- Joined
- Mar 19, 2014
- Messages
- 165
New member, names Phil. Live in UT and work as an RN. I dunno squat about this stuff but I've always wanted to make my own knife...it's not as easy as it looks on the inner'net! I flyfish and tie flies and that's it, beside work and family. I'm addicted to it. I bought some "plain steel" from home depot. I also bought a length of O-1 and A-2 tool steel that I've cut out some blanks from, but I plan on not going any further with 'em til I know a little more about grinding, heat tx, etc. Plus screwing around with old files and sawblades. Question: IS PLAIN STEEL WORTH HEAT TREATING, or should I just practice with it. I've cut out some decent pattern and gotten some fine looking grinds on a couple. Question: grinds... I see a few guys grinding on a grinder holding the edge in both directions, meaning edge against the turn of the belt and with the turn of the belt...personal preference, does it matter? I have a HF 1x30" and a Porter Rockwell 4x36"... First thing I did was let the metal go and jam the blank into the guard, amateur. I also have a couple angle grinders, wheel grinder, and decent files. Thank you for the help, I'll have many more questions. I trade flies, too...DP
