- Joined
- Oct 21, 2002
- Messages
- 232
This all began when my son asked me if he could build a knife for his school project. The project was about project management and the student was to come up with something to build and keep show how the entire thing was made from start to finish including research timelines and daily log. I told him I was fine with it, but he had to get permission from his teacher before we could begin. I thought this would never happen in these politically correct times, but I was proven wrong. My son (Robert) submitted his project proposal to his teacher and she approved it. So here is a work in progress of Robert making his first knife.
We first went over shop safety and I showed him how to operate the different tools that would be used and what safety gear was required. Since he wanted to forge the knife I had him make this hook so he could get a feel for how metal moved when it was hot, and at the same time make something start to finish fairly quickly.
Robert decided he wanted to make a knife that we could use in the kitchen and originally wanted to make a small chefs knife. However, due to time constraints on my part (out of town for work) we decided that a paring knife or steak knife would be easier. So we started out with a 5/8 O1 rod and began heating it in the forge.
Robert originally wanted to go for an integral so thats what he was shooting for in the beginning. Here he is at the anvil:
Here it the rough forged blade a top view:
And here is the side view as forged with the knife he was trying to copy beside it.
Next came a little time on the KMG roughing out the profile. At this time he decided that the integral would not work so we went with a partial tang.
Here is the mortised handle with hidden pins in place.
Heres the finished blade;
A closer look at the maple burl handle and mosaic pin.
Here is the proud new knife maker with his finished product.
Working with my son was a lot of fun and its great to see the pride he takes in his work. He already asked me if we could make some swords. I told him sure, but we needed to work our way up to that. I can see a salt pot build coming soon. I hope everyone enjoyed looking at these pics as much as I did helping Robert make his first knife.
We first went over shop safety and I showed him how to operate the different tools that would be used and what safety gear was required. Since he wanted to forge the knife I had him make this hook so he could get a feel for how metal moved when it was hot, and at the same time make something start to finish fairly quickly.
Robert decided he wanted to make a knife that we could use in the kitchen and originally wanted to make a small chefs knife. However, due to time constraints on my part (out of town for work) we decided that a paring knife or steak knife would be easier. So we started out with a 5/8 O1 rod and began heating it in the forge.
Robert originally wanted to go for an integral so thats what he was shooting for in the beginning. Here he is at the anvil:
Here it the rough forged blade a top view:
And here is the side view as forged with the knife he was trying to copy beside it.
Next came a little time on the KMG roughing out the profile. At this time he decided that the integral would not work so we went with a partial tang.
Here is the mortised handle with hidden pins in place.
Heres the finished blade;
A closer look at the maple burl handle and mosaic pin.
Here is the proud new knife maker with his finished product.
Working with my son was a lot of fun and its great to see the pride he takes in his work. He already asked me if we could make some swords. I told him sure, but we needed to work our way up to that. I can see a salt pot build coming soon. I hope everyone enjoyed looking at these pics as much as I did helping Robert make his first knife.
