Young guy (49) just getting started

MarkF

Member
Howdy,
New to knife making but may have an edge as I grew up in an automotive machine shop (have used all of the machines, bridgeports, lathes etc), went to school for and worked as a goldsmith for 4 years before switching to sales. As well as two brothers and father that are machinists.

Started by buying some blade blanks. i did one and my son did one and then moved into making the blade from old files. Pictured are my first five knives. From left to right 1. Blade I bought and used Maple and Mahogany for the handle. 2. (2-5) blades are from old files, handle is made of rosewood. 3. was a test knife that I tried to grind a bevel on and failed so it was converted to a flat grind, handle is cherry stained sedona red with brass inlay (brass was rolled out on my mill from old plumbing parts) and a partial vine pattern across the spine. 4. this was made to trade for a 14" band saw. Vine pattern the length of the spine, handle was unidentified hardwood from Africa Guy i made knife for had a plank of it) with a brass ring. Used 3 coats of linseed oil and two coats of tru oil. 5. this knife is to trade for a 70# anvil, handle is mahogany may put a vine pattern on spine of blade.

All of the materials used are recycled (except blade on #1). Old files, brass from plumbing fixtures, wood from various sources.

Tip for supplies. Find a industrial park in your area and cruise the dumpsters, especially behind cabinet makers or remodelers. Or just offer to make them a knife in exchange for their cutoffs. Also most recycle centers will sell metals at cheap prices.

I did a differential heat treat (using torch) for each of the blades.

Will have my forge done next week (building a propane powered forge) and will start some forging using metals I scrounged from dads shop and a salvage yard. Dad owns a recycling center for construction and has lots of parts of dump trucks, loaders etc available.

Would appreciate any critiques or tips.
 

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Welcome to the forum. From your description, it sounds like you have a bad case of knifemakingitis. Your work looks great. Keep at it an ask lots of questions.
 
Looks good...........keep up the good work

from an "older" goldsmith

Larry.................
KLHwatches.com
 
Went to school for Jewelry repair/Gemology and sat behind a bench for 4 years then switched to sales but kept doing custom items. 13 years total in Jewelry Biz. Still have my bench and some tools, unfortunately a lot got lost in moves. Really missing my casting equipment about now.

Now I'm a computer geek. :biggrin: or as my daughter says I'm the chief geek.

Mark


Looks good...........keep up the good work

from an "older" goldsmith

Larry.................
KLHwatches.com
 
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