PetrifiedWood
Well-Known Member
Hi!
I recently purchased some tools and supplies from USA Knifemaker Supply and was referred to this forum from there. I also saw mention of it on another discussion forum where I participate regularly.
I've decided I want to make some knives. Maybe just enough to learn that I don't like it, or maybe a whole lot of them if I do.
So here's a little background on how I came to want to make knives. Years ago when I was a teenager in the late 80's/early 90's I was at a friend's house and we were looking for a way to kill some time and we found his dad's belt sander in the garage. There was some steel bar stock lying around too...
Just for kicks I took a bit of the steel about 16" long and cut it with a hacksaw into a "rambo knife" shape. I cut a saw back into it with an angle grinder making notches along the back, and put a mostly uneven "grind" on the edge with the belt sander. The whole process took about 30 minutes and it looked really like a kid made a "Rambo Knife".
In retrospect it was probably a mild steel not suitable for making knives, and we didn't know anything about heat treating beyond the first 10 minutes of "Conan the Barbarian" where you see a sword being quenched in a snow bank. So the knife was soft, bendable, and dulled quickly. But my friend liked it enough to keep it and made an electrical tape handle for it.
Anyhow that's the last time I did anything related to making knives since, up until a couple of months ago. I had joined a forum "Bushcraft USA" and had been buying some knives here and there, learning about the various types of grind from a user perspective, and learning a lot about handle ergonomics from a user perspective as well. I had a Gerber Profile lying around that never felt comfortable to use because the finger groove and the little peak near the pommel interfered with me getting a secure comfortable grip. So I took the plastic scales off (they are held on with screws) and bought a cheap Harbor Freight 1X30 sander and set to grinding the finger groove off and rounding the back of the tang.
I followed a tutorial I saw posted online and re-handled it with some oak I had lying around and decided I wanted to make my own knife from start to finish. Here's a pic of the re-made Gerber. I ruined a few drill bits enlarging the lanyard hole enough to accept a 3/8" brass tube I made on my lathe.
So, over the past week I have ordered some O1, a Grizzly Tools 2X72 grinder/buffer an Evenheat 27" deep oven, and a few small accessories here and there. I still need to get some tongs, set up a quench tank somehow, wire my shop for 220V for the oven, get a respirator, move a bunch of stuff around, draw some profiles, etc. I also don't have a torch or a band saw so cutting out blanks might be pretty time consuming for me compared to a better equipped shop.
I also purchased a couple of books on knifemaking including the oft-recommended "$50 Knife Shop". And have been reading bits nd pieces over the last couple of days.
That's what led me here. I am a little daunted by the idea of grinding the bevels. I have been working with hand and power tools most of my life. I have taught myself to operate a metal lathe and to do single point threading. I'm confident that I can do every aspect of stock removal knife making with the exception of freehand grinding the bevels.
I guess my biggest concern is that after all this outlay in equipment costs, I am feeling a bit stingy about spending a lot on material that will likely be pretty messed up by my first tentative forays into grinding bevels.
Anyhow, I hope I haven't bored you all or rambled too much. I'm looking forward to learning from you and am happy to be a new member of your online community.
I recently purchased some tools and supplies from USA Knifemaker Supply and was referred to this forum from there. I also saw mention of it on another discussion forum where I participate regularly.
I've decided I want to make some knives. Maybe just enough to learn that I don't like it, or maybe a whole lot of them if I do.
So here's a little background on how I came to want to make knives. Years ago when I was a teenager in the late 80's/early 90's I was at a friend's house and we were looking for a way to kill some time and we found his dad's belt sander in the garage. There was some steel bar stock lying around too...
Just for kicks I took a bit of the steel about 16" long and cut it with a hacksaw into a "rambo knife" shape. I cut a saw back into it with an angle grinder making notches along the back, and put a mostly uneven "grind" on the edge with the belt sander. The whole process took about 30 minutes and it looked really like a kid made a "Rambo Knife".
In retrospect it was probably a mild steel not suitable for making knives, and we didn't know anything about heat treating beyond the first 10 minutes of "Conan the Barbarian" where you see a sword being quenched in a snow bank. So the knife was soft, bendable, and dulled quickly. But my friend liked it enough to keep it and made an electrical tape handle for it. Anyhow that's the last time I did anything related to making knives since, up until a couple of months ago. I had joined a forum "Bushcraft USA" and had been buying some knives here and there, learning about the various types of grind from a user perspective, and learning a lot about handle ergonomics from a user perspective as well. I had a Gerber Profile lying around that never felt comfortable to use because the finger groove and the little peak near the pommel interfered with me getting a secure comfortable grip. So I took the plastic scales off (they are held on with screws) and bought a cheap Harbor Freight 1X30 sander and set to grinding the finger groove off and rounding the back of the tang.
I followed a tutorial I saw posted online and re-handled it with some oak I had lying around and decided I wanted to make my own knife from start to finish. Here's a pic of the re-made Gerber. I ruined a few drill bits enlarging the lanyard hole enough to accept a 3/8" brass tube I made on my lathe.
So, over the past week I have ordered some O1, a Grizzly Tools 2X72 grinder/buffer an Evenheat 27" deep oven, and a few small accessories here and there. I still need to get some tongs, set up a quench tank somehow, wire my shop for 220V for the oven, get a respirator, move a bunch of stuff around, draw some profiles, etc. I also don't have a torch or a band saw so cutting out blanks might be pretty time consuming for me compared to a better equipped shop.
I also purchased a couple of books on knifemaking including the oft-recommended "$50 Knife Shop". And have been reading bits nd pieces over the last couple of days.
That's what led me here. I am a little daunted by the idea of grinding the bevels. I have been working with hand and power tools most of my life. I have taught myself to operate a metal lathe and to do single point threading. I'm confident that I can do every aspect of stock removal knife making with the exception of freehand grinding the bevels.
I guess my biggest concern is that after all this outlay in equipment costs, I am feeling a bit stingy about spending a lot on material that will likely be pretty messed up by my first tentative forays into grinding bevels.
Anyhow, I hope I haven't bored you all or rambled too much. I'm looking forward to learning from you and am happy to be a new member of your online community.
