Homemade knife making tools

bjr

bjr

Joined
Sep 23, 2006
Messages
181
I'm just wondering what kinds of innovations you guys have come up with to help with this hobby/passion/career/sickness. Mostly I've been toying with jigs and file guides for hand filing edge bevels, but nothing fancy, usually just scrap steel and cut-offs I have laying around. Any unusual homemade grinders? Drill press attachments or vice modifications? I'm a newbie, and always looking to pick up a few tricks. Pics help a ton.
 
A knife vise is very handy for both handle and blade work. I made one in welding class. If I can anyone can.
I can e-mail you the pictures I worked from if you want.(I could not e-mail pics through forum)
 
Dennis- I have no digital cam at the moment, but basically this is what I did. Since I wanted to try to make a folder with all hand tools, and because the blade was small enough for that to be manageable, I took a rectangular piece of the 1/8" 01 roughly 6"X 3/4", and using a belt sander turned upside down, I ground the angle I wanted into it like an exagerated single bevel blade. Then I torch hardened it and clamped it to the length of my blade blank. I then clamped the whole rig to the edge of my bench with a C clamp. With that set up I could draw file right down the hardened ramp and into the annealed 0-1. I spent maybe 3 hours total in about 4 sittings draw filing my bevels and I am really happy with the way they turned out. It was my first blank in usable steel (i used to tinker with mild steel). The lock bar...well that's a work in progress still...Hope that helped. I should really just buy a damn camera.
 
Here is my perversion of it


I'll send you the picture of what I copied as well
(Double click on the image, it will enlarge)
 
i havent come up with any things yet to make it much easier on my self but "$50 Knife Shop" by Wayne Goddard seems to have a lot of good ideas in it (haven't read through it much yet jsut some skimming but it looks real good)

-matt
 
Ya look at goddards book it's great. I made basically the same thing
pictured above in about 30 minutes the only thing is it clamps in a vice.
alot less fab work + material. it's in the book.
have fun
 
I left a cuote on a seperate thread called "CHEAP BLADE ETCHING?" It is based on a model train transformer ,felt cloth , H2o-Na3P-NaCl/18VDC@3A/10Min=0.030" etch.
I also adapted a LANSKEY sharpening clamp to my Home built(KMG knock off) grinder. This is So handy for sharpening blades it is not even funny!
 
I mounted a $15 wood working vice horizontally on my bench. I attached two pieces of 3/8 plywood on each side of the vice to prevent damage to the blades.

It works VERY well.
 
ciphery said:
I left a cuote on a seperate thread called "CHEAP BLADE ETCHING?" It is based on a model train transformer ,felt cloth , H2o-Na3P-NaCl/18VDC@3A/10Min=0.030" etch.
I also adapted a LANSKEY sharpening clamp to my Home built(KMG knock off) grinder. This is So handy for sharpening blades it is not even funny!
Click to expand...

hmm thats a very good idea, the only thing i have a worry about is how well the belts will sharpen it verse the stones, im still new but so far i prefer putting the finnal bevel/blade on by hand mostly becasue of the equpment i have an my skills. would you mind giving a description of a pic of how you set up that lansky system?

-matt
 
I use a #220 then 400 then 600 then a belt loaded with polishing compound. If you would rather not do it all this way fine but it still is a way faster start than by hand after you get it back from heat treat with a 0.012" edge that you are trying to make sharp!
 
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