2 Pieces of Advice.....

[Willie71]

A Sears 2 x 42 will force you to learn the patience to save up for a 2 x 72.

I spent three years on a 2x42 converted to 72”. 2hp vs sure saves a lot of time hand sanding.

 

[jdm61]

If you are trying to make bowies, you don't really have a pressing need for 20 skinner/caper sized "shop knives" so slow down.

 

[J. Doyle]

J. Doyle you could have just text me.

Haha....I figured if I posted it in front of lots of witnesses it might sink in better.

 

[dirtyphil]

Grant this new maker patience...I️ get impatient with hand sanding and end up starting over with course grits cuz I️ didn’t take long enough the first time!

 

[HSC ///]

J. Doyle you could have just text me.

LMAO, John you provide me so much enjoyment, thank you for that

 

[stezann]

New makers often look at the high quality of the expert makers knives and at their expensive equipment and think it is the fancy machines bringing in the quality. They rush for the 2x72 and wonder why the smiling grind lines.
A cheap dial indicator, a micrometer can bring perfection even if you only have handtools and the correct attitude. With the correct attitude, the fancy machines will do what you want, without, you will do what the fancy machine like the best, just eating steel faster

 

[One Armed]

3. You can get things flatter than you might think on the "poor man's surface grinder" aka a good grinding magnet and flat platen.

Or just build your own surface grinder attachment, like I did. And your blades will be near almost perfectly flat! Also makes for super easy & efficient way to taper the tangs. Can build for a fraction of buying one.

But deffinately great advice. Taking one's time is most important.

 

[Jason Fry]

I spent three years on a 2x42 converted to 72”. 2hp vs sure saves a lot of time hand sanding.

Same here. After 150 knives on a Craftsman, I was able to build a step pulley 2x72. Another 100 knives later I was finally able to go variable speed. If you learn from what you have, by the time you can get better equipment, you'll have good technique.

 

[Maelstrom78]

3. You can get things flatter than you might think on the "poor man's surface grinder" aka a good grinding magnet and flat platen.

Yep and then go to the surface plate with some 120 grit adhered to it. I still do this even with a flat disc grinder. Do the tang and liners/ scales as well. If making a stacked or Wa handle I do the mating surfaces that way as well. 120 grit is enough if you have reasonable fit up already. 80 might be good too. Faster but I'm not sure if it will affect your glue lines. Probably not but I have always used 120.

So flat platen/disc and then onto the surface plate. You can show your skill with blade grinds but glue lines and joints are important and very noticeable as well.

 

[Ian Fifelski]

3. You can get things flatter than you might think on the "poor man's surface grinder" aka a good grinding magnet and flat platen.

A wall magnet (for holding tools and such) works great for this and is easier to find and cheaper than an actual grinding magnet. As long as you have a steady hand when approaching/coming off the belt and you have a perfectly flat platen, this is very effective and cheap.

 

[J. Piontek]

This is great advice thank you John.

Another thing that helped me starting out was to pick a style of knife and make a bunch of them, instead of switching back and forth between different styles. It helped me get a better understanding of the process and improve on every knife.

It also helps that I just got a surface grinder this weekend

 

[Randy3000]

When starting out, i used the cheapest material possible. Steel is cheap already, and i used brass only since it's cheapest. I used wood i split and dried off trees i found cut up on the side of the road.

I'm about 4 months in and i still use 1095, brass, and free wood i got from a furniture maker. I have recently started small amounts of texturing on wood and filing threads on bolsters. Once the knife is done there isn't more you can learn from it unless you file or beat a stamp into it.

I still struggle with good design. Probably will for awhile. At least i can get decent grinds now. Need to work on my nail pulls. Need to start doing swedges. I don't normally have a problem with steel warping but it's happened a couple times, i just need to remember to check after the quench.

 

[AVigil]

....for newer makers or those wanting to start out in knifemaking.

This is not pointed at anyone in particular but rather a seemingly large group of people in general based on my personal experiences/various readings on the forums and similar experiences of some of my peers.

These two points cause people more headache and grief than almost any other issues I can think of. They are a MUST to understand if you want to be successful as a knifemaker, whether full time or hobby maker.

1: Learn how to make stuff FLAT and STRAIGHT!!! I don't care what material or stage in the process you are working on, you will need to make it flat and/or straight in some way. Don't expect that others should provide you materials already in this state or that it will stay that way if they do. Learn to do this yourself or you will most likely struggle as a knifemaker.

2: Master the basic fundamentals of making a knife before moving on to more complex methods and embellishments. I can't begin to count all the times I see someone attempt complicated build methods and fancy embellishments and they don't have a clue as to nice proportions, good flow, pleasing lines, clean grinds and well done finishes. If you don't have a decent handle on those things, no amount of Damascus, filework, hamon or exotic materials is going to mean much of anything. Get a good grasp of the basics THEN move on to the other stuff.

That is all.

Boom goes the dynamite

Words of wisdom

 

[John Cahoon]

Hi everyone, I have a question on flatness, I come from a measurement error and tolerances perspective related to land surveying. There are always acceptable tolerances, and unacceptable. Can someone define what is acceptable flatness? Is it 1/1000, 5/10000 or whatever, specifically related to full tangs. That's what I struggle with. I have a "flat" granite stone from a countertop scrap and just put an old USA made carpenter's square on it and one of them is not flat. I figure I can mic a piece to within about 2/1000, depending on the pressure I put on the knurled knob. It's an old quality made mic I've mostly used for reloading, i.e. not an HF. Can we put a number on this so us hacks have a goal to aspire to?

Thanks a lot,
John

 

[Busto]

You need to establish if it's concave or convex on a surface plate. It can be within 0.002th no matter where you measure but may not be FLAT due to warpage. They make a surface plate dial indicator where you can lay the material under indicator probe and draw it across the flat surface to check for thickness and run out.