11-year-old in Seattle wants to learn knifemaking

B

beth

New Member
Hi Knifedog people, I've found your forum and this looks like a good place to ask.
My son is 11 and is interested in knifemaking. I'm fairly handy and crafty myself, but I know nothing about knives. Recently we took a one-day "parent-and-me" blacksmithing class at Pratt Fine Arts Center and we both had a blast. But this has just further cemented his desire to get into this and I don't know the best way to help him, because, well, he is a kid and all the classes are geared towards adults for obvious safety reasons. Right now he just watches people make things on youtube. We have the potential for tools/workspace at home as I do a bit of woodworking myself, but I can't teach him about knives since I don't know what I'm doing.

Ideally, I'd love for him to take weekly lessons one-on-one with an expert, much like piano lessons, but I don't know if anything like this exists here in Seattle, let alone one that would be open to teaching a kid (he is smart, though!) If anyone has any ideas, or suggestions for how to satiate his interest in this for the time being (good intro books?), please let me know! Thanks so much!
 
beth said:
Right now he just watches people make things on youtube.
Click to expand...

Honestly thats probably one of you're best resources right there. There are A LOT of videos on youtube that teach the basics of knife making. I recommend the youtube channel "Walter Sorells" . He covers how to make knives in several different ways, from basic hand tools(like files and hacksaws) to big ol' professional style belt grinders and even some forging, all in a fairly easy to understand and pretty family friendly way. You said you're a fairly handy person so you could probably teach him the basics of how to use the tools and be safe with them and all that jazz (if he doesn't already know).

I don't know of very many people who offer classes in the style you mentioned, I'm sure there are some, but there definitely aren't any in my area. Like I said you can start making knives with equipment as simple as a hacksaw and a coarse file (this takes a lot of time and patience however).The only problem might be equipment for heat treating, but there is always the option to send the knives off to another company for heat treat.

I'm a pretty young man myself (early twenties) and I learned the basics of the craft through youtube (hopefully that doesn't get me to much hate on here haha) and everything from there I just learned by making mistakes and learning from those mistakes (as many knifemakers do).
 
I have no idea about the makers and their policy/practice on age for giving lessons. But your idea on getting your son lessons is a great idea. I took a week long class with Ed Caffrey (American Bladesmith Society Master Smith-aka ABS MS) a few years back and it was amazing how helpful it can be to have a teacher walking you through the process. If you go to the ABS website, they list all of their rated smiths (Journeyman and Master) and where they're located. You could see how many are in your area and hopefully find some that may be willing to do some classes.

I went ant to the Seattle knife show this last spring and they have a function before the show that was at Dave Lisch's (MS) shop. I believe he does classes and teaching, again, no idea on the format or age restrictions? Even if some of those folks may not be able to do lessons with an 11 year old, I can imagine them at least having some good ideas to help. And perhaps you've got a knife maker's association or blacksmith association in your area, too. Those are fantastic ways to get to see demos, learn the skills, and meet up with people that could also potentially give some fun shop time with you and your son. There are also some amazing tutorials and WIPs (works in progress) on various forums, including this one. Those doing them take a whole lot of photos and post them up with descriptions of the process as they go along. You can learn quite a bit just reading through those to help your son as he starts trying to get it all figured out.

Kudos to you for being so willing to support your son's interest. Most folks in the knife making community are incredibly helpful and kind. Especially to a young man with a desire to learn. I hope you find success.


Jeremy
 
TKDblades said:
Honestly thats probably one of you're best resources right there. There are A LOT of videos on youtube that teach the basics of knife making. I recommend the youtube channel "Walter Sorells" . He covers how to make knives in several different ways, from basic hand tools(like files and hacksaws) to big ol' professional style belt grinders and even some forging, all in a fairly easy to understand and pretty family friendly way. You said you're a fairly handy person so you could probably teach him the basics of how to use the tools and be safe with them and all that jazz (if he doesn't already know).

I don't know of very many people who offer classes in the style you mentioned, I'm sure there are some, but there definitely aren't any in my area. Like I said you can start making knives with equipment as simple as a hacksaw and a coarse file (this takes a lot of time and patience however).The only problem might be equipment for heat treating, but there is always the option to send the knives off to another company for heat treat.
Click to expand...

I will point him to that channel, thank you! Heat treating - I actually have a small kiln that I no longer use (I make tile and use a bigger kiln now), he could use that I think? (With lots of supervision, of course). I already have a vice, hacksaw and coarse file, are there any other basics in particular that a new knifemaker would want? I'm thinking christmas presents. A grinder of some sort? I could hit craigslist if I knew what to look for as good starting tools. (Especially tools that I would find useful for myself too).


gudspelr said:
If you go to the ABS website, they list all of their rated smiths (Journeyman and Master) and where they're located. You could see how many are in your area and hopefully find some that may be willing to do some classes.

I went ant to the Seattle knife show this last spring and they have a function before the show that was at Dave Lisch's (MS) shop. I believe he does classes and teaching, again, no idea on the format or age restrictions? Even if some of those folks may not be able to do lessons with an 11 year old, I can imagine them at least having some good ideas to help. And perhaps you've got a knife maker's association or blacksmith association in your area, too. Those are fantastic ways to get to see demos, learn the skills, and meet up with people that could also potentially give some fun shop time with you and your son. There are also some amazing tutorials and WIPs (works in progress) on various forums, including this one. Those doing them take a whole lot of photos and post them up with descriptions of the process as they go along. You can learn quite a bit just reading through those to help your son as he starts trying to get it all figured out.

Kudos to you for being so willing to support your son's interest. Most folks in the knife making community are incredibly helpful and kind. Especially to a young man with a desire to learn. I hope you find success.
Click to expand...

Great suggestions - thank you! Yes, I really want to support him in this. His sister plays hockey and I spend a lot of time supporting her in that, but my son hadn't yet found his "thing" until now. So I want to make sure he gets his time to shine in something that he's interested in.

Thanks for all the help so far, guys. I will point him towards this forum too. :)
 
At his age I would stick with making knives with hand tools. Grinders are much more effective on flesh than they are on steel. Look at some videos of making knives and you will have a better idea of what to get. Several big files and lots of sand paper to start.
 
If you look around you can find a mentor for BOTH you and him. I have had several young students in the shop over the years. As said above you need to tailor the tool use to the students ability.

Check in with the local knife club to see who might help out with your sons interests.

Erik
 
beth said:
I will point him to that channel, thank you! Heat treating - I actually have a small kiln that I no longer use (I make tile and use a bigger kiln now), he could use that I think? (With lots of supervision, of course). I already have a vice, hacksaw and coarse file, are there any other basics in particular that a new knifemaker would want? I'm thinking christmas presents. A grinder of some sort? I could hit craigslist if I knew what to look for as good starting tools. (Especially tools that I would find useful for myself too).
Click to expand...

I know a glass kiln will work for knife making, I can speak from personal experience on that. I don't know about a ceramic kiln. I'm not saying it wont work, I'm saying I literally know NOTHING about ceramic kilns haha. As for the grinder, As someone said they can be pretty dangerous, but they do make the work a lot easier. I wouldn't say its a bad idea, that's up to you to decide, you know the maturity level of your child way more then anybody else here (not trying to sound passive aggressive, really sorry if it comes off that way). The one thing I will warn you about with the grinder is that they can get pretty expensive, and I don't mean the initial investment, ask anybody who has been into knife making for a while and they will tell you that a lot of money goes into belts.

If you do decide to go ahead and get him a grinder, Ill go ahead and say skip the 1x30 size and go for a bigger one, Some people recommend these for starting out but they honestly don't do a very good job, a file and hacksaw will give you a better result then the 1x30 albeit a slightly slower process.
 
There are a lot of great suggestions here, I thought I would add what information I could.

First, I would look into local ABANA (Artists Blacksmith's Association of North America) chapters, like the Northwest Blacksmith Association (www.blacksmith.org). Generally these organizations can help you network to find resources like what your looking for, and the newsletters they often provide are worth their weight in gold compared to the meager association fees. I would strongly suggest joining ABANA as well. I belong probably to a half a dozen groups just to support them and read their newsletters.
I checked out the the website for the Pratt Fine Arts center, and they look like a great resource. The same hand hammer techniques to make a coat rack can be applied to knife making. How to hold the hammer, strike, draw metal, ect, which is why finding a local blacksmith through ABANA could be a huge boon to his skill set.

Does your son like to read? If so there are tons of blacksmithing books out there with great information too. I am 32 now, and started fooling around with blacksmithing in the pre-youtube age and my go too was Book 5 of the Foxfire series. Now there is Wayne Goddards 50$ knife shop which is recommended a lot, as well as a slew of other great books. Not to mention books on heat treating, metallurgy, and other topics that he may find interesting as high school chemistry class approaches.

As far as tools, one of my mantras when I go to learn a new skill is starting at the bottom to give myself a foundation to learn from. In knife making that's starting out with all hand tools. Aaron Goughs file jig is a perfect example of a simple tool that teaches blade geometry at the same time. As far as what level or quality of tools to buy, that depends on your son. If he's the kind of person who takes his game out of his game console, puts it in the case, wipes his gaming console off and wraps up his controllers every time I would probably look to buy some quality hand tools. If not, I would buy him some good hand tools and use it as a learning experience like my father did with me. If it were me, I would have him do some research and find out what hand tools he thinks he needs, within a budget. It looks like you have Harbor Freight Tools in Seattle, so give him like 100$ budget and see what he comes up with. Post his list back here and we can give some pointers. This way he learns more about the tools required, specialty tools, and develops that association between tools and their value.

The ceramic kiln will work if it can reach temperatures in the 2000-2200F range, and hold the set temperature. Most steels don't need to be that hot, but some do. I would mention though that it may be safer and easier to take a blade he has ready to heat treat and take it to a local heat treat company (google search in Seattle pulled up a few) and pay a couple bucks to have it done. Sometimes members on the forums here will heat treat through the mail as well.

Some ideas Christmas gift-wise I would check out some folder kits, or pre-hardened knife blanks and the handle materials to finish them. It's a great way to learn fit and finish, and how different materials feel and work. Who knows, you might end up with some nice kitchen knives out of it. I would also look into some known blade steel to practice on too. 1084 and 1095 are both great steels that are available from a variety of knife making supply retailers or specialty steel retailers.

Hope that helps
-Morgan
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top