For the apartment dwellers out there....

M

Michael_Schaap

Joined
Aug 23, 2000
Messages
107
Alright.....so you live in an apartment....
1. How do you start blacksmithing?
2. How do you start knifemaking?

I'm starting to get the feeling that many of you guys are just like me....a smart ass... so I feel I need to put in some restrictions here.....

1. I cant burn down the apartment.
2. I would like to not involve the police in my creative efforts here ("What do you mean that the person below me is bothered by my pounding on the anvil officer?")


Michael
 
ihave been running a grinder for three years in my garage below my apt. rule #1 i only grind from 8am - 6pm period. #2 never on sundays. saturday 10am-3pm qnly.....................................#3 i sharpen knives for my neibors no charge! to buy them off.

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Laurence Segal www.RHINOKNIVES.com
 
I'm an apartment dweller.
View

I made this knife on a worktable that was actually one foot square, all I used was a clamp to hold it and hand tools; files, hacksaw, and chisels. It's a copy of one of Ed Fowler's Pronhorns, now you can laugh, but Ed didn't when I showed it to him. He compimented me on what I got right, and things I could do to improve it. First was to start forging my own blades. When I told him I lived in an apartment and din't have the room, he said, "Get a small forge and make minis,"
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Well, I don't know about forging my own steel, but I would like to make the next one out of steel. I forgot to mention this one is all wood.
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I may get my chance this Oct. I've been invited by one of the top knifemakers in the world, to visit his shop and make a knife with his help....life is good.
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"Will work 4 Knives!"
My PhotoPoint Site
 
I live in an apartment. I completed a kit knife last year (made a horrible mess on the kitchen table, but my wife forgave me). This week I have just started taking a hacksaw to some steel so I can filework it into a roughly knife-shaped object.
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This time I'm smart--I am spreading old sheets on the floor to catch the debris . . .

For info on smithing without fancy stuff check out the neotribalist stuff, esp. any suggestions by Tim Lively. See the following:
http://www.customknifedirectory.com/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/UltraBoard.cgi?action=Headlines&BID=29&SID=



[This message has been edited by Summerland (edited 08-23-2000).]
 
Bravo! Bravo! I liked this post alot! I love the attitude of make a knife however you can wether wooden or steel and keep using ingenuity to realize more of your knifemaking dreams. We have the internet and lots of fulltime makers to learn from that other generations didn't enjoy. We got it made, knives need never die. Keep on going!
 
I know several people who rent a bay in the storage complexes and use it for their shop.

BlacksmithRick@aol.com
 
Yeah I was wondering about renting storage space....sounds like a good option. Right now I have a table but cant mount anything to it. I bought a vise the other day and am going to mount it to a piece of wood and then clamp it to the table
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Got some various hand tools like files and spring clamps the other day too...starting off right
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Later,
Michael
 
All right...get this guys....I have not one but two machine shops at my disposal here at RIT! I was told that as long as there is no class....go right ahead and use what I want
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The possbilities....
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Michael
 
They got a belt grinder that looked at least 6 inches wide....hmmmm...
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Only thing is that if I get some belts for it, it't bound to be pretty high up there. perhaps I can just do what grinding I can on them and then hand polish myself.

Michael
 
Probably the biggest concern I have about my "apartment shop" (in the attic) is ventilation. I don't forge, but do stock removal with a 6" benchgrinder and a 4x36 belt sander, and debris flies everywhere. Therefore, WEAR A MASK!.

Oh - one other thing: microwaves suck for heat-treating!
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Rhino,
What's up with your Web site? I've tried to link in a couple times with no luck. Need to see what you've got working.

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Semper Fi

-Bill
 
I live in a co-op building on the 6th floor. I don't make knives, but I make kydex sheaths on the weekends as a hobby. I heat the kydex in my kitchen and mould it there. The shaping and sanding with my Dremel tool take place in the bathroom tub. I then do the drilling and riveting back in the kitchen. How I long for a garage, at least, so I can do more work at more flexible hours.

-Greg
 
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