And so it begins....

J

js19

Joined
Feb 25, 2015
Messages
13
First, I'd like to say thanks to you guys, helping me choose some good starter gear and give some great advice. Here's what I have so far-

http://imgur.com/a/8bXwg

Drill press/drill bits
Files (Heavy duty and fine)
Vise/drill press vise
Hacksaws/blades
Sandpaper (4 different grits)
Clamps, c and bar multiple sizes
Center punch/awl


I've got everything I need to start!! Going to pick up my 1x30 belt sander and some drum sander chucks here in the next couple days.

I am so excited to start this adventure, thank you so much everyone for the help, I'm sure I'll have tons more questions in the future.

In fact, here's a couple - besides trollsky, 3riverblades, and Gough, who on youtube would be beneficial for me to watch?

And how do you guys go about getting steel? I have quite a few factories and junkyards around me i'm sure I could use, i'm just curious as to what you guys do/what the best method is.


Thanks again and happy knife making!
 
Hey buddy, glad to see you've made the dive. I'll pass to you what I've had preached to me. Buy a known steel. 1084 from Aldo the New Jersey steel baron is great steel. Use something you can find a novel of information about heat treat with. Truck springs and stuff you don't know for sure. And 1084 is easy to heat treat.
 
As Viral said, 1084 is a great steel to start with. Don't use the steel from junk yards as you never know what you are getting, start with a known steel that has known qualities for working it. On another topic, you can pick up knife magazines that will give you a ton of information about where to buy steel from. Th NJ Steel Baron is a good one (as already mentioned) as is Admiral Steel out of Alsip, IL. But there are still others too. Hope this helps some.....................
 
Welcome to the addiction. Also you might want to beef up your grits on the sandpaper. You're going to want to get to at least 400 on the steel and ad fine as you can get for your handles most likely. For hand sanding you can clamp a flat piece of wood 2x4 or 1x3 etc. To your workbench then spring clamp your blade to it when you're filing/sanding. For videos check out our very own Nick Wheelers :thumbup:
 
JS19,

Welcome to club from a fellow greenhorn who is just starting and trying to learn. In regards to videos Walter Sorrells youtube channel is another really good one with tons of information and tutorials from grinding to what tools are good to get. I have watched many of his videos over and over for some insight. For steel I am like you and I just ordered my first steel from Texasknifemakers.com, they have some 1080 steel in stock which I hope will fit my needs at this point. One pointer I do have with my limited knowledge is that I bought some of soft weldable steel you find at Lowes or Home Depot, and practiced grinding bevels on it on my 1x30 before starting on my first knife that was out of a file. It was a good way to get an idea how it worked without messing up my actual knife material. Good luck on starting out and enjoy the adventure.
 
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