New to knifemaking

B

Budkitc

Member
Hello all
I am new to knife making and I'm looking for ideas and on where to start. Should I start with a starter kit or just start off by scratch or start off with a wooden knife. Just looking for tips.
Thank you.
Doug
 
Welcome aboard!
Any of the avenues you suggested will work. Personally my first knife was a kit. But you will learn more making one from scratch.
 
Howdy.

Just depends on what you're leaning toward and what you have to work with. Putting a handle on a blank doesn't take much more than a drill, files and sandpaper.
 
A great and cheap way to start is to recondition some old knives. Start by learning how to sand the rust off and make an old knife pretty again. Then make a new handle for it. Like tkroenlein says you can do all of this with sandpaper and elbow grease. For making a new handle you might need a drill press. You'll need that eventually, anyway if you don't already have one.

For sandpaper you want to use automotive sandpaper. (wet / dry sandpaper). You don't need a whole lot of it. When I started I would go to the auto parts store and buy my sandpaper. They have it in the paint section. Some 220, 320, 600 will get you started. A piece of plate glass is great for a flat surface for your sandpaper. Wet the glass and lay your paper on there. It works great for sharpening, too.

and WELCOME to KD!
 
Welcome to Knife Dogs!! John gave you some good advice. I would add, read, read, read. Lots of information out there if you dig a little. Look up Walter Sorrels and Ekim knives on YouTube. They have some really good videos that helped me a lot when I first started.
 
If you share your location you may find a maker here that is willing to let you visit their shop or a group you can join to learn in person.
 
Welcome to Knifedogs.
I will add the following. Go and have a look at the Tutorials and WIP's listed under this link:

WIPs and Tutorials

Post your tutorials here. Any kind of knife related tutorial is appreciated. Use the gallery to upload your pictures and link to that. You can also post links if you have them elsewhere. Any WIPs posted are entered into a drawing to win $50 in knife making supplies from www.USAKnifemaker.com
knifedogs.com
When I started off making knives, I read all I could find on the topic of making a first knife.
The very first thread you will find there by Josh Dabney is an extensive WIP on building a complete knife as well as a sheath, using the most basic of tools. I built my first knife using the information from that thread. Perhaps it can assist you as well.
 
Welcome!
Are you looking at making folders or fixed blade? If folder, then I would think that kit would be a great way to start and learn what the pieces are and what they do without the frustration of having to manufacture the parts and make them fit together.
I'm about a year into this hobby and add handles to premade fixed blades. Not much of a metal smith. Some of the "kits" you get from Rockler or Woodcraft are pretty ok quality. They come with a decent blade, a sheath and some plain metal pins. You provide the handle material, and consumable supplies. Not much of a kit, and the sheaths are nothing special, if you can get them to fit your finished knife.
I would suggest you buy blades and materials from a specialty knife making supplier. There is a handy link at the top of this page ;-).
Jantz, Premium and Thompsons Scandinavian are a few others. Don't by cheap junk off ebay. Been there, done that.
And listen to all the advice of those above. This forum is a great resource and full of helpful people and advice!
 
John Wilson said:
A great and cheap way to start is to recondition some old knives. Start by learning how to sand the rust off and make an old knife pretty again. Then make a new handle for it.
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Yes! I have found chicago cutlery knives for cheap at thrift stores and garage sales. Most have rotten handles that are easy to remove and they are great for practice and useful when you're done.
 
Thanks all for the tips and ideas. I was originally thinking about ordering a folder kit, but maybe I will start with some older knives. I was planning on buying the blades for a while. I feel the blacksmith process is outside my price range right now. I don't want to get to overwhelmed. I think I could have some fun building some new handles and recondition some blades.
 
There are some great folder kits out there. Any path you choose will be enjoyable. Let me tell you, a guy can make pretty decent side job money rehandling knives. Any hobby that pays for itself is a great hobby. A hobby that actually puts a few bucks in your pocket is even better.
 
What about older steak knives. Could I replace the handles? I found some on my local FB Marketplace. I'm sure I could find older knives to recondition if I could get to a flea market, but COVID closed those.
 
Budkitc said:
Could I replace the handles?
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Why not? That'd give you some experience with the handle part of knife making. At the very least, you'll see what dealing with epoxy is like so you don't panic the first time you do it on one of your blades and get the epoxy all over your fingers and everything else you touch ;) . Perhaps you could also use some to practice regrinding some of the bevels or edges.
 
I just got 16 steak knives for 3 bucks...... All wooden handles.
I need to find out how to remove the handle?
I assume I need new handle pins.
Should I recondition a few of the original handles?
I also need to pick out some new wood.
 
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