Basic starter tools

Camillus

Camillus

Joined
Jun 3, 2015
Messages
2,119
Hi all,

I am a knife and tool junkie and am getting past the point where I am content with other's designs and wanted to start making a few knives myself.

I thought a good way to start would be to buy some knife blanks and scales, and get good at assembling the finished knife. I don't have enough room or time to do much more at this point in my life, but its early days.

I have a well equipped home workshop with hand tools (saws, chisels, clamps, rasps etc) and a medium sized Metabo bandsaw, a couple of routers, and a small bench grinder. I produce a bit of furniture in this shop.

Is there any particular tool that I should look to buy for fitting handles to knife blanks, doing final polishing etc? I am just looking for the common equipment, nothing too fancy.
 
have a look at the stickies here. You'll find your question answered and lots more good info to get started
 
You mention Belt Grinder or is it Belt Sander which is a knife makers most used power tool. For attaching scales you need a uniform flat surface you can use a belt sander or at least a pane of glass to make the surface flat flat flat.
 
What kind of handles are you planning for the knives you build? Slab handles on a full tang knife or a hidden tang that is set into a solid handle block?

Slab handles:
Tools for slab handles might include a disc sander to get the mating surfaces very flat. For a non-powered alternative, a thick sheet of glass, tile or any surface that is FLAT and smooth. You may also want to look into step drills/counterbores for drilling holes in your handle slabs for screws or Corby type bolts.

Hidden tang:
Hidden tang handles don't start with the handle. They start with the blade. You need squared up and even shoulders where the tang meets the ricasso (with a small radius in the corners). This will set you up well for fitting up the guard and then the handle. So a file guide, carbide faced if you can swing it, is a great tool for this task. Naturally, a drill press is a good idea for removing the bulk of the material from the tang pocket. Next, a handle broach is a great way to clean out the tang pocket. You don't need an expensive broach. You can make one yourself. You can also re-purpose a variety of tools you already have for use as broaches. Sawzall blades, drywall saws etc. can work well. One single broach may not do everything you want. You'll eventually end up with a bunch of them. Then your basic rasps, files and sandpaper will get the handle shaping done.
 
like marc said, it will help to know what type of handle you want to do in order to suggest the tools. you can get away with a cheap harbor freight buffer and some buffing wheels and compounds if you want things to shine. beware all buffers are very dangerous and can rip the knife out of your hand like lightning before you even realize whats happening. i keep a very hard grip the whole time i am buffing. cut the shape of a knife with a very dull point out of 1/4" plywood. practice buffing it to learn how the wheel grabs and tries to pull it away from you, and what not to do when you try a real blade. apron and safety glasses please.
 
You should also consider at least a half face respirator to avoid breathing in fine dust from cutting, grinding, and sanding any handle materials. Breathing in a lot of particulate matter is not good for your lungs.
 
Thanks all for the responses - i will post back again once I have done a bit more reading.
 
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