Bodged-up Basics!

Kalindras

Kalindras

Joined
Aug 24, 1999
Messages
933
Quick question:

How much bodged-up/homebuilt/improvised/jury-rigged equipment is in YOUR shop? It seems like, in talking to several makers, that a good portion of their equipment and tools are either secondhand (or fifthhand for that matter), homegrown, or just thrown together from other stuff...

It seems especially prevalent among the older, well established makers...why is that? Is it that, through years of working, you've discovered a specific need for a tool to be "...just SO...", or that you feel that you make better gear than what's available from the mass-market, or that folks just never saw the point in paying $2000 for a grinder, when they could build it themselves? And how do you always find out about these machine shops that just happen to be getting rid of huge bits of machinery (surface grinders, mills, etc.) for fractions of the price?!?

I ask, because it's hard not to get the impression that to be a well-equipped knifemaker, you have to have a machinist's background, or have been tinkering with the stuff for years and years and years, or have contacts all over the industrial sector...

Example:

I'm wanting to build my own 2x72, but it seems a little on the discouraging side, when I look at instructions that include phrases, like, "...now we take the whole shebang over to the arc-welder..." or "...these parts really need to be turned on a metal lathe, so they're true...". I'm still working out of my garage, for the love of Spark! Where the H*LL am I supposed to have gotten some of this stuff?!?

Now, I know that a lot of folks use nothing but hand tools, and I have tremendous respect for them (an undertaking not for the faint of heart, believe me), but for those who aspire to actually make a living doing knifemaking (no offense intended to the handmakers out there, I'm just not aware of anyone who's doing it that way on anything like a large enough scale to support themselves), it seems like efficiency, economy and dependability are the keys. I guess, bottom line, cutting through all the whining, I'm just looking to find out how many folks are turning high-quality knives on what kind of machinery...trying to find out what it's going to take to 'make it' in the field, and how to lay hands on it.

Everyone's thoughts?
 
Hey, you're in good company. I've just begun in knifemaking and I've been to a couple of blade makers shops and the amount of equipment is staggering and sometimes depressing to see. Those guys have been in it for a long time (9 years or more) and these custom tools they use usually are there because that's what they could get their hands on when they needed it. I started out trying to make knives with simple hand tools. After tinkering for a while I decided I needed a 2x72 grinder so I made one from an old computer desk. Here's a picture of it
finishedside.jpg

I'm still a LONG way from where I would like to be in terms of tools but I'm getting there a little at a time. The hard thing to do is to convince yourself that you can make good knives without all those expensive tools! But, if you need a particular tool and don't feel like shelling out tons of cash make your own. My grinder is completely nuts and bolts construction because I don't have access to a welder, it cost me about $150-200 to make it.

Hope this helps,
Derek Melton
http://www.derekmelton.com
 
I saw that, and have been out to your website, as well. Excellent pieces, you're making, Derek!

But, where did you come up with the motor? This is the thing I'm wondering about...I don't have access to a big pile of spare parts (or even a SMALL pile of spare parts...yeesh, it sucks to live in Yuppy-ville...), and I don't seem to be having any luck with online trading, either (have tried twice to buy VS motors online, had bad experiences both times).

This is the sodding frustrating bit...

I know that a lot of the tools aren't necessity...but they certainly make the work faster, and in some cases, better quality. Having started out with a file and sandpaper, I can guarantee that the quality of my work raised when I got a belt sander. Not to mention that I went from taking 2-3 days to shape a handle, to 30-45 minutes!

So, how do you do it? How do you 'find' all that great junk?!? I've looked around up here, and the closest junkyards to be had are across the Metroplex...I'm planning some time off to go and spelunk in the junk, but thusfar just haven't had the opportunity...

Thanks for the inspiration, though. I look at that grinder, and I think, "Man, maybe this CAN be done..." Now, if I can just get my neighbour to pitch their washing machine...
:D
 
I think it's because knifemakers are tinkerers at heart. Thats what got me into the craft and I'll bet most other makers too. I just like messing with things, taking them apart and putting them back together and seeing how I can change them, making stuff. I call my bandsaw Frankenstien cause it's got bolts stickin out everywhere. I built the frame and used the moving parts from a horizontal bandsaw.
 
Some of the equipment I have is very old, and one or two minor pieces were home-made, but the majority of it I purchased new over the past 5 years.

Home-made gizmos are fine, if you have the time to tinker or if you feel the need to make something simply because you can't find exactly what you're looking for. But, when the orders start backing up - you'll start thinking about doing whatever it takes to get the necessary equipment to do the job right.

All of the money I "made" over the past 5 years was re-invested in my knifemaking business. Yes, that was a real sacrifice, but now that I'm doing this full time, I'm very glad I made that decision.

If you don't have "unlimited resources", you'll have to balance out what you want to accomplish with what resources you do have, and be willing to invest and sacrifice to get any kind of "quick start."

The same goes for bargain hunting. The time you spend trying to find "a deal" on a used piece of equipment (or trying to rig something up) might just as well have been spent making knives to pay off a new piece of equipment! You have to ask yourself which is more important right now. (This might be the determining factor as to whether you really want to make knives as a profession or just as a hobby.)

( By the way, I was also "overwhelmed" the first time I visited a veteran knifemaker's shop! ;) )
 
Hell,My WHOLE SHOP is cobbled together from salvaged materials.Floor,walls,roof,lights,Everything!I'm just a Po bastid so I have to make due with what I can.Though it is satisfying,in a strange sort of way,to make something from nothing.Even my first 8 knives were made from junk.
 
knife makers are the worlds best recyclers. If you can not afford to buy new equipment ( who can) build it yourself, modify somthing you found or get someone else to do the tech stuff. When I needed some machine shop work done to build a new grinder. Lathe and surface grinder work. My neibour did it for me. It cost me a small knife down the road, but what the hey, the barter system works fine for me.
Look around you. Take stock of who you know and what they do.
 
The first belt sander came about when some guy was sanding something with a sanding block and got sick of it, realizing that there has got to be a better way. We do that a lot. Not being a machinist, I used to find myself trying to invent equipment that already exists. Now I check first. Most of what I want is more than I could sneak past my wife. So I make due A LOT. She helps if I can justify it to her, though. This last weekend, I spent six hours trying to cut some thin stock that destroyed a blade on my portable bandsaw and my saber saw. I even made sure they were the proper blades, but the stuff was just too hard. The answer? Dremel with a 3" abrasive cutting disk. Now I tell my wife this story of woe, and see if I can't get $150 budgeted for a 14" cutoff saw. The cool thing about making our own equipment, other than pride and customization, is that we can spend smaller amounts of money on it, and more time. That's the tradeoff. The tradeoff wasn't cost-effective last weekend, so I'm going the other route.
 
I have made several pieces of equipment for my shop. The following image is of my shop-built small wheel grinder:

small_wheel_grndr.jpg


Other pieces of equipment I've built include a buffer and a recriprocating sander. Both can be viewd by clinking on links in the Shop Tour section of my website.

John Ownby
John C. Ownby Handmade Knives
 
Kal: I have very little talent and can not even draw stick people well. I just built a new coal forge by going to the community college and signing up for a welding class. With the instructors help I was able to complete the project in one nite and I used all their equipment, saws, welders ect. You might want to look into you comm college. They uaually have a well equiped shop and lots of help. dlee :D
 
Hey, DLee,

GOOD ONE!! I hadn't really thought about that route...I wonder how much they'd let me get away with...

Besides, I could use the welding practice (ever seen one of my guard joints? And you WON'T, if I have anything to say about it...:rolleyes: )

I'll check into that...now if I can just find a source for motors...:D
 
I bought most of mine,cheap stuff early then like Tom Anderson put your sales back into equipment.Don't be afraid to trade knives for equipment like others have said.I traded a knife for a bandsaw.Also don't be afraid to try building something,you will find alot of help here and the other forums,and remember scrounge .Davehttp://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4292464315Check out this homemade equipment
 
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