How do you cut out your blanks?

C

crazydad42

Joined
Aug 12, 2012
Messages
19
Right now, I cut out my blanks with an angle grinder, hacksaw, bench grinder and shape with a belt sander. I'm considering trying a power band saw. How do you do it and does anyone have experience and suggestions on using a band saw? Suggestions on type of band saw?

Amateur maker. Make less than 10 per year. Still learning

Thanks
 
I use a portaband that is mounted in a table.

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I have only made 5 knives i use a plasma cutter (i make my knives at my works metal shop) we also have a band saw with a blade for sstainless i havnt tried saw yet but im wonderimg if saw would be better since im not very good with plasma
 
I use a HF metal band saw. Just use a good bi-metal blade, like a Lennox. It will save lots of time and frustration.
 
vertical metal-cutting bandsaw mostly.
 
HF portaband in a homemade stand here. I attached a piece of plywood to the existing "table" on the saw. I can take some pics when I get back home if anybody wants to see it.
 
I too use a portaband saw. One thing to consider if going this route is the configuration of the blade. I have a Milwaukee 6232-21 and the blade is positioned in a way that I only have a 5" cutting depth. This has not caused any great problems yet but I am making relatively small knifes ( 10" OAL and under ) I have read other brand portaband saws have the blade positioned in a way that would allow cuts of unlimited depth on material up to 5" wide.
 
Less than 1 knife a month? I wouldn't buy a bandsaw just for that. If I had other uses for it sure, but not for 10 cuts a year. Using the hack for cutting steel does suck a little, and I ran out and bought an angle grinder and cutting disks because of this, but the horror story's worried me since I haven't used one much. I'll stick with the hack most likely since I'm only making a few knives for now.
 
strig keep an eye out on craigslist. you can pick one up for almost nothing sometimes. I just got the hf portaband. I love it much better than the plasma cutter or angle grinder. I have cut out 6 or 7 blanks on it so far. the blade still cuts very well.
 
Will do. I guess if I found one used it would be a great find. We have a metal cutting bandsaw here at work in the shop, but I keep forgetting to bring my steel to chop it up.

Good idea. :)
 
I have a Milwaukee Portaband in a SWAG table but I use an angle grinder with a 4.5 inch cutting wheel to make some straight cuts around the profile of my blade and grind the rest away. I have been using a Dewalt angle grinder fr years with no problems. A lot of welders take the guard off their angle grinders which I would not do and i wear a leather apron and full shield mask when cutting. The worst problem I had was stepping on a hot triangle of steel which embedded itself in my shoe. I pried it out and repaired the divot with epoxy. Now i push the hot pieces into a pile with an old broom while I'm cutting. The band saw is slow and I hate changing blades. I am more afraid of my buffer and drill press than the angle grinder. Just my opinion. Larry PS I wear a respirator and earplugs also before someone comments on that. LL
 
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I'm the one guy that doesn't use a bandsaw. We scribe the blanks on a bar, chop them apart at the chopsaw, and then grind to the line with a 36 grit Blaze belt on the 10" wheel. The guy that does this for me can do a blade in 4 minutes, and it comes out clean and ready to scribe edge lines and drill. I get 12 ish knives out of each 36 grit belt. My guy can cut 40 - 50 blades in a half a day. The work sucks, its dirty and you get grit in every crack and crevice of your body.

Dylan holds the record and cut a perfect blank in around 3 minutes.
 
I bough the HF portaband after reading that so many people like it here but it has sit unused for over a year because it is so much easier and quicker for me to cut it like Andy described
 
Chop saw then grind to profile, as Andy mentioned it only takes a few minutes.

I use a wet saw with a diamond blade (tile saw) for handle material.

A high tension hacksaw and vise is good on a budget or for a few knives. I use mine daily.
 
I will admit that even though I have a bandsaw and a belt grinder, I still go to the hacksaw pretty regularly for little jobs! I find it oddly satisfying!

For my blanks I either just do them straight on the grinder with a slightly worn 36 grit blaze belt, or I rough them out with the bandsaw and then finish the profiles on the grinder. For my next batch though I am having all the blanks waterjet cut. I can do the exterior profile pretty quick, but getting the skeletonizing on the tang right takes a bunch of time on my manual milling machine, so waterjet makes sense for me... (But only because I'm doing many of the same profile of blade).
 
I'm no expert, but I have had a lot of success using an angle grinder for rough shaping, a bench grinder for finer shaping, and a variety of files for the finishing touches. It takes a bit of time, but I'm still very much a novice knifemaker, so I don't want to spend a ton of money on the more expensive tools yet. I would love to get a plasma cutter though after I hone my blade making skills a bit more :)
 
HF portable variable speed band saw with Morse bi-metallic blades. And this will be one of the rare times I disagree with Strigamort. Since you can almost always pick up one of the portabands for well below $100 (when using the HF coupon), I'd say it is worth it even if you only make less than a dozen knives a year. I'd say that number about aligns with my hobby habit, and I would not be without the saw now.
 
But you don't get a workout with the saw! Think of all the money you'd save on gym time by doing it my way. :p

Wait, did you say variable speed? Can those also be used with wood? If so, I'm in. :D
 
Who needs the gym when you have hand sanding to do? My upper body is pumped. My legs are rubber bands, but you can't have everything.
 
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