Is it possible to do stock reduction without power tools?

Dijos:

You can use your oven to anneal the metal. I'm currently working on my first knife using cold rolled 1095 ($3.00 for 3'!). It took several minutes to hacksaw a portion of the bar to work on. I stuck it in the oven for 2 hours @ 400 degrees F. The next few hacksaw cuts went quickly. I also used candle wax to lube the blade.

(The wife was NOT happy that it was her aromatherapy candle... but the basement smelled good for a day!!:D )

I started stock removal with a very fine swiss file. Then I remembered that my Dad still had Grandpa's tool kits in his basement. Grandpa was a machinist and a die maker from 1940? to his retirement in the 1970's. He did all his work by hand. Now I have a fantastic Nickolson file and a bunch of Swiss needle files.

(Before I got the old files, I cheated... I took the hacked out blade to work and used the Bader Grinder to smooth off the edges. Can we change the name of this forum to: "Stock removal using hand tools or power tools we don't pay for"???:cool: )

Anyway... the blade is almost ready for heat treating which I will try using a hand held propane torch and some type of oil. I was wondering if anyone knew a good cheap oil to use. I read somewhere that mineral oil can be used. I also read (I swear!!!) that Olive oil with garlic can be used. (Would this be for Vampire Slaying????)

Back to work!
Cheers!

Joe
 
I just thought I'd mention that I'm in the middle (at least I hope it's the middle) of making my first knife. Since I don't know how much I'll enjoy this or how good I'll be at it I haven't invested in any special equipment.

I started out with a bar of 0.25" annealed A2, cut it to shape with a hacksaw, and so far have done all of the 'grinding' with a couple of different hand files. The only time I've used any power tool at all was when I tapered the point using a bench grinder, and I think I could have done better with a hand file. I had originally planned to use my Dremel quite a bit but it hasn't been necessary at all so far.

The blade is sanded with 60 grit paper and I plan to get down to 220 or so before I heat treat it. This should be the only step where I'll use any special equipment, I have access to a muffle furnace in my lab, but I could easily send it out to be done.

If you just want to try your hand a knifemaking there is no reason to invest much money in it. If I turn out a useable knife I might look at buying a belt grinder, maybe a bandsaw, but neither are strictly required. I'd also like to point out that I've done a lot of home gunsmithing, sporterized Mausers, built tree stands, worked on my own vehicles, done a lot of home repair, I'm the Do It Yourself type. None of these things had available the kind of resources and help that knifemaking has. It is amazing that I can find detailed tutorials online, for nothing, that explain some of intircate nuances of how to make good knives. Some of these things border on trade secrets. I would have no clue how to do vine filework if someone who knew how hadn't taken the time to put detailed pictures and explanations out on the web. You all have a great community.
 
Yes, it is, using files. But I assure you that once you've tried a grinder you won't go back to files for all the gold in the world :D
 
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