Hi All,
I've been lurking in the forums since April, when I began making my first knife. The amount of helpful, positive information posted is amazing! I could not have progressed so quickly without the effort and knowledge you all have posted here - so thank you.
I started out with all hand tools and made a fixed blade hunting knife - the only power tool being a cordless drill. That first knife took me about 40 hours to make - not including the building of tools such as a filing jig and a forge for heat treat (3 attempts to get it right.) The learning curve has been steep for me as I came into this with very little shop knowledge and tools, but the rewards have been tremendous.
I'm really into making slipjoints right now. I want to say a very special thank you to Chris Crawford and Don Robinson. Chris's dvd on slipjoints really helped cement all of the basic steps for me and is full of helpful information. Chris's mannerisms and personality really gave me a feel for the patience and persistence needed when learning how to build slipjoints. Don's book paid for itself within minutes! The writing style is informal and you get the feeling he is standing over your shoulder walking you through the process when reading it. Don's book is also full of extremely valuable tips that probably would have taken me a couple of years to figure out.
Next steps for me are to keep finding time with three kids, learning from you all, and hopefully visiting a few shops in 2015.
Thanks again All.
I've been lurking in the forums since April, when I began making my first knife. The amount of helpful, positive information posted is amazing! I could not have progressed so quickly without the effort and knowledge you all have posted here - so thank you.
I started out with all hand tools and made a fixed blade hunting knife - the only power tool being a cordless drill. That first knife took me about 40 hours to make - not including the building of tools such as a filing jig and a forge for heat treat (3 attempts to get it right.) The learning curve has been steep for me as I came into this with very little shop knowledge and tools, but the rewards have been tremendous.
I'm really into making slipjoints right now. I want to say a very special thank you to Chris Crawford and Don Robinson. Chris's dvd on slipjoints really helped cement all of the basic steps for me and is full of helpful information. Chris's mannerisms and personality really gave me a feel for the patience and persistence needed when learning how to build slipjoints. Don's book paid for itself within minutes! The writing style is informal and you get the feeling he is standing over your shoulder walking you through the process when reading it. Don's book is also full of extremely valuable tips that probably would have taken me a couple of years to figure out.
Next steps for me are to keep finding time with three kids, learning from you all, and hopefully visiting a few shops in 2015.
Thanks again All.
