First knife designs using 1084 (Slow but lots of pics)

also saw i can get a new 1/3" hp one from harbor freight for the same price. i know its not ideal. but i am no pro, and i can be dropping $200-300 on a good belt grinder right now.

files. i have files. not worried about that.
 
I would fill out your profile with all the info - Age, location, hobbies, occupation, etc. It may help you a lot.

FWIW, 1/4" steel is really thick for all but monster choppers. 1/8" is just right for 90% of the knives you will build.
 
bladsmth said:
1/8" is just right for 90% of the knives you will build.
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Wanted to say the same thing.

Swiss Grobet files are very good. Most any industrial supply place will have them, e.g. MSC.
Get some 00's for hogging and some finer ones for an easier to clean up finish, like a #2.

Swiss pattern files are graded from 00 (extra coarse) to something like 5 or 6 ( super fine).
 
bladsmth said:
I would fill out your profile with all the info - Age, location, hobbies, occupation, etc. It may help you a lot.

FWIW, 1/4" steel is really thick for all but monster choppers. 1/8" is just right for 90% of the knives you will build.
Click to expand...

well maybe i am building a monster chopper this time!
but seriously this knife is gonna be for a friend of mine. he has been a cop in DC for over 20 years and is a sergeant. he has seen things in his career i can only imagine. in the last two years he started coming down with some back problems, and i just wanted to make him something fun to have on the shelf while he is recovering from his full spinal surgery. its gonna be a rough time for him and this knife will be more of a show piece than a useable knife.

with that said i think a nice heavy clunker that just looks awesome and mean will be great for this friend of mine. he just needs a nice big tactical knife that could take a head off in a stroke. so 1/4" should be perfect.

i will be getting some 1/8" for future builds that will be knives designed for more use.

leifjl said:
Wanted to say the same thing.

Swiss Grobet files are very good. Most any industrial supply place will have them, e.g. MSC.
Get some 00's for hogging and some finer ones for an easier to clean up finish, like a #2.

Swiss pattern files are graded from 00 (extra coarse) to something like 5 or 6 ( super fine).
Click to expand...


thanks man. will look into getting them!
 
Schleifstein said:
Nicholson's are pretty good. Try to get the new old stock US made or the newer ones out of Brazil. I've been hearing bad things about files from Mexico. Go as big as you can and get a chip breaker style file. Nicholson's Magicut and Simmonds MultiKut are both chip breakers and quite affordable. There's lots of good info on files here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1074260-Recommendation-Hand-Files
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thanks man. i have a 8" double bastard nicholson, but its made in mexico. kinda afraid im gonna break it if i push too hard with it. i need to get a nice 12" magicut. they look nice!
 
got me a 12" on order.

was looking at getting the Grizzly H7760, but after doing some reading on here i guess i should save up for the bigger grizzly G1015 that is designed for knives at this point. so for this first knife ill just use files and sand paper, and make it take a long f'n time to make it, but i am cool with that for the first one.

got a couple new ideas for a knife to make for the first shot. like i said it just gonna be fun knife for this guy. he's got k-bars and SOGs, gerbers. just about all the tactical knives you would want. so just wanted to make a nice handmade something he can show off on the counter.

out of these 5 which do you think would be best to start with for him? gonna be doing it by hand, but i do have enough files around to get the job done. hope you guys have some opinions for me. i know sketches arent that cool to look at!

oh and the length of these is around 11.5" but i can make any length i want. however the height is fixed at the 2" that i drew for guide lines for each sketch. if you have ideas on stretching a certain aspect of something i am open to hear them.



 
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#3 is the one that will work best as a knife.
#4's blade would work, but won't be hand friendly.
The others are terrible.

On #3, you need to get rid of that talon sticking out from the blade. Just bring the bottom straight forward from the handle scale to the choil. Deepen the finger notch just a bit and bring it back in a smooth curve to make a slight palm swell.
 
bladsmth said:
#3 is the one that will work best as a knife.
#4's blade would work, but won't be hand friendly.
The others are terrible.

On #3, you need to get rid of that talon sticking out from the blade. Just bring the bottom straight forward from the handle scale to the choil. Deepen the finger notch just a bit and bring it back in a smooth curve to make a slight palm swell.
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thanks for the insight man. i like the curt response. makes it easier to understand.

def. gotta KISS this time around.
 
I was going to make pretty much the same recommendation as Stacy. Something I recommend for your first knife is to start with a simple knife that you like and trace it (either from a picture or a real knife). Change a couple of things to make it your own. Early on it can be tricky to tell the difference between something that works and something that doesn't. As you get more experience you can start changing more and more lines until you're drawing your knives from scratch.

- Chris

ETA: There are lots of knife patterns that are considered public domain, such as the woodlore knife or all of Bob Loveless's knives. Hard to go wrong with copying a Loveless and there's no shame in it.
 
Hesparus said:
I was going to make pretty much the same recommendation as Stacy. Something I recommend for your first knife is to start with a simple knife that you like and trace it (either from a picture or a real knife). Change a couple of things to make it your own. Early on it can be tricky to tell the difference between something that works and something that doesn't. As you get more experience you can start changing more and more lines until you're drawing your knives from scratch.

- Chris

ETA: There are lots of knife patterns that are considered public domain, such as the woodlore knife or all of Bob Loveless's knives. Hard to go wrong with copying a Loveless and there's no shame in it.
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Hey Chris,

thanks for this advice. to tell the truth i have been looking at knives and getting ideas from the ones that i like. I am def gonna keep this simple. I am just gonna use some easy scales for the handle, no real hilt or anything either. a nice flat grind from hand should do the trick as well. Something like these two are pretty much what i am looking for. maybe the blade from this knife first and a handle made of some sandwiched micarta or kirinite. anyway. i should have the 1084 in hand Tuesday, so i can start planning the first cuts.

 
Holy Cow!, you really must hate yourself. To attempt a double hollow ground Loveless sub-hilt fighter without a lot of experience and some pretty sophisticated equipment is a fools errand.

I would guess that 95% of the guys on this forum would run from such a task. and probably only 1% of them could pull it off with any real success.
 
If you like a Loveless knife, how about a small, simple, and thin one first?

photo_big_818_resizedto_1024X768.jpg
 
bladsmth said:
Holy Cow!, you really must hate yourself. To attempt a double hollow ground Loveless sub-hilt fighter without a lot of experience and some pretty sophisticated equipment is a fools errand.

I would guess that 95% of the guys on this forum would run from such a task. and probably only 1% of them could pull it off with any real success.
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Stacy Sir, I think perhaps you didnt read my post clearly. or maybe i didnt write it clearly, which is probably the case. Or I am not quite familiar with your sense of humor. (probably the case) Of course i am not going to attempt a double hollow ground Loveless sub-hilt fighter. But i love the profile of the blade.

I plan to just do a simple single bevel. maybe i will attempt a steep bevel on the spine, but not really there yet.

but hey i love to outdo myself. and show off what can be done with hand tools. just read your HOW TO thread from what seemed like a kit you sold. gave me lots of good tips. I can't stop reading about this stuff during the last week.

my file (Nicholson Magicut American Pattern Rectangular Machinists Flat File, 12") should be in next week. the steel from NJsteelbaron should be in tuesday. 1/4" is gonna F-U-N
 
so here are some more ideas that i really like. and these have at least what i can tell a single bevel.

and just want to say props to the makers of these knives. i hope they dont mind me getting some ideas.

the first one has a pretty complicated butt, and hilt area. however i dig the curve and the bevel on the spine


i like the second from the top here. but probably mady longer like the top one. also looks like a simple handle i could get close to with scales


these two just look awesome. kinda almost the exact look i am going for here. even has the handle scales. just pretty sure i can't do the thumb grip on the spine
 
I'm usually not a fan of these big choppers, but those two mirrored like that, are striking.

Who is the maker?
 
12345678910 said:
If you like a Loveless knife, how about a small, simple, and thin one first?
Click to expand...

i like that one. i'd have to order some 1/8" 1084 from somewhere. an NJsteelbaron is all out of that right now. where else has it in stock?

leifjl said:
I'm usually not a fan of these big choppers, but those two mirrored like that, are striking.

Who is the maker?
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the last pic? yeah they are pretty sweet. i actually cant remember where i found the pic now... anyone else know?
 
Good luck with the build. Cant offer much advice cause Im just starting off as well but ill be following ur posts. :thumbup:
 
Hi there, congrats on your decision to make a knife!

I was in the same place years ago. I started with file knives (still have some functional pieces that are great) and I can't remember if 1084 was more scarce back then, or if I just wasn't listening, but I bought a bunch of 1095 and ground out blades using a 1x30. Of course HT didn't work and some other things happened that forced me to stop trying, but even back then Stacy was a tremendous help. I'm sure he doesn't remember. He's been helping and answering questions for a long time from guys that start then just disappear. I'm surprised he hasn't given up! Thanks for that Stacy.

Anyway, I just wanted to say, it sounds like you have a good attitude and are willing to listen. Those really are probably some of the most important skills to start with!

Good luck and don't give up. ;)
 
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