Without CNC or a rotary table that is (somehow) geared to one of the axis leadscrews, you will be limited to a flat, straight edge (no curves whatsoever) OR an edge that is part of a circle.
So you can do a simple tanto blade that is composed of two straights. You would have to fixture the blank 4 X to do that.
To face (surface) mill:
Mount your blank on a sine plate or angle plate. Like this, your Z-axis (only) controls the depth of cut.
or
Mount your blank on the machine's table, and angle the head of the mill. Your cutter must be wide enough to cut in one pass. Like this, your Z-axis and your Y-axis (or X, depending on which way you set it up) will both influence your depth of cut.
The problem with this is: when you start, you're laying a flat bar on your sine plate. No problem there. After you're done the first side, however, the bar is no longer flat - it has that bevel. So when you flip it over, you've lost a lot (or all) of the support directly underneath the milling area. There are some solutions, but things get really complicated. Clamping is an issue.
I gave up on the idea.
Nathan T.M. does his with the blank in a vise (edge up), with the blade hanging out in mid-air. I think the only reason he doesn't have chatter/deflection problems is because he takes extremely light passes.
