Please allow me to introduce my self

J

JPC

Guest
Hello fellow dog and doggets,
My name is Jon and I live in central NC. I found the forum after purchasing a blank from Tracy and Lora's site.
I love knives and have from an early age. It was only recently that the thought occurred to me to make one.
My son graduates in 2012 and I want to make a knife that he will cherish, so I thought I better get started soon!
I tried to file the blank I bought, and it is anything but acceptable. I cut a blank of my own and tried to flat grind it and ruined it also.
Any help I can get from this forum will be greatly appreciated.
I am struggling to keep both side of the blade symmetrical. Does anyone have any pointers they can share.
Thanks to everyone in advance,
Jon
 
Well Jon, Please allow me to introduce my self. I am an artist blacksmith who makes a few knives. I'm about 70 miles north east of Knoxville so we are almost neighbors. The third weekend of March is the North Carolina Area Blacksmiths meeting at Big Blu Hammer in Madisonville each year. Come over Friday afternoon for some good visiting and supper along with tail gate sales. Demonstrations, tail gate sales and lunch are on Saturday. We just bring cots and sleeping bags and crash in the shop for Friday night. The third weekend in April is the Batson Blade Symposium at Tannehill State Park, Alabama. I get there on Wednesday, set up my tailgate sales and start visiting and learning until noon on Sunday. The third weekend in May will be the Southeastern Blacksmiths Conference in Madison, Georgia. Oh yeah and the first weekend after Labor Day is the Alabama Blacksmith conference at Tannehill. Weekend after next is the ABS Blade Symposium in Troy, Ohio. The third weekend in September is the Quad State Blacksmith Conference in Troy. I will be at all of these, except the ABS Blade Symposium. I can't make this one but there will be a bunch of Dogs at every one of these events. Going to these things is the best way to learn blacksmithing and bladesmithing. Next to that is this forum and asking questions.

You need some help getting your grinds even? Well, you get to where you can do that the same way you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice, practice, practice! But one of Fred Rowe's Bubble Jigs will help.
 
Jon, I've visited Wayne and you couldn't ask to hang out with a friendlier, more knowledgable fellow. I learned a great deal in a few short hours watching him work in his shop. Take his advice an seek out any local smiths, makers or like-minded groups you can find, as well as studying here or from books. Don't be put off if you don't forge, I promise you can still learn from those that do. (I'm strictly a stock-removal guy myself, so far.)

Your local bookseller or library may have a recent copy of Knives Annual; each edition has a large listing of makers and organizations so you can find one near you.

Practice practice practice is definitely a huge part of the equation as well. Whether it's knifemaking, playing an instrument, or performing surgery, hardly anyone gets it right the first time ;)
 
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Welcome to the pound Jon.

The advice you have already got is good advice. Learn all you can and put it to practice. We are here to help.

Larry
 
Thanks for the encouragement and welcome guys.
I will be sure to check out the links James.
Wayne, I will try to make it to one of the meets. I find that I learn better by watching. I am a very visual learner.
Looking forward to learning all I can,
Jon
 
Jon,

What do you have for grinding tools? That will be a MAJOR factor in how you can get the results you are looking for.

Grinding advise is worthless if you don't have a grinder and filing advise is equally worthless if you are working on pre-hardened blade blanks.

Basically, there are a lot of factors and your tool setup will point you in a direction. Let us know what you have and then we can help. Don't run out and buy stuff until you get to know how helpful it will really be. A lot of people buy stuff and find out later that they needed something else more.
 
Welcome. Listen to what the experience guys ( I did NOT say oldtimers) say and go from there.
The internet is full of "experts" but some of the real ones are here. True-ly. I'm not one of them BTW.
Enjoy yourself, lots of pics and some videos here will be helpful for you. Dozier
 
Welcome Jon...I was new here myself just a couple of months ago. And I have learned a lot from the tutorials section. You will be surprised at how much knowledge is here.
 
Bob Warner said:
Jon,

What do you have for grinding tools? That will be a MAJOR factor in how you can get the results you are looking for.
Grinding advise is worthless if you don't have a grinder and filing advise is equally worthless if you are working on pre-hardened blade blanks
Basically, there are a lot of factors and your tool setup will point you in a direction. Let us know what you have and then we can help. Don't run out and buy stuff until you get to know how helpful it will really be. A lot of people buy stuff and find out later that they needed something else more.
Click to expand...

Hi Bob,
I have a 1x30 belt sander, a 4½" grinder, files and a dremel. Not much that is for sure. I have a makeshift forge of sorts so I can anneal if I need to.
Thanks to James Terrio I found the tutorial that Ryan Minchew posted on Texasbowhunter.com and it has been very helpful. The plunge cut was giving me a lot of problems and Ryan's tutorial presented it in a way I could better understand. I am going to keep plugging along and let time (and mistakes) be my teacher!
Thanks again to everyone for their advice.
Jon
 
May I ask where in NC you are? I live in wilkesboro nc. I have started back after 15 years if you would like you can come and use my shop and I may be able to help you atleast get started. I am trying to get back into the grove of it and am having to relearn some things but am willing to help anyway I can.
 
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