A Hopeful New Bladesmith Starting Out

Yotestalker said:
When I built my first home over 30 years ago, I used a hammer to attach every single board, shingle, etc. Not a single air tool ever touched that jobsite. Today, every home is built using air nailers. They’ll both do the same job but one makes it easier.
My point, that many if you seemed to not understand, is that a man can work around obstacles and achieve the same results until he can afford an easier route.
It had nothing at all to do with knife making.
It doesn’t take a carpenter to realize an air nailer is quicker and easier than a hammer when building a home. It doesn’t take a knife maker to tell a guy he can make his own tongs, use channel locks, or find some other alternative that’ll work for now. And I didn’t deserve being scolded for doing so.
That’s all I’ve got to say. Maybe I’ll find a different knife making place to hang out. A few guys here seem to think only seasoned knife makers have half a brain and everyone else are simply idiots.
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I do believe you were trying to say "as cheap as POSSIBLE", while DevinT's reply was aimed at "as CHEAP as possible (is not the best)". Which I think both are valid statements, as I've said in my previous post.

But that being said, you did go to great lengths trying to prove a man with 41 years experience wrong, telling him he is "just repeating what he's been told by others". That kind of communication won't get you friends anywhere. Being a business owner, I bet you never sat with a new customer and told them "listen, the way you're doing things is wrong, I'm gonna show you how to do it cheaper" - cause the fact is, cheap and good don't cancel eachother out, nor do they make eachother true. You and I both signed up here as newcommers, presumably hoping to walk away with good advice, some guidance and input from people who have been doing this and have been doing it with lots of success.

Most here probably started the way you and I are starting - scraping together what they could, buying what they couldn't make. Honestly, no one said that was a bad approach. The main point is, you came on strong trying to defend your opinion, while in reality it wasn't even challenged. And I'm telling you this as someone who is completely neutral in this since I signed up only yesterday.

Anyway, I got what I wanted from this thread so the mods can feel free to lock/delete it if it isn't possible to end the fight another way.

Cheers
 
Yotestalker,
My only response is, "How mane sets of tongs have you made."

As an additional comment - FIF is about the worst example for a new maker as to how to make tools or knives. It is a TV competition that puts nearly unreasonable constraints on experienced makers to see how they cope with things. It is not about good knives or good techniques.

It isn't "my show", I am merely the moderator who tries to keep the threads on track and avoid fights, bad info, and guide new makers on how to make knives. As you said, you are free to post what you want as long as it is within the rules, good information, and good forum conduct.
 
@Yotestalker It wasn't the opinion that angered people, it was your attitude and the disrespect plain and simple. You're too ignorant to realize that you sound like an arrogant know-it-all, who came out of nowhere to tell a guy with 41 years of experience that he is full of shit and he only repeats what he hears. I really do hope you go elsewhere and repeat the same garbage, other sites will ban you even faster than this one.
 
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Good job Hoss, there goes another one !!! How are we ever gonna learn to build a car from the ground up with nothing but a cresant wrench now?!?
 
To get things back on track, would you guys recommend getting a Bacho 5 pieces file set? Bacho should be quite good and sets is pretty much 80% of what I can get in Croatia, there's a really slim chance I might find a separate bastard double cut, half round, flat single cut from a really good maker around my place. So I hope a set of a good maker files should be fine. Plus maybe 1 or 2 Stihl chain files?

Also, talking bout files... Do i need much more than a double cut, single cut and a round file for start? I've read topics with people taking about a couple files, and then I've read about people talking about 6-7 different files.

Keep in mind, I'm asking for basic file typea I can start with. Later I can add to the collection.
 
I've heard good things about Bahco files. I think I know of the 5 piece set you're talking about, and it looks like a decent beginners set. Make sure to get a file card to clean the steel from the file, a scrap piece of brass will work as well.

A cheap set of precision needle files would help as well.
 
From what I saw they only have two sets of 5 - 200 mm and 250 mm so you probably know what I'm talking about :)
Does chalk really help against clogging?

And also, the set commes with a square bastard file. Can this one be used for checking the blade after hardening? I don't think I'll use the square one for anything andI presume I'd want a separate file for testing the hardening, but is it important how coarse or fine it is?
 
Can't you get car leaf springs from a junkyard? This is often 5160 or something similar. A good steel for cutlery and relatively easy to acquire and learn to work with, by what I've heard.
 
Can and will :) but they're not that easy to find, on car junkyards they sell them for a lot of money as spare parts, and I only have one metal junkyard relatively close to me. But i Have other stuff like mower blades, couple old wrenches. I plan on using all that stuff to practice forging, obly I won't even try to heat treat the mistery steel
 
Well lets see,- for one I'm still here which at times I wonder about. Sheesh folks cool it down.
"I'm pretty sure what I will pick and trash the rest" ( first knife sold 1977)
Ken.
 
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