Good steel and handle materials for a beginner stock remover?

I am not a professional maker, but I have made a few knives and I always use epoxy to hold on the scales. You can score the inside of the handle material and the tang a little too, I think that it helps give it some grip. Also a lot of makers use pins to prevent the scales from slipping sideways. If you don't want pins showing you can drill a hole halfway through the scale from the inside. You can find the epoxy just about anywhere, even Wal-mart. Hope that helps.
 
I use O1 and 1095, good steels, and they are easy to use and heat treat yourself. For handles I use simple epoxy, electrical micarta and stainless steel.
 
Hi Paul, I like to use 1080 and 1084 a lot, you can get it from Kelly Cupples. You can also get 1080 from Admiral Steel. Kelly is a great guy to work with and he has free shipping ConUS provided you order $50 or more of steel. If you want to go with stainless, ATS-34 and 440C are both relatively inexpensive and good steels. These would be the place to start if you don't want to do your own heat treating.

Handle materials can come from all over, I think that micarta and G10 are good to use and not terribly expensive. I believe G10 works better because it's stiffer, but it's a fiberglass composite, so you should make sure you wear a respirator when working it - Not that you shouldn't wear one in other situations. You can also use some fairly stable hardwoods that are cheap to get ahold of. Texas Knife Supply will sell you a block of curly maple for $4. If you learn how to treat it, this is an exceptionally nice looking wood.

For two part scales, I can't say I recommend using just epoxy to hold them on. UV exposure, heat and water will all break down epoxy. The scales will come off, it's just a matter of time.
 
What types of knives are you looking into making? What stock sizes are you most interested in? Do you prefer stainless steels? Do you plan on purchasing a heat treating furnace?
 
My vote would be for 1084 or 1080. Easy to work and easy to heat treat. Inexpensive to purchase, too. :thumbup:
 
I would like to make hunting / camp / military style knives. Not SS. Also I need to figure out how to blacken a blade.

Thank you,

Paul
 
Paul Weiss said:
I would like to make hunting / camp / military style knives. Not SS. Also I need to figure out how to blacken a blade.

Thank you,

Paul
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Punch it in the eye! :p

On a serious note, you can cold blue it. Some of the cold blues out there will come out a deep, dark blackish color.
 
I use Ferric Chloride. You can get it at Radio Shack although it will be hard to find a 16oz bottle. you will have to ask the guy at the counter to research what store carries it. I haven't tried it but I hear you can use mustard or horseradish to give your blade a darker appearance and it serves as a protectant. Look into Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife book it's in there with an picture of the effects of the mustard treatment. Looks kinda cool just been to scared to screw it up and mess up one of my blades.:grumpy:
 
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