How much can a custom knife maker earn?

Lets assume we are talking about a competent maker, with an eye that matches the market, who is putting out good work. Those things alone are not all that common.
Starting off you’ll be lucky to cover materials cost, just trying to get your name out there usually on a knife forum or knife/gun shows.
As recognition grows and you get more well known you may start being about to up your profit enough to pay for your time at a low rate ($5–10 an hour is pretty common). This is where most people drop off and realize its just a hobby.
Say you’re exceptionally talented and have that style thats hitting at just the right time? Getting $400 for a basic titanium frame lock with a modern knife steel blade doing stock removal. Something like that is probably looking at $100 in materials, and at least 20 hours of work. Congrats you’re now making $15 an hour, but you’ll have extra costs like tooling, and what not.
Very very few guys can clear $1k+ on a knife, and those knives are usually art knives that are decked out while being nearly perfectly fit. Possibly $250 in materials used, and some ungodly number of hours to fit everything together, figure 40 hours for sake of math. They’re clearing about $18 an hour.
And THAT is why the vast majority of happy knife makers do it as a hobby, you quickly find it how lucky you have to be to even cover your costs. That is if you have a conscience and aren’t one of the many new instagram type marketed type selling fancy looking, thrown together in two hours crap to people who don’t know better, but thats another discussion.

Wanbasion Black Stainless Steel Knife Set, Sharp Kitchen Knife