Hello, Newbie looking for suggestions

R

Railrider1920

Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
403
Hi Folks,
I wanted to say hi. Just signed up tonight. My gosh, this place is huge. Not really sure where to put my questions.

I'd like to get a knife kit or two to put together to try to learn how its done. Eventually I may want to modify them, maybe make them spring assist, if possible. Doing this leading up to hopefully making my own knives one day.

I was looking at a few from knifekits.com Three I am looking at are:
Fl007:http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/product_info.php?cPath=1_32&products_id=11
FLX25:http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/product_info.php?products_id=860
DDR-3BL: http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/product_info.php?cPath=1_13&products_id=20
(If links are not allowed, I apologize, I didn't see that in the guidlines)

Does anyone have any experience with these kits? Are they a decent place to start? Can they be moded to make them spring assit? Would you suggest starting with a different kit?

As far as the site goes, is there a section here for the newbie knife maker? Or one where I can ask for suggestions for books or good tutorials to get started?

I'm sure I'll have a few other questions sooner or later.
Thanks for any suggestions or opinions offered,
Rob
 
Welcome to Blade Forums!

I haven't made any of those kit knives that you posted, but I have put together quite a few of the Darrel Ralph folders years ago. They were top notch kits and very easy to assemble. Don't think you can go wrong with these knives.

Order one and have some fun. There are many people here who are more that happy to help you out.

I will give you a stern warning: this can be VERY addicting. You too could become a knifeaholic:D. It gets worse when you start making them from a chunk of bar stock.....

Ric
 
Welcome!
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you might wish to consider the fixed blade blanks offered by several manufacturers.

Fallkniven is just one and they offer a wide range of knives as bare blade blanks for you to put a custom handle on.
 
Hi Rob, welcome to BF. The amount of knife info here can be overwhelming at first. You might want to check out the Shop Talk Forum found in the Makers section. We have some very talented and knowledgeable makers who frequent the site. There are some newbie stickies at the top of the page that might be helpful as well. There is also the Maintenance, Tinkering, & Embellishment Forum that is more about knife mods than knife making.
 
Thanks for the welcome folks.
sambo, I'll probably get a fixed blank or two that needs some work.

Dan, Thanks for pointing me towards those forums. I'll be reading there for a while.

Phydeaux, thanks for the warning, lol. It's usually that way for me when I start a new hobby. My wife doesn't mind the new hobbies, but she'd like me to keep the cost of them down. We have plenty of vines in the yard and live close to a bay. She'd like for me to take up underwater basket weaving and only use a snorkel. lol

I actually started doing some file work on a $10 smith & wesson liner lock last night. At least it's starting out cheap.......
 
Rob,

I am also very budget conscious. The great thing is right here I have found tips, technique, information how to get things done, make jigs, build your own equipment. People here are very creative in what they do and problem solving.

I have found that most things can be done by hand... power equipment makes the job faster, but you can also screw it up faster (guess how I learned this lesson).

My first kit knives (DDR3), were done by hand except for drilling holes in the scales. Those were done using an old Sears drill press, one on those that you clamp your electric drill in.

I just slowly built up my tool collection. I've had some good finds at garage sales from time to time. My latest find this summer was a Foredom flex shaft for $30. The guy selling it tossed in a bunch of grinding points and burrs for another $5.

You could get a kitchen knife blade blank and put it together for your wife. Have her help choose the handle material and help you test the handle ergonomics as you shape the handle, make it her knife. I may help her to warm up to the knife making if she gets some benefits from it ;).

Oh yeah, knives will also be good to chop up those vines...


ric
 
I think one of the least expensive ways to get into knife making is to take up blacksmithing. From there, you can have more edge tools than you know what to do with.
 
The first two kits you mentioned just look ugly to me. The first one is a standard chinese cheapo. Another one looks a bit better, but the blade is too soft for a folder - so the end result is not really worth the effort. The last one - the DDR-3BL is a much better one, really worth spending some time on.
And I would order the stainless backspine with it (or two just in case...) - to practice the filework and to make it a bit like a real handmade knife. Without that I am afraid it would be to short an exercise to get the taste of making the knife by yourself.
 
Phydeaux said:
My first kit knives (DDR3), were done by hand except for drilling holes in the scales. Those were done using an old Sears drill press, one on those that you clamp your electric drill in.

I just slowly built up my tool collection. I've had some good finds at garage sales from time to time. My latest find this summer was a Foredom flex shaft for $30. The guy selling it tossed in a bunch of grinding points and burrs for another $5.
ric
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Nice find. Can't beat that. The DDR3, is it a name for a specific knife or kit form a specific company (like the DDR3 from knife kits) or is DDR3 the type of knife that several companies might sell? Kind of like Cola, there is coke RC and a bunch of others, but if you want coke, Rc wont do.

Hombre Secreto said:
I think one of the least expensive ways to get into knife making is to take up blacksmithing. From there, you can have more edge tools than you know what to do with.
Click to expand...
I have been thinking about that.


Poez said:
The last one - the DDR-3BL is a much better one, really worth spending some time on. And I would order the stainless backspine with it (or two just in case...) - to practice the filework and to make it a bit like a real handmade knife. Without that I am afraid it would be to short an exercise to get the taste of making the knife by yourself.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your suggestions

tatteredmidnight said:
Hey Railrider1920,

I have not tried any of their kits, but i have made purchases through Knife Kits. Their customer service is excellent! I wouldn't hesitate to purchase from them!
-- Adam
Click to expand...
Good to know about their cus. service. Thanks for the links.

Thanks for the help guys
 
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