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By Jacob Asuit
During my time working with my father at 2 Jakes Knives I learned every valuable aspect of knifemaking and many life lessons along the way. None more important than learning things don't always work out no matter how much effort you put in. Through the years, 2 Jakes knives became very well known. To this day they are still in stores with serial numbers in the 6000's. But with all those numbers, many people did not know who I was. When we first started out selling, gun shows and art shows were the stage. I attended every one I could, all the while I was growing a family of my own. As the shows became more often and more widely spread across the country I chose not to go on the road, so as to be here for the growth of my children. For a short while, my wife Rebekah and I continued the local gun shows with our young children in tow. We would set up a pack-n-play behind the booth and go to talking with the crowds, doing our best to make a living. In 2016 I created Bloodline Knives. I was really enjoying making them and had the numbers figured out to turn a profit while not overpricing. But I was taken advantage of when my dad saw an opportunity to make money selling them on the road. I had set prices for the knives on my website and before long, I had people asking me angrily why they had just paid an extra $50 for my knife at a show. Nobody was complaining about their knife though. That was a plus. And even though I had done everything to make it right with all the people complaining, I couldn't help feeling like I had done people wrong. I had no control over how they were being sold. By 2020 I cut production and dropped Bloodline entirely.
Meanwhile, all the work I had still been doing for 2 Jakes knives had been overshadowed at the big shows with the charismatic story line that was used as a selling point. The line "I do EVERYTHING" was the hook. For a long time, that was true, except the "I" should have been a "we". I attended a few local big shows and heard it for myself and I questioned this line as I felt like I deserved credit for my work. The answer was always the same, "The show jurors want all artists present and you aren't here, so I can't say you do much of anything.". It didn't seem right to me, but I now know the reason for it is narcissism. I brushed it off and continued to work, this is called 'painting red flags green'. In 2018 I felt that I could spend a little more time away from home and started traveling to do shows. It became apparent that in my absence, the client base had indeed seemed to have little to no knowledge of my hand in the knives. I traveled to every show I could get to for a year, missing only one show. It seemed like it didn't matter if I was actually there showing my face or not. I blamed myself for a while thinking I should have been there all along. The biggest reason for going on the road again was to spend a little time with the ol' man in hopes we would go fish a little on the way home after a show. On the contrary, the more time I spent doing shows the less time we actually spent doing anything else. It soon became clear that I had only been used for my labor and had been disregarded as one of, if not the most important role of this business. In December of 2021 I had a minor wreck on my dirt bike that nearly removed my right index finder, and smashed my right little finger. Long story short I had a 3 day hospital stay due to sepsis and needless to say I was out of the shop. Needing help, dad quickly supplemented my work with an eager cousin for 2 weeks out of each month. Production was back on.
As sure as the sun sets every day, it rises again in the morning to shed new light on the world.
During my physical down time in which I could not use a grinder, I shifted focus to building a new and improved website for the 2 Jakes business. Two hundred hours into computer work, all while attending physical therapy for my hand. Even with all my much needed computer work I was made to feel as if I was useless for not being in the shop. I couldn't help feeling replaced. Every chance he got he would boast about how much help he was getting for my cousin, a narcissistic tactic I later learned is called 'triangulation'. My health didn't seem to be of any concern, only when I was coming back to work. I loosely ignored my own realization that things had always been this way. Painting red flags green again even though I always felt like I was being used and had always been made to feel like I wasn't doing enough. Starting to realize the tactics used against me, things started making a lot of sense. But I had to make a living so I put my feelings aside and though I needed another surgery, I had to get back to work. By March 2022 I was ready to get back in the shop and during a sit down, the seemingly impossible goal of making a whopping one thousand hat knives before June was discussed. Instead of making two hundred at a time, we were going to stock up so the stores wouldn't run dry over the best part of the summer business season. Only two months to complete the stock up, but it could be done. The two of us turned into four with the help of two family members. The other two had not yet worked with me in the shop. They were astonished as I, with two broken fingers ran circles around everyone in the shop. They often seemed to feel as if they only got in the way as I would bounce around them from machine to machine, racing through my daily duties. By the end of the two month cycle I had done 75% of the work on not only 1000, but 1200 hat knives as well as 50+ regular knives. Goal met, mission accomplished. Summer came and the time for trunk show season had come. They left in the first week of June, headed for the stores that await his charismatic presence to sell sell sell those knives but the many. I was relieved to have a little breather and as soon as I got the chance I pulled the bike out to clear my mind.
Check the blog page for the next post titled "The Big One"!
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