Anybody ever try their hand at knifemaking?

mneedham

mneedham

Joined
Jul 8, 2006
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I figure that many of us have messed around with the concept a time or too.. There are some guys here that are very good at it, but I am curious how many folks with no particular talent (like me) have given it a shot. I found these rummaging around, all are about 15 years old, theres a Canadian skinner, carbon hunter with Oak from my place (used the crap out of this knife), and a dendritic D2 little guy. I have tried stock removal, but those are even less spectacular.... Anybody else?

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I like the one on the right side.. For some reason i always likes wooden handles. Looks simple and something that would make dinner every night..

sasha
 
Hey mn,

I think they look pretty decent for a first attempt. One of these days..............

I have an old bar of 440C, brass and some cocobolo, and micarta wood, along with a couple of knife making books - Sid Latham, David (?) Boye, and somebody else. One of these days...............................

On the other hand, I have a Cincinatti Machax, so there's really nowhere to go from here. :D

Doc
 
Doc,

Having now handled one, you won't get a lot of fight from me... The Machax is not the simple sharpened prybar that some might think... I plan on fooling around more with the knifemaking when I retire, I enjoyed making those.
 
I have been making knives for just about four years now. For me, it's a thoroughly enjoyable hobby, though I am certain that it will never go far beyond that; I am consistently blown away by the fit and finish of the knives that are being created by the professional makers who frequent this site.

I started off with kits, and have moved on to stock removal. As with many knife / wilderness enthusiasts, I am always on the lookout for the perfect bush knife (an impossible but rewarding search). This is all the more interesting when you can get involved in the design and construction processes.

By the way mneedham, the one on the top left looks like a great user - lots of character. Is it a Russell Green River carbon blade?

All the best,

- Mike
 
I actually have a Green River blade exactly like the one on the far left in the first and top in the second. I bought the blank at a rendevous and put scales on it. I was probably twelve its actually a great blade ive used it quite a bit. Its in my kitchen right now. Awesome slicer very sharp. I think I'm going to modify the blade and handle though turn it into a little nessie shape.
 
Mentor,

Yeah it was fun to fool around in the shop, very enjoyable. I actually made quite few of these pre-finished blade set-ups. I used to also make tiny little knives out of saw blade material that I got from a local lumber company. I eventually came to the conclusion that I don't have the skill/patience to get the finish that you are referring to... But I had fun.

Denverco,

Yes, that is a green river. I agree with you 100%, great cutter/user. I used to carry that knife in an old-style leather sheath I got from Dixie Gun and I never felt under-knifed.
 
Those a pretty nice! I especially like the one on the left! You should definitely get back into it when you have the time, those three came out great.

I have recently tried getting into knife making myself. But it's been slow going since I'm in school.
These two I made from 1075 steel, the first one was with Cocobolo and nickel silver pins, and the second one is Ironwood and aluminum pins. I've also done a couple hidden tang rehandles.
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I mess around with it. I don't have any delusions of becoming a knifemaker or anything, I just like to be able to do things myself.

My biggest problem is the lack of ability to heat-treat. I know you can do it the old fashioned way, with a magnet to check and a bath in old cooking oil, but I haven't had much luck with that. One brittle blade and one that didn't seem hardened at all. Heat-treating is really an art.

I mostly just rehandle stuff that gets beat up. I love wood, but lately have been making my own homegrown micarta. It's not really pretty, but it works and I get the pride of using something I made myself.

I tried some of the knife blade blanks available, but I'm a carbon steel guy and the pickins are slim so I just look for older kitchen knives and see what I can do with them.
 
My first "real" knife I made. I made tons of daggers swords etc. since I was 9 but they were made of whatever pieces of scrap metal I could find and they had no heat treat.

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I've tried on a few occasions with, at best, mediocre results.

What it has taught me is to admire and respect the skills of the people who do it well.
 
i am most of the way through making my first full tang tonight, i am waiting for the glue to dry and then i can shape the scales, sharpen and be done.

i have done a few small stick tangs from bits of saw blade and things, nothing too special.
 
Stingray - Those are very cool!

Shotgunner - I never actually tried heat treating, I had somebody do it for me... I would like to try forging at some point too...

3Wolves - love that rustic look:thumbup:

Skean Du - Yeah, I gained a new level of respect for some the pros!

Siguy -Post some pics, can't wait o see them.
 
I don't have pics here with me at work, but those are easily as good as my first. Keep on trucking guys. Your 50th knife won't look anything like your 1st.
 
Andy is right on. You'll get better the more you do it. It's alot of fun to create something with your own two hands and take pride in ownership. I think i'm close to 150 knives made so far this year. :D with the PSK knives making up a big part of that. I've made over 400 of them in the last 2 years.
Scott
 
Gossman Knives said:
Andy is right on. You'll get better the more you do it. It's alot of fun to create something with your own two hands and take pride in ownership. I think i'm close to 150 knives made so far this year. :D with the PSK knives making up a big part of that. I've made over 400 of them in the last 2 years.
Scott
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I wish I owned all 400.:D
 
This knife was the most efficient use of the piece of steel I had. Pretty much every dimension is maxed out. Extremely comfortable.

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I'm still working on my first. The forging was a lot of fun, and now the finishing is showing me where I messed up the forging :D

It's turning out to be quite the learning experience but I'm enjoying every minute of it.
 
I made four last year, they progress in skill level.
My first knife was made from a file, with G11 handles:
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The rest are O1, quenched in motor oil, tempered, then fitted with G11 handle scales.
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