Wanted to Try Knife Making

FrankCollins

New Member
I got interested in making a knife out of a makeshift forge when I watched this guy trying to make a screwdriver without any commercial forge. I figured I can do better than that and do a knife instead for the challenge since you need to have more effort and make a sharp edge for it to work. Off to look for projects here!

If you had a choice, would you create a makeshift forge or heat the metal up straight?

 
you can forge a small piece like the video with MAPP gas. You won't be able to forge a knife that way.
do some research on making a cheap forge.
 
On top of it all he’s using mild steel which won’t make a decent knife either.

You can get started in knife making pretty cheap if you pursue the forum.

Erik
 
Forging is only one part of making a knife. More important is selection of the proper steel for the job and the equipment that you have and good heat treating to harden the steel and then draw that hardness back. If you really want to get into forging knife blades I would recommend that you purchase The Master Bladesmith Advanced Studies in Steel. Don't worry about the "advanced Studies in steel" part. It is not too complex for the beginner.

Doug
 
Great book with lots of low budget options is the $50 Knife Shop. There is a section in the book on how to make a 1 brick forge. It works GREAT! It uses a propane torch and if you need more heat you can get a MAPP/Propane torch. If you have a decent torch already the forge should cost you less than 20 bucks to build, if you need to buy a torch 70 bucks should cover it. I have a small Atlas style forge I built and I still use the small 1 brick forge to heat treat smaller blades with.
 
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