5' by 8' possible blade shop... what would you do?

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pullrich

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May 4, 2010
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You have a 5' by 8' space behind your house in an urban setting. It's out of the rain but otherwise accommodations are minimal.
Electricity but no heat or insulation. Neighbors are close so forget about an anvil. So maybe you'll focus on stock removal. How would you equip this space to produce fixed blade knives? What grinder if a grinder at all? Just vice, files, and lots of scraping?
 
I'm working with a 45 degree bench in the corner of my garage - I've got a 1x30 harbor freight grinder a 1x42 vertical two wheel grinder, a benchtop drill press, angle grinder, dremel, files, clamps and that's it at this point. forging is out but I have HTed in an old tin can with decent results- I put it in on a couple of bricks in a metal wheelbarrow - must have looked pretty comical to the neighbors.
 
My neighbor started making knives after coming by my shop for years he's set up with about the same dimensions. 1x30 and a good bench with the industry Standards. I do all his HT for him but he's putting out very nice blades with what little he has. Funny about the neighbors being problem my neighbor to the left is a horseshoer and to the right an aspiring blade smith. You can hear the hammers ringing all down my street.
 
Insulate it with Styrofoam insulation and get an oil-filled radiator heater. 5 X 8 is big enough to use a 2 X 72 grinder in
 
Start simple. Put in a strong bench/table that runs the full length of the space. Mount a couple of vices on the table. Run a multi-drop power strip to the table. Put a 1x30 belt sander on it. Put a bench grinder on it. Get a portable variable speed bandsaw, mount it vertically and pit it on the bench. Put a small drill press on it. Get a flexible shaft Dremel and put it nearby. Install a tool cabinet underneath it. Fill the cabinet with clamps, drill bits and diamond burrs (the burrs are for the Dremel). Put something on the wall that allows you to put your files in individual pockets or slots, and arrange them so that you can easily find the kind you need (sort by type and cutting depth). Put in numerous light sources... different types.... fluorescent, halogen, incandescent and natural. Make sure you have adequate ventilation.

Under the bench put another cabinet that contains supplies... sandpaper, handle materials, billets (all marked as to type).

Build a shelf on one of the short walls to hold safety equipment (respirator, hearing protection, gloves, goggles/safety glasses). On the other short wall build some shallow shelves with lips to hold chemicals... Ferric Chloride, Acetone, Denatured Alcohol, Tung Oil, and so forth. Better yet, put in a shallow Rubbermaid cabinet to hold them, so they won't be exposed to sparks.

Outside, get a barrel that catches rainwater that you can use for keeping your metal cool while grinding.

Put a sign on the door that says "Enter At Your Own Risk".
 
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I put my grinder on a bench with wheels and I grind outside in the shade of the trees or garage door. Get yourself a nice bench and figure out how much work space you need and then put grinders, buffers and sanders everywhere else :D
 
I recommend Uncle Al's grinder from Riverside Machine. It is not quite as much as a KMG, but it works very well. It is the only grinder I own. Al is a great guy, too. Just build a truly solid table and arrange stuff around the edge. Don't bolt the drill press down, so you can slide forward when using and slide back to get out of the way. Depending on funds, you can put a vise in the center front, a grinder on one side, and a finishing area on the side away from the grinder. Get a portaband and put it on the wall or get the setup to clamp it into a vise, or get the setup to put it on your work table with a table of its own. Full shelves under the table, so that the shelf or shelves are the same size as table to. boxes of stuff under the bottom shelf. Get a couple of good drill press vises that you can use to hold stuff indepedently or clamp in your main vise at a right angle to get a great hold on blades or tangs. I put neoprene on the jaws of one. Also, take a couple of thin pieces of copper and fold them to fit over your vise jaws and super glue neoprene to them. These soft jaws will seriously grab onto blades when you wrap them in some tape. They aren't coming out. Good for peening tangs without scratching blades. get a couple of disposable propane torches, a ton of sandpaper, a lot of finishing stones from mcmaster carr (they are wonderful). No forge and anvil is bad. Forge and anvil opens the door to doing a lot. Heat treating your own stuff will require an anvil to straighten a lot, too. Just take the anvil and bury the bottom few inches in a bucket/barrel. The dirt stops all ringing and muffles it. You will have to give the neighbor a knife, but its worth it.

have fun!

kc
 
Thanks for the tips. I've been reading up on these topics on these forums and elsewhere but sometimes the guidance is based on larger work spaces and deeper wallets than my own. I don't want to start off with a $500+ grinder so it's a relief that there are other options.

KC: Hmmm I'll have to think about forge and anvil.
 
Locking casters can also be used for forges and heat treat ovens. I wouldn't use either one of these inside a space that small anyway. Just wheel them out the door when you need to use them outside. Wood workers who have small spaces go through the same ordeals. Maybe you could search the web for small wood shop ideas and adapt them for knive making.
 
If you have a blank long wall, buy an 8 foot sheet of 3/4 inch plywood, cut it in half and make yourself a 2 x 8 bench with a lower shelf using 4 x 4's for legs and 2 x 4's for the framing. a 22-23 inch wide bench in more than wide enough I would think.
 
(Edit, Joe posted while I was typing, so this first part is a little redundant):

I would start with building a solid workbench. In my garage, we used 2x4s for the frame and solid core doors for the workbenches. With 2x4s in the back bolted to the wall and crosspieces for the frames, it is incredibly solid and wasn't very expensive. For a 5x8 work area, I would consider building the workbench 2 or 2.5 foot deep across one 8' length. I might also build it down one 5' side for an L shape, depending on what all you want to cram into the space.

With a 5x8 workshop, you will have to be brutal about deciding what to fit in and what you don't absolutely need, (my metal shop doubles my workshop for tools for the rest of the house - I don't have enough space to have a regular workshop and separate knifemaking shop).

Some things to consider: I knew I wanted a mill/drill. With limited space, I decided I did not absolutely need a drill press in addition to the mill/drill, so I don't have one - I use the mill/drill for all my drilling. I know that I will only have space for one belt grinder, I won't be able to set up 2 or 3 at once. I do have a heat treating kiln, but I sometimes think I would be better off to have the shelf space and send off the knives for professional heat treating. Yes, a forge and anvil are really nice; they are also not critical to making knives, and would take up a lot of precious space.

For me, building the shop well was half the fun.
 
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I worked FULL TIME making knives in a shop just a few feet bigger than this.
It was like an 8' x 12' plus a small closet area for my heat treat oven.
The shop area I work from now ( Full Time) is the size of a small one car garage.
One thing both the shops have/had is insulation, I could heat and cool it how I like it. BIG plus.

Good luck with your knife making.

TA
 
After assessing my shop, I concluded that I could do almost all of my work on 12" wide benches. If you can manage that, you'll have plenty of room to do what you need to do. Use lots of shelves-high and low. A sears 2 X 42 grinder is a nice machine. You can leave the oil-filled radiator heater on 24 hours without worrying about fire.
 
My actual shop space is smaller than that in the garage. I do a lot of finish work in the house though.
I use a 2x42 grinder from sears, though I'm really looking forward to when I upgrade. It's just fine for a new maker on a budget, by the time the flaws are what's holding you back you'll know if you want to invest more into this or just find work arounds.
Essentially I have a work bench along one side with a drill press, the 2x42 and then a 4x36. The 4x36 has an 8" disk sander on the side that I use a fair bit. Turning around I have a mobile stand with some storage and a vice. I keep an angle grinder there as well for rough cutting stock to shape and cutting pins and such to length. My little forge is actually on the floor by the garage door, behind me if I'm at the 4x36. For space reasons I have to have the garage door open to use it, though for safety reasons I would anyway.
 
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