Another new guy wants to try his hand.

[LHD]

I got the bug a while back and have been reading and studying as much as possible. I'm a long time knife nut and have been building things even longer so this is right up my alley.

I read 1234567890's noob primer post, the stickied how-tos and several of the complete works in progress posts. I've tailored my initial expectations based on all of them.

I'll be building in my garage shop which is primarily setup for woodworking. I dont have any files but I've got just about every kind of sander available, various grinders, buffers, saws, drill press and a CNC mill. I may be incorrect but I have a feeling I can accomplish 90% of what I need to do using a 2" belt sander, 12" disc sander, edge sander, spindle sander, drill press, flush trim bit in a router table and a handfull of hand tools. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

So I'm looking to make a small fixed blade with oak scales. I know boring old oak isnt what most people use but it was harvested from a 100+ year old tree on my family farm which we believe was planted by my great grandfather. I'm not equipped to heat treat so I'll need to outsource that and I'd like to do it somewhere local if possible. Since the heat treat is so important for the end product I figured I'd pick my steel based on what the heat treater I select is good at as long as its one of the common tool steels. W1, 01, D2, M2, A2 etc. That being said, where's the best place to get something heat treated and order stock close to Washington DC?

I've got several sketches that I'm going to rough out in wood this weekend. I'll post them and see what you guys think.

Thanks for any help and all the great picture posts I've been reading while I should be working.

 

[ballknives]

You definitly have enough tools to build a simple fixed blade knife. Steel can be purchased at sheffield or knife kits and Peters heat treat or Texas knifemakers supply can heat treat the blade.I am sure others are available also. Good luck and careful, it can be addicting.

 

[DesRosiers]

Where in VA do you live? There area number of very talented knifemakers in VA. Namely, Burt Foster who lives in Bristol. You may want to contact one of them and set up a visit. You will then be able to see what tools are used by a custom maker. It sounds like you have plenty of tools to build your knife though. A maker like Burt can also help you with the heat treating.
Good luck.
Adam.

 

[LHD]

Where in VA do you live? There area number of very talented knifemakers in VA. Namely, Burt Foster who lives in Bristol. You may want to contact one of them and set up a visit. You will then be able to see what tools are used by a custom maker. It sounds like you have plenty of tools to build your knife though. A maker like Burt can also help you with the heat treating.
Good luck.
Adam.

I'm in Northern VA, just outside Washington DC. Bristol is probably 6-8 hours from here.

I just spoke to the guy at Peter's Heat Treating and they seem really on the ball. For $72 they'll HT up to 20 pounds of steel, which sounds good to me but I could be wrong.

 

[LHD]

Here's my first attempt at a blade blank. I'll worry about the scales later. Tell me what you guys think. I welcome any and all criticism. I specifically went for an extra wide blade with plenty of bevel. I might make the bevel even larger on the blade side. I'm planning a flat grind but I'm not real sure if a hollow would be better.

Total lenght is 8 inches, 4 inches is blade.

 

[LHD]

Heres one with a larger bevel. Same size.

 

[12345678910]

I like the guard free aspect of the design, simplifies that part.



It's going to be really difficult to get your grinds to match with that design.

Especially the with the swedges too.

Try a design with a full height flat grind.
I think it is more forgiving.

 

[LHD]

I'm going to cut some blanks out of 2x4 at home and see how it works out. I'll try it both way and see where I end up.

 

[deker]

Depending on what your available time is and when you have stuff done, you could come up to the Fire & Brimstone Hammer-In in March to learn a bit. If you go with a simple carbon steel (1075/1084 or the like) I can help you heat treat it yourself at the hammer-in.

Drop me a PM and we can chat about it if you like.

-d

 

[DISHDASH]

Cant you just heat treat it in a fire then temper it in an oven?

 

[Wloch248]

Cant you just heat treat it in a fire then temper it in an oven?

You can anneal steel in a fire but to properly heat treat you need a little more than just a fire. You need a roaring fire and have to be able to tell the subtle differences in color when heated. A heat treat oven is preferable but a propane forge and a keen eye will do. You also have to have a proper quench oil for a proper heat treat. If doing a knife for the first time with the steels that LHD wants to use it would prob be good to send it out. If using 1080/1084 or another simple carbon steel that is forgiving you could try to do a home HT and hope for a good result.

 

[LHD]

I did a test run friday night and it came out extremely well. I plan on using 1/8" steel but to make sure the piece of 2x4 I used for the test didnt get to brittle I only milled it to 1/4". I can account for the difference in thickness when I find a good design and make some test scales.

I did a couple of different sizes, mostly because sketchup wouldn't print 1:1 and I had to play with the settings to get it to print it close to the right size. The one that felt the most natural was 9" OAL so my design wasn't too far off.

I'm definately going to have to change the bottom of the handle. The way I have the lug sticking forward is not comfortable at all. I'll probably have to enlarge it or at least make it less pointy. You do a mockup to find these issues, right? Any suggestions on how to redesign that would be appreciated.

Flatground.com has the best price on D2 flats I've found so far. Does anyone know where I can get M2 and H1 flats at a reasonable price?

 

[LHD]

Depending on what your available time is and when you have stuff done, you could come up to the Fire & Brimstone Hammer-In in March to learn a bit. If you go with a simple carbon steel (1075/1084 or the like) I can help you heat treat it yourself at the hammer-in.

Drop me a PM and we can chat about it if you like.

-d

I really want to use tool steels but I may still come check out the F&B event. Thanks for the offer too!

 

[LHD]

I forgot to mention I picked up some files today at Home Depot. I checked Lowes, Ace hardware and then Home Depot. I couldnt find what I was looking for so I bought a cheap set of husky's which are probably pretty horrible. I try to stay as far as possible from chinese cutlery but I figured a $10 set of 8 will suffice until I know what I'm looking for. Then I'll order a real set.

Plus its not bad to have a crappy set of files that you dont feel bad about screwing up when you need to redneck up a solution.

 

[DISHDASH]

You can anneal steel in a fire but to properly heat treat you need a little more than just a fire. You need a roaring fire and have to be able to tell the subtle differences in color when heated. A heat treat oven is preferable but a propane forge and a keen eye will do. You also have to have a proper quench oil for a proper heat treat. If doing a knife for the first time with the steels that LHD wants to use it would prob be good to send it out. If using 1080/1084 or another simple carbon steel that is forgiving you could try to do a home HT and hope for a good result.

Sorry my mistake. i have only just started learning about heat treating and then had a total brain fart. thanks for the info

 

[jll346]

Just starting out I would not go with D2 as it is expensive. But yes Flatground.com has the absolute best price on it and O1. The O1 is much cheaper than the D2 and is excellent. I still would get some 1075/1080 to start. I might even have some if interested. Just cover shipping.

 

[lonepine]

I'm definitely going to have to change the bottom of the handle. The way I have the lug sticking forward is not comfortable at all. I'll probably have to enlarge it or at least make it less pointy. You do a mockup to find these issues, right? Any suggestions on how to redesign that would be appreciated.

LHD
I took the liberty of playing around with your design. Whenever I do this the knife invariably ends up looking nothing like the original and I've turned it into MY concept of a knife. So just take a look at the modification I did to the handle and ignore the rest.

But I did notice that the bottom of your handle had a couple things that I thought might be a problem. The front finger area could be made more flowing, and I suggest at least a 1" diameter curve there. There is also a flat area at the rear of the handle that has me baffled. Was there a purpose for it? Anyway, I eliminated it and rounded the back end.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "lug sticking forward".

- LonePine
AKA Paul Meske, Wisconsin

 

[Matthew Stagmer]

LHD if you do decide to come to the hammer-in I can use your blade blank as a CNC demo and send you home with your blank.

Just thought I would offer that to you.

 

[LHD]

Here are pics of my mockup.

I carried it around a good amount and fiddled with it while I was watching tv. I think the handle needs a little bend and the bottom (pommel area) needs a complete redesign.

Just starting out I would not go with D2 as it is expensive. But yes Flatground.com has the absolute best price on it and O1. The O1 is much cheaper than the D2 and is excellent. I still would get some 1075/1080 to start. I might even have some if interested. Just cover shipping.

I'll shoot you a PM.

LHD
I took the liberty of playing around with your design. Whenever I do this the knife invariably ends up looking nothing like the original and I've turned it into MY concept of a knife. So just take a look at the modification I did to the handle and ignore the rest.

But I did notice that the bottom of your handle had a couple things that I thought might be a problem. The front finger area could be made more flowing, and I suggest at least a 1" diameter curve there. There is also a flat area at the rear of the handle that has me baffled. Was there a purpose for it? Anyway, I eliminated it and rounded the back end.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "lug sticking forward".

- LonePine
AKA Paul Meske, Wisconsin

The raised area on the back of the blade was an asthetic design that I liked. I was going to jimp it. I like the way it looks and feels on my mockup.

The lug I was talking about is the part is the bottom part of the handle that keeps your hand from sliding off. Its very uncomfortable and I'm definately going to have to change it. I'll try adding some curve to the handle like you did and cut another mockup.

LHD if you do decide to come to the hammer-in I can use your blade blank as a CNC demo and send you home with your blank.

Just thought I would offer that to you.

That would be great! I'd love to get working G-Code for one of my designs. Thanks for the offer.

 

[LHD]

Heres a quick redesign of the bottom of the handle.

I'm having more issues getting a similar curve to the one lonepine did that I'm happy with. I'll keep working on it.