knife making tools, introductory level

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CattleMaster247

Active Member
Hey Guys, Still getting use to navigation on forum, bare with me I'll get it.
So I a limited knowledge on working with steel, but do have some. I am currently working to rebuild my wood and metal shop, after the fire. I am starting with the essentials for both. The wood side is moving on along since I am a farmer and do most of the woodwork required for the farm. I am holding off on some of the metal working tools bc I have access to them and will slowly work towards them again. The major purchase I want to make is that of a gas forge, I do want to build a coal/coke down the road, but the lack of space for a permanent one has made my decision for a gas forge due to portability and cleanliness. I would prefer to keep the cost minimal, and hold off on building my own till I get that permanent space. Looking for a forge that can produce welding temperatures, easy to use, and reliable. I looked into an atlas forge, seemed to be well reviewed. Any suggestions are appreciated thanks.
CattleMaster247
 
I'm going to slide your post down to the New to Knifemaking forum - you'll have a bunch of advice shortly!

:)
 
First of all building your own gas forge will keep your expenses down, buying one drives the cost up. Wayne Coe and High Temperature Tools and Refractory sell most of what you will need in the way of ceramic insulation, castable refractory, fire brick, mortar, and many other things. You can pretty much build either a venturi or blown burner form things you can get at a hardware store, though you might need to go to a welding shop for a mig tip for the venturi burner. Blown burners are the simplest to make, simple enough for a jackleg tinkerer like me to build, though a venturi burner only takes a little drilling at tapping to install set screws to adjust things with. I have two blown forges right now. One's build in an old mail box lined with ceramic insulating matting and coated with a castable refractory. It has a pass through port on the back side that usually obstructed with insulating brick and matting and the front is partially obstructed with high temperature insulating board. The other was cast from a castable refractory and using high temperature insulation board for doors. It too is pass through. It sits in a frame pop riveted together from aluminum angle iron. The only reason that I used aluminum is that it was cheaper and easier for me to work with. It's insulated top, bottom, and the side oposite the burner with insulating brick. Both use a blower for a bounce house as an air supply. A gate valve on the burners adjusts the air flow. Either will reach welding temperatures since I put the larger blower on them, but that depends a lot on forge design also.
IMG_0146.jpgIMG_0147.jpg

If you still want to forgo building your own, High Temperature Tools and Refractory and Riverside Machine Shop sell forges designed for knife making. Most of the commercial units out there are made for general blacksmithing, even the one's they advertise if knife maker's forges. I'm not sure if Wayne Coe makes a complete forge or burners for sale or not.

I'm sure that others will be along to give advice too.

Doug
 
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Is your plan to hammer 'em out tribal style, or stock reduce? And how much of your money can we spend :biggrin:

Mine has to be low budget, for a small shop, and I use the stock reduction method: 2x42" grinder with 6" disc on the other end of the motor; Fred Rowe's Bubble Jig (!); knife scribe (!); a good selection of belts; set of files; a good selection of paper; a vice. My next addition will be a drill press.

If you're going to work with Kydex, follow the Boss's videos to make a Kydex press (lumber and a walmart camping mat), and get a toaster oven at a yard sale.

If you're going to make mycarta, you can make a good press with a hydraulic jack.

Depending on how large the projects you intend to make are, you could get away with a 2 brick MAPP forge - lots of info out there on youtube on how to make and use them.
 
Hey Rob,
I am looking into pursuing both styles. Price range around $250-1000. Not sure between Mycarta, kydex, or g10. I will probably begin with the stock removal in the meantime while I wait on my new barn/shop to be ressurected. What brand belt sander/ disc. Do you use that is also on my things to purchase. And i have a 190lb Prentiss Vise. with a 25 inch jaw. Will send you a pic. But on a smaller scale vice swivel or stationary. Plenty more questions to ask. Save some for later. Thank you for your advice.
 
Cattlemaster,
Get a copy of Wayne Goodard's Book.
"$50.00 Knife shop".
Bulit a forge, Assemble hand tools, & Many tips and references on how to do it cheap!

It might be $75.00-$100.00 Knife Shop if it was printed today?
But the rest is all still good!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
CattleMaster247 said:
Hey Rob,
I am looking into pursuing both styles. Price range around $250-1000. Not sure between Mycarta, kydex, or g10. I will probably begin with the stock removal in the meantime while I wait on my new barn/shop to be ressurected. What brand belt sander/ disc. Do you use that is also on my things to purchase. And i have a 190lb Prentiss Vise. with a 25 inch jaw. Will send you a pic. But on a smaller scale vice swivel or stationary. Plenty more questions to ask. Save some for later. Thank you for your advice.
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I use a Craftsman 2x42, which a lot of entry level folks seem to gravitate towards; belts are available on line for it, although I stock up on the Sears ones whenever they're on clearance. They're AO low grit, great for hogging a lot of material, then I switch to gator for the higher grit. Found a bunch at a thrift store for .25 each, as well as discs. I modified it some, cut away some of the belt housing, and attached a ceramic face to the platen. $100 all told so far.

I've not been disappointed with a stationary vise, I have a cheap Chinese bench mounted. I use a length of 2x4 and dollar store C-Clamps to make my own knife vise. I probably go through more tape than others, but its cheap.

I cannot recommend enough the Bubble Jig; it really is a training tool, and my quality has drastically improved with it. It's probably more valuable to me than the grinder in that it increases precision - the grinder just saves time and energy. My wife got it for me for my birthday last year ... reminded me why I married her :biggrin:
 
I recently bought a 1"x30" belt sander from harbor freight for $35.00. Really works great for smaller knives. Had to do a little tweaking to get the belt to run true, but for the price it really reduced my work time in half. Also use a craftsman 4"x36" that I bought at a garage sale. Had to cut out the rolled edge on both sides so that I can give the knife a neat line look without having to file it down. To me these two items work really good until I can afford a professional 2"x72" belt grinder. Total I spent $50.00 on sanding machines, then ordered $100.00 in belt supplies.
 
Doug Lester said:
Most of the commercial units out there are made for general blacksmithing, even the one's they advertise if knife maker's forges. I'm not sure if Wayne Coe makes a complete forge or burners for sale or not.
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I know it's been a while, but I wanted to respond to this. The Atlas Mini is designed for bladesmithing, not blacksmithing. You couldn't make a horseshoe in it if you wanted, because it's a bladesmith's forge. I've seen a couple others that were close, but none were as specific as the Atlas. Second, the Atlas Mini comes with one of the best torches you'll find out there. We modify the orifice to .35mm and it puts out nearly as much heat as any venturi burner that you can build. If you want, Wayne Coe makes a burner that will fit the Atlas Mini, just ask him for one.
 
That is a nice entry level forge. Nice and portable with proper entry of the fire. It should easily forge even sword length blades, if they're not too wide, and heat treat anything up to around 14-16" with care. However, even with having to purchase the regulator, hose, gauge, and connectors you could build a forge and burner for less.

Doug
 
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