2 more knife nuts

Joined
Oct 13, 1999
Messages
175
My son and nephew are starting their first knives. Talk about the blind leading the blind. Oh well, we are going to have a ball.
The problem is that I said they could do anything they wanted, so I had them draw up their designs. My son chose a 14" Bowie knife, and my nephew chose a 16" Tanto with a wooden sheath. I guess I should have put some limitations on style. I just hope they don't get discouraged on their first effort.
I told them they had to do 95% of the work, I may cheat a little on that. But I already know that 2 more are hooked.

John

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http://www.toptexknives.com/yeackley.htm My contribution to the world of knife fanatics.

http://www.sixgunner.com/blumagnum/default.htm
 
Hello John,

Audra here, In my experience with the kids making knives, I did the same as you, told them they could make what ever they wanted. Funny how over the next few days or weeks there wants changed. As they struggled to make there first knife, they found that perhaps they really did'nt like a Mirror polish? and that maybee the blade didn't need to be that long. or that just two pins would look better that the original drawing ( with 15 PINS ) I am not sure wether my children ever finished the very first knife that they designed but they made some really nice ones since. They never gave up, but on occasion have changed there designs.
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I think the most important part for any kid is to just be in the shop with you !! Your friend.. Audra Draper
 
My oldest son, 19 is now living with me here in FL. He enjoys working in the shop and I have him helping with Kydex, drilling tang holes and working on the equipment. The only problem is our difference in musical tastes!!
This weekend he started his first complete knife......
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He's an art student and a REALY good artist. His idea is to finish it in imitation ivory so he could do some scrimshaw on it.
It started out as one of my Tanto Neck Knives with a 3.5" blade. Well......I think it's going to wind up as a 2.5" blade!! The hollow grind went OK, it was the Tanto Point that gave him the trouble. I suggested that he shorten the handle and make the overall knife shorter to match!!!
He burned his fingers, ground his fingers, and dropped the knife in the 5 gallon pail of water in front of the grinder.... I had to leave the shop for a few minutes so he wouldn't see me laughing. When he saw the smirk on my face as I returned he REALY got MAD!!
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After all the fun, the knife is now ready for heat treat. He said that waiting for a few days when we do another run is fine by him.....It will give his fingers a few days to cool off!!
The best part of the whole thing was the time spent together in the shop. He now realizes what it takes to make grinds look right and why starting off with a small knife isn't a bad idea. I'm looking forward to watching him finsish it. I told him I would call Sheffields and order a few square yards of handle material!!!!
Neil

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Talonite, new pics, knives in stock soon!

http://blackwoodknives.com
 
It's great when kids have ambition, I just try and help them scope their projects so that they can finish them. When my son picks a really big task I help him find the easiest way to tackle the problem. I explain the advantages of my tricks and provide encouragement as he goes along. When he picks projects that I think he can handle, I give less advice and more encouragement. He's going to be a hell of an engineer some day.

I would help your proteges by picking easy materials to work with. 5160 works well for large knives and is easy to work compared with stainless. You can even do your own heat treat. I would also try and arrange a schedule for working on the knives. This helps kids get things done. Maybe they can use a somewhat obtuse sabre grind for the edge and remove less material from the blades.
 
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