors, and not just at muzzle loading events, its any show you go to, they're out to rape your wallet. This is why I get ideas and make my own, and sometimes I even come up eith my own ideas.

 

[tenngun]

Exactly. I understand the vendors have come, some of them from a long distance. I also understand they are burnimg up a weekend to be there, and need to make a profit. However, some of these vendors price their products probably 300 to 500% above what it cost to make an item. I mean a small loading block for $15. Come on. It probably cost the man .10c for the wood, another .25c for the amount of stain and shellac, and ten minutes of his time to crank out. At most, a reasonable price for said item $5. He'd still make a nice profit. But like many vendors, and not just at muzzle loading events, its any show you go to, they're out to rape your wallet. This is why I get ideas and make my own, and sometimes I even come up eith my own ideas.

I don’t think that’s true. It’s not just the cost of an item but also the volume sold. A burger at Mc Ds is cheaper then the local watering hole bar and grill that ‘has the best burgers in town’. You get a better burger but it doesn’t cost much more to make.
However McDs sells ten thousand burgers to every one of the bar and grills.
The vendor selling at an event has a very limited market, and a limited time to make i his investment pay off.
It’s not just the cost on an item it’s also the cost of hauling it to a dozen events before you sell it. And the investment to have enough stuff in his store to make it worth it to go and look at his wares. And the pay for having to mind the store through the event.
The cost is high because being a vendor is a low profit business.

 

[robinsroost]

Loading blocks for every caliber I shoot and measures out of 1/2" ID PVC tubing, with a piece of 1/2" dowel rod for a plug and cut at a 45 degree angle. Rough sanded, they look like bone.

 

[Sidney Smith]

I don’t think that’s true. It’s not just the cost of an item but also the volume sold. A burger at Mc Ds is cheaper then the local watering hole bar and grill that ‘has the best burgers in town’. You get a better burger but it doesn’t cost much more to make.
However McDs sells ten thousand burgers to every one of the bar and grills.
The vendor selling at an event has a very limited market, and a limited time to make i his investment pay off.
It’s not just the cost on an item it’s also the cost of hauling it to a dozen events before you sell it. And the investment to have enough stuff in his store to make it worth it to go and look at his wares. And the pay for having to mind the store through the event.
The cost is high because being a vendor is a low profit business.

I fully agree but as I said the vendor could and probably would sell a lot more of his wares if he lowered his prices. I get it that it costs money to be a vendor but some of these guys are cutting their nose off to spite their face with some of their prices. Thats why they end up hauling the same piece to a dozen shows before it sells. Price each item reasonably with a smaller profit margin per item and Id bet he's going home with a lot lighter load than he started with.

If it were me, I'd rather take the McD's approach. Sell ten at a lower price than the next guy trying to get top Ramen for one. In the end you're still making money...

 

[Scoper05]

I don't know how all this thread turned into this but I agree with some that are saying that they are way overpriced. If they were to lower their prices a little bit they would probably sell a lot more. And make more money. But it's not my business to say. So I will continue making my own things.

 

[tenngun]

This is a do it your self sport.
However the past wasn’t hobo/bushcraft/primitive/. Most things were well built well crafted items. Most take a lot of learned skill.
So I make what I can but somethings are out of my skill zone or require tools that I don’t have.
‘A workman is worth his hire’.
And quality counts. You can get a cheep stainless steel canteen made in India that looks and feels like a hand made canteen from a tin Smith or copper Smith . It’s half to a third of the price.
I have a couple of both types.each is worth what I paid for it.

 

[45man]

I'll say it. Greed.

Not so. Nothing is better then doing for yourself. Last night my air handler was running and did not shut off. It was hot do I found the compressor out back was not running. I went out after 12 and removed the cover to see the switch from the thermostat was not working. I used a brush and had no electric spray so I used Barricade to flush bugs from the switch. It came back on. Saved money.

 

[sawyer04]

I make it all, period correct or not except what is cost effective to purchase off the traders.

 

[NW Territory Woodsman]

I make leggings, moccs, knife sheaths, belt bag, bullet bags, gage de mor, and numerous other little things.
NWTW

 

[Treestalker]

Like many on the Forum and on this excellent thread, I too have made much plunder. The first item I made was a powder horn made from a cowhorn off a one horned skull on a fence post found when I drove a garbage truck back in my rookie days of driving for a living. One of my can bumpers got it for me and I plugged the big end with walnut and the stopper in the plug from a piece of oak burl. Since then I've made horns, bullet boards and bags, shooting bags, holsters, forged knives and made the grips out of wood and antler and made shooting bags out of leather and possibles bags out of canvas. I have built about 8 rifles and shotguns, and am now building my first pistol all from scratch. I recently made a powder horn from an old Arkansas blowing horn I bought from a sale out of an old barn for $3 which I reworked into a powder horn, It is yellowed with age and I made the large plug out of a piece of figured stump wood from a dead walnut tree past our creek here on the place, along with a fiddle tuner type spout plug from the same tree. It looks 150 years old and may be! Many people have knives, fireplace pokers, upright iron thread holders for sewing machines, spatulas, spoons, forks (some with antler handles) and other smithed items I made. This is absolutely the best hobby in the world because we are able to make our own useful items and share our talents and abilities.This is the best Forum because so many of our members are talented and readily share their knowledge and skills. there is nothing better in this world than to get up on a frosty hunting morning to a kitchen warm with a good cup and bacon frying and see your muzzleloader gleaming in the corner, and your handmade accessories hanging nearby. Perhaps a bullet board from a deceased brother, a shooting bag bought from a craftsman here on the forum, or a gift of a sewn ticking jerky bag from the girls' class at church. Life is good and full, and the cup runneth over, far and beyond the pursuit of riches and luxury. How lucky and truly blessed we are. George.

 

[Sidney Smith]

Well said!

 

[45man]

Much talent here for sure. I guess the craziest thing I did was to go to a foundry and buy cast iron risers. I spent two weeks with an angle grinder, $9.95 from Harbor. Cut off wheels in my body grinder to make rectangles to get on my mill. I made a vise to fit my mill table with gibs that closes to center. I bought tool steel rod and made cherries for bullet molds at the grand cost of 41 cents each. A factory cherry is near $300. With a left hand tap and the metal I have about $50 in it.
I learned to harden and temper without a warp and to cut an almost perfect round bullet. Labor means nothing. Just don't ask me to clean the garage!

 

[45man]

By the way I ground outside and my yard rusted. Bad thing is it fed the grass and it grows faster there.

 

[appalichian hunter]

As Carbon 6 stated the nice thing is you can make it all, I was always taught if you can make it why buy it. I have made just about all the things needed for a rifle including the tools needed to keep her in tip top shape, small pliers, turn screws, vent picks, pan brushes the only thing I have not made along this line is ball pullers and cleaning jags might give these a go one day. Bags, horns, horn straps, haversacks, knives and sheaths I have done also. Some clothing to include mocs. and a dandy buck skin coat. Also made a bunch of items for rondy camping a bed, lanterns, tables, boxes. trail tarps etc.. This is the neat side of the craft the ability to create the item you need or want and to me it adds the pride of stating I made that item when someone asks about it. The original colonials did not have a regional wally mart, perhaps a suttler once in a while or a yearly trip to the nearest village. I figure the rest of the time if a item was needed they made it.

 

[Stony Broke]

A little hobby stuff can be very rewarding and satisfying when it comes to making our own shooting and rendezvous type stuff. I sometimes cut leather and punch holes in it, and then sit it next to me for something to keep my hands busy as I sew it together while I'm watching tv in the evenings. It actually takes very little equipment to do a lot of our hobby stuff, like building stuff out of antlers, horns, wood, leather...etc..