Recommendation? Beginner with no power tools

Cool you're on your way...It just takes practice lots of practice go slow early on (I know that is hard cuz you want to see results) but it will eliminate a lot of mistakes and lots of material waste.

Tip on sharpening "Don't" sharpen the Tip all the way from one end of the belt to the other it will spend to much time in contact with the belt and you will end up with a Burnt tip(tips are usually pretty thin to begin with) or no tip at all...Stop when the tip is about half way across the belt.
 
I attempted a practice grind on a curvy scrap piece last night. It didn't turn out very well at all, but not as bad a job as I thought it would. I intend to keep practicing before I try this on my knife that I have spent many hours filing on. I don't want to mess up and lose all that hard work. Here are some pics of that practice run.

The First try:


The Second try:


The tip looking down from the spine is at least somewhat even:


The plunge lines are somewhat even too:


I learned quickly what you were talking about on the tip. I thought I made it a point to follow your directions but I guess I didn't, enough, because at the edge it became sharp before the rest of the edge did. That outward facing curve before the tip doesn't grind down as fast as the inward facing curve after the plunge line and also the tip itself. I've got to figure out why that is. I am thinking I must be grinding uneven or something. My biggest problem though is not holding the exact same angle throughout the entire grinding process. I think that is why I keep getting that faceted look?

I've looked for a good video of grinding curvy stuff like this and I haven't found one with a good camera angle showing how to move the blade along the s curve correctly. If anyone knows of a good one please link it.
 
Me and my son got our blades ready for heat treating now, I think. We got 4 ready, but I got a question:
  • How fine of grit do you sand your blades down to before sending it off to heat treatment?
I will post some pics of them right before we stick them in the mail. In the meantime we have encountered an obstacle to our knifemaking. The darn platen on our belt sander. Its too wide and we are going to have to make some kind of modification to it. the platen is actually part of the frame so I am not sure what we are going to do but something has to be done because as it is now we grind one side with the blade edge pointing up then the other side with the blade edge pointing down and that's not working out so good. We are going to solve this problem while our knives are off at heat treatment.

Another question while I am thinking about it:
  • For the average Joe when you grind your primary bevels are you then done with that bevel or do you have to also do file work to get it perfect? By perfect I mean the plunge lines matching and the top edge of the bevel a good clear straight line that matches both sides? We are both having to follow up with file work.
One last question:
  • Can you weld A2 steel that has not been heat treated? I have done some reading on some welding sites and they say no (for tool steel in general) but they never specify if the steel was already heat treated or not. I'm hoping someone here might have experience doing this.
 
It's not letting me edit that last post for some reason. that last question was if "using a stick welder"
 
Okie405 said:
Me and my son got our blades ready for heat treating now, I think. We got 4 ready, but I got a question:
  • How fine of grit do you sand your blades down to before sending it off to heat treatment?
I will post some pics of them right before we stick them in the mail. In the meantime we have encountered an obstacle to our knifemaking. The darn platen on our belt sander. Its too wide and we are going to have to make some kind of modification to it. the platen is actually part of the frame so I am not sure what we are going to do but something has to be done because as it is now we grind one side with the blade edge pointing up then the other side with the blade edge pointing down and that's not working out so good. We are going to solve this problem while our knives are off at heat treatment.

Another question while I am thinking about it:
  • For the average Joe when you grind your primary bevels are you then done with that bevel or do you have to also do file work to get it perfect? By perfect I mean the plunge lines matching and the top edge of the bevel a good clear straight line that matches both sides? We are both having to follow up with file work.
One last question:
  • Can you weld A2 steel that has not been heat treated? I have done some reading on some welding sites and they say no (for tool steel in general) but they never specify if the steel was already heat treated or not. I'm hoping someone here might have experience doing this.
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#1 I normally go to 120-200 grit. It really doesn't matter much. If you are planning on keeping some of the decarb from heat treating, you will want to go finer. (of course I do heat treat my own blades so it may be different if your sending it out.)

#2 Many people do heavy grinding with a belt sander and then hand sand or file for the rest. I personally only hand sand when I have a very curvy (inward curve) blade or for finishing. I suggest you get some sandpaper for cleaning up if you haven't been using it.

#3 Not sure. Why would you be welding?
 
Not sure why you would be welding unless it's a Through Handle Stick Tang and you are welding "All Thread" for a screw on butt cap?!

The finer the finish before Heat Treat the less Grinding and finish after HT...On Stainless Alloys I will grind up to 400g and back track to 320 after HT and up to 400, 600, and polish with a Cork Belt or Scotchbrite belt.

I do all heavy grinding on a machine...I then finish with sandpaper and different sanding fixtures and blocks.

Check out Nick Wheeler's youtube videos on sanding:thumbsup:...Great Stuff you will get some good ideas and helpful tips on sanding!!!
 
I was asking about the welding because I'm thinking of making one of those half round bladed leather cutting knives. My stock is only 3in wide so I would have to cut the 5in blade out length wise then cut out another section for the tang and weld the tang to the section above the blade. OR just buy wider stock but then thst would be more expensive than just buying the knife.

I don't weld. I don't have a welder. A friend just got one and is learning on his own and he doesn't know either.

Why buy a leather knife if i can make one? The leather knife is for knife sheath making.
 
Neve used a special knife for cutting out leather for sheaths. I used a utility razor blade for a long time. An Exacto razor blade craft knife for cutting is a good way to control the cutting easy while doing shapes.
 
You would be time ahead just buying one. That is called a "Round HEAD Knife" they are good for saddle makers to cut heavy saddle skirting, but for making sheaths a Utility knife with disposable blades is your friend, and an Exacto knife for fine cutting tight areas is helpful. You would need very Thin 1/16(0.065) material to begin with at least 5 inches wide and unless you plan on making Paring knives with the extra material not worth the time.

On the welding a tang section to the blade section that is the area where you will be applying the most leverage and is the area most likely to Break not a good idea.
 
Busto said:
Not sure why you would be welding unless it's a Through Handle Stick Tang and you are welding "All Thread" for a screw on butt cap?!

The finer the finish before Heat Treat the less Grinding and finish after HT...On Stainless Alloys I will grind up to 400g and back track to 320 after HT and up to 400, 600, and polish with a Cork Belt or Scotchbrite belt.
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The problem with a finer grit is when you have decarb. If you sand to 400 grit and then HT and sand the decarb off with 400 grit, the belt will clog real fast. Then the belt is junk.
 
After heat treat on A2 Alloy steel which will be fairly clean because it was either foil wrapped or HT in Vacuum oven there should be No Decarb to deal with. The OP asked about how fine to finish that was the answer for that type steel being sent out for Pro Heat Treating.

If dealing with simple steels then its about Stepping back a few Grits if I take it to 320 I will step back to 220 to remove decarb. I use belts to do what they are meant to do remove material and clean up and knowing which belts work best is part of the process. I don't skimp on belts I use them like they are free and new belts cut quick, clean, and don't heat up.
 
Busto said:
After heat treat on A2 Alloy steel which will be fairly clean because it was either foil wrapped or HT in Vacuum oven there should be No Decarb to deal with. The OP asked about how fine to finish that was the answer for that type steel being sent out for Pro Heat Treating.

If dealing with simple steels then its about Stepping back a few Grits if I take it to 320 I will step back to 220 to remove decarb. I use belts to do what they are meant to do remove material and clean up and knowing which belts work best is part of the process. I don't skimp on belts I use them like they are free and new belts cut quick, clean, and don't heat up.
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Ok.

I have never used A2 and I have heat treated everything myself so I shouldn't have chimed in.
 
The barefoot boy said:
Ok.

I have never used A2 and I have heat treated everything myself so I shouldn't have chimed in.
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No worries man...This is where you come for answers to those questions. If there comes a time you start doing Stainless High Alloys you have a small bit of knowledge from this thread and there is so much more to learn about High Alloys just have fun and keep Grinding:thumbsup::)
 
Okie405 said:
I've been killing deer for about 30 years now and in that time I have went through a whole bunch of big box store purchased knives. Schrade, Kershaw, Gerber, Buck and some others I am probably forgetting. Not a one of them can make it even a quarter way through a deer without needing to be resharpened. In fact when I start in on a deer I have 3 knives that I use just so I don't have to stop and resharpen. My uncle has a custom made knife that he has had for about 50 years, that he got from his dad who carried it back in his younger days before that. It's old and beat up and the blade is almost black and if he don't oil it right after using it, it begins to rust. No idea who made it, but it can get through a full deer and then even sectioning up the meat. About then it needs to be resharpened. I am telling all this because there seems to me to be some kind of lack of quality in the production of modern knives when compared to a custom knife made around the 1930's, at least compared to that old knife of my uncle's and I just want to make sure that the modern big box store knives listed above do not use 1095? So my question would be; is 1095 used in modern big box store sold knives like those listed above?




When I separate the joints on the back legs from the hips I use a small hatchet so no knife contact there. the most bone contact comes when removing the back straps and there is quiet allot of bone contact with the spine. there is no way around that as you are trying to get every single piece of meat you can since this is the best part on a deer. You are literally raking down along the spine and over the tops of the ribs where they connect to the spine. I do this last as this is the part that usually ends that knife and means a move to another knife. I don;t go after the neck meat, its too much work for too tough of meat, not worth it. The rest of the deer is an occasional nick against a bone, nothing major.

1095, 1084 and 01-Tool those are the recommendations so far.
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I am just getting started in this craft. As for store bought production knives, i have actually had great results with the original schrade knives, particularly old timer. However, schrade sold the name to a china based company and the new blades are garbage. I would lean towards hiw you sharpen the older knives as to how long the edge will hold, (I gut and quarter elk with one knife). Last year i got through 1.5 elk before i had to change my knife because of being dull. But these are the original Old Timer knives that i use. The new blades are garbage.
 
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