Howdy yall...New to the forum

[pintail_drake2004]

Howdy yall, My name is Jordan and im from Southern Illinois. Been looking to make a few knives lately, nothing fancy but nice. Had a friend make a few out of a circle saw blade-drop point knife with antler scales-but he is no longer around to help me out. I have a stock pile of saw blades and was wanting to make a drop point knife for hunting, but i cannot find a pattern. I was hoping yall could help me out..? I dont know if "drop point" is the actual term for the type of blade or what, but thats what he called it.
thank you much
Pintail

 

[J.McDonald Knives]

we just make our own patterns but if you do a google search for drop point knife patterns you will find a bunch. also if you havent purchased any books i suggest getting $50 knife shop by wayne goddard and also pick up others by david boye, mike loveless, and any others you can find. also when working with saw blades be careful not to let them get too hot when grinding on them. keep a cup of water or something close by so you can dunk the blade periodically. hope this helps and welcome to the forums.

 

[gixxer]

Ditto everything that J Mac said. You want to keep that stuff cool. besides not ruining the temper, burning your fingers gets really lame after a while!! One thing that works for your basic shape is to cut out a template out of cardboard or something fairly stiff, like 1/4 ply and actually handle it to see if your handle design is sound. Go crazy, draw and cut whatever pops into your head and see if it could work. No possibilities for hot spots, and hand slippage. Dont be afraid to come up with your own shapes and designs. Cut em out of cardboard or ply, and see if it could work. Not to imply that I am some master knifemaker as I have only been making knives for 6 months, but I use pretty much only shapes that I come up with in my head for paring, fillet, skinner, and slicer knives. For a drop point shape, this is what that would look kinda like. I couldve ground the tip down a little further to add to the "drop" but thats the way it came out. Now how thick to grind, what sort of grind on the blade, well that depends on what you want to use it for. Whole different ball game. The other professiolnals in the forum can help you there. I plan to stick to non heavy abuse, non chopping type knives till I learn more on that myself.

 

[kibuddha4]

Where at in Southern Illinois? I had lived in Alton. I will be moving back there in a little while. If you are still there by the time I move back you would be more than welcome to come and visit my shop and talk knife making.

-Mike Sheffield

 

[pintail_drake2004]

thanks yall. Im 25mi north of Carbondale Mr. Sheffield. My twin bro and i are students at SIUC majoring in Forestry, im a bit more into this stuff than he is but he will catch on soon-i hope.
Gixxer: that is not what my friends knife looked like, but that sure is a beauty.
im looking for something similar to this, maybe not as much curve.
this knife was cut from a tree trimming saw blade-with walnut and deer antler scales- (borrowed from Tradgang.com)

 

[kibuddha4]

Right on. Not that far. No "Mr." Please. I'm not that much older than you. Forestry is what a buddy of mine went to school for. I wish you luck in all that you do.

-Mike Sheffield

 

[J.McDonald Knives]

thats more of a skinner than a drop point IMHO. but im no expert on knife patterns. i just draw what comes to my head. heres a few cad drawings i did. be warned they are a little rough but it shows the basic idea.

hope some of these help inspire you. have fun and be safe. always wear a face shield and a respirator.