Couple questions, before getting started.

B

BodOm

Joined
Feb 28, 2009
Messages
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Hi, I am thinking about getting into knife making, as I have ideas, and plenty experience using a vertical end mill.

First question, what quality of material for end mills should I buy for use with s90v steel?

I am also "humming and hawing" about what I would do about handles, I've considered, complete steel construction, 550 chord, wood, or some sort of epoxy molded handle.
I would prefer the epoxy composite, as I have used several knives with an "epoxy composite handle" of course, I can't seem to find any data on what that composite is, or how I can go about acquiring it and molding it. Can I just use some high quality epoxy for concrete molded in sand, and dremel or sand to shape? So I guess the question is, what do you suggest for handle materials? I'm looking for something solid, and warm(well, not cold anyway) to the touch. And of course grippy.

Of course the types of tools I need is the most important question to me.

Thanks in advance.
 
BTW, search is not available to non-paying members, so sorry if my question(s) aren't original.
 
"Epoxy laminate handle" would be a micarta, mycarta or G10/11 material, cheap and readily available from all knife supply houses and some of the vendors here on BF.

Can't help you with end mills.... I only use hand tools like files, rasps and sandpaper after I forge a blade. There are some very good machinists here that can help you with that but not to sound stupid but if you don't know what type of mills to buy perhaps milling a knife shouldn't be your first option? The guys I know that mill blades know these answers already.

Fill out your profile, there may be someone nearby that can help you. Welcome to BF.
 
Thanks for the hasty reply, I have had plenty of work with milling machines, but not with really hard steels, thus I'm not sure what minimum quality tools i would need. Milling seems like a viable option for me, because I have had experience in the use of the end mill, and have never tried my hand at forging. I'll fill out my profile very soon.
 
Now that I see you're Canadian there are some supplier differences. I'd recommend Rob, he seems to be the most active Canadian knife supply house I know of.
 
The bare minimum you would need to actually make a knife, is a hacksaw, some files, and sandpaper. You'll need a lot of elbow grease but it's not unheard of to make a knife with that. If you want to speed things up a bit an angle grinder wouldn't hurt or a belt grinder. If you're going to use some kind of wood for the scales you'll want a drill press, or something that will allow a hand drill to drill a perfectly straight hole. But if you want bare bones minimum you can cut the shape out with a hacksaw, shape it and make the bevels with the files, clean it up with sandpaper and be ready for heat treating.
 
Will Leavitt said:
Now that I see you're Canadian there are some supplier differences. I'd recommend Rob, he seems to be the most active Canadian knife supply house I know of.
Click to expand...

Yeah for supplies up here Rob seems like the best place, to be honest I don't even think there is another knife making supplier up here:o With Rob you get great service too, and he is an active member of the forums.

Splurging for a payed membership here is a good investment as well, even if its just the basic payed membership. The people here are a vast well of knowledge, that would take years and a lot more money to learn on your own.
 
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