My advice to any n00b in any vertical is hurry up and do the things you can before someone tells you it is impossible.
Once people give you advice you start taking it as gospel because, well, these are the experts, they must know something. There are things you won't even bother trying once you know that you "need this" or "have to do that"... There is a degree of "paying one's dues."
I would advise you to do everything you already can with what you already have before spending a penny on new equipment. (Don't let SWMBO see this line, but instead make sure she reads the next one).
Every piece of equipment you hear about in these forums is absolutely necessary, and you can't properly make a knife of any kind without each and every one.
If you follow me, you will notice that I just purchased (and it should be here this weekend finally) The AmeriBrade Mastery Package. That is 3K and some. You absolutely don't need it, and you can see what I have been doing with my 4x36 that I think I may have gotten for $10 or $15 and a few modifications, and my pair of Delta 1x30's. However, I don't want to spend my shop time tweaking and modifying equipment that will serve no other purpose. I put some time and effort and even welding into my gouge sharpening station and use it every single time I turn bowls on the wood lathe. But if I had to screw around with it, I would have just spent the money on the Wolverine or something like that.
You will also find that just ordered last night for another 2K or a little less the Grizzly G0781 Mill. You absolutely do not need a mill to make knives. You don't even need a mill to make folding knives, even slip joints. As a matter of fact, in Don Robinson's book "My Way" (the first one) that he gets some bad comments for using so much machining equipment in, early on he makes the statement "A good accurately aligned drill press can substitute for a mill". Keep in mind, that means different techniques rather than simply using a DP as a mill which is a no-no. I took the time to get my DP working as well as it can. It is properly aligned, and if I am careful and plan my cuts right, I can maintain a very high degree of accuracy and precision. However, it is not the route I want to go. It is tweaky for my tastes, and although I can make it work, and have proven that to myself, it is not optimal. I may relegate it to solely woodwork, or it could have some part even after the mill is installed, that is yet to be decided.
I personally have no interest in being a blacksmith. I don't want to swing a big old hammer, invest in a hydraulic press, or power hammer, or even employ 2 young lads with sledge hammers... And I really don't want to buy an anvil. All that said, I don't need a forge, and the accoutrements that go with it. So I ordered a HT oven, which will probably be another $1K+ and is still on back order.
You can work with metals like "mystery meat" old files, old saw blades, leaf springs, and whatever you find laying on the road. These things can be hardened with an Oxy-Acetylene torch or even a map-gas torch and a bucket of old french fry oil or whatever. But, I personally want to get the optimal (within my abilities) HT on my blades, and since the numbers have been determined, and the HT furnaces tend now to all come with programming, I decided to invest in that. I could have begged around for local makers to HT my stuff, or I could have packaged my stuff up and sent them out to the services and paid their fees and waited their times... That is not really compatible with my personality or my interests. I am more of a saute chef than a baker.
I can tell you my strategy, but much of it is determined by what I know about myself, the orientation of my shop, and other ventures that it must cater too at the same time. We build a shop that is 40x22 and has a 20x22 upstairs. The original intent was that I would have my "dream shop" and my wife would have an art studio upstairs. We put in a big mirror so we could practice shag dancing up there as well. Things happened, and we let my son move in to that space and all her stuff got shoved downstairs into my "dream" shop. On top of that, she decided to start refinishing old furniture and selling it in her booth at the antiques mall, in addition to working on stained glass. So my "dream shop" lost a serious 1/3 in area. And in sharing a shop I can't leave anything go. If I turn a bowl, those shavings have to be cleaned up before I leave the shop. Stuff like that, goes with sharing a shop space. I just build that into my shop time as part of it. Sometimes feels like back in school again.
That said, my side of the shop houses the normal woodworking things, Table Saw, Band Saw, Drill Press, Lathe, Scroll Saw, Oscillating Spindle Sander, Router Table, Jointer, Planer, 60 Gallon Air compressor, 2 2'x4' workbench and assembly table, and a 2'x4' track saw table. However, it also holds my soap making stuff, a small amount of stuff for melting my beeswax and currently extracting honey. And, tucked in the way, are a bunch of antique tools I have not gotten around to refurbishing and hand saws that I have not sharpened or remade handles for. And, now, my band saw with stand and modified table, my modified 4x36, and my pair of 1x30's are all jockying for space.
1. Determine the space you have
2. Determine what tools you have that can do double duty
3. Determine what you plan on doing vs what you can have other people do
4. Determine what you are willing to give up
5. Determine what you are willing to live without
Most things are a compomise between money, space, and time. If you are creating a business, these all translate to money. If you are creating a hobby, then time spend doing any aspect of it should be enjoyable. So spending $1000 to do something faster only makes sense if it is $1000 faster for a business, or is $1000 worth of your time that you don't enjoy doing the hobby.
Everything can be done with hand tools. Doesn't mean it should be, or that you have the patience to do so. One doens't need a band saw, but after cutting out liners, bolsters, blade, and spring for one knife with a junior hacksaw, I personally decided I needed one. You would soon find out how much of my black belt training I remember if you tried to take it away.
YMMV. Try things the hard way, you may enjoy it. And, remember that just because a tool has a plug, doesn't mean it requires no skill to use. The nice thing about power tools is that you can destroy a piece of work much faster.
Lastly, I started this with the intent on making mechanical blades. Folders, pocket knives, slip joints, lock backs, liner locks, balisongs, switchblades, and so on. I may do some kitchen cutlery at some point, but I am not interested in making any of the stuff from Forged in Fire. So, I started right off in folders. From comments I have seen, this is not the correct way to start knife making. Apparently one should start off with simple fixed blade knives and progress to such things as their precision and accuracy improve. So following my lead may not be the best strategy, unless you share the same goals. If someone new were starting out, even with my goals, i would suggest they follow this path:
1. Do a full kit knife fixed blade
2. Do a full kit knife folding blade
3. Try to reproduce 1 aspect of the kit knife (e.g. the scales or liners/bolsters or blade/springs) without using the kit part
4. Try to reproduce more of it without relying on the kit parts
5. Do your own design
Ask questions. Do research. Ask more questions.
