It's My Birthday soon: Please give me tips!

Crayola

Crayola

Joined
Sep 23, 1999
Messages
3,831
Hello my knife making mentors!!! Yes, it is true. On Jan. 24th I'll be having a birthday!!! So, I want presents! Please post here tips to help me along! I'll be printing these off and keeping them as a special present from my BladeForums friends! Please post anything you want, but in case you want some guidance, I'm thinking about these things lately:

1) Hollow grinding: I have no ability to hollow grind, but, in the futute I;d like to learn how do do this

2) Fighters: How to grind shapes like the Randall #1/#14

3) Knife design: what works, what doesn't, etc.

4) Info on carbon steels: I found soem Tremclad metal spray coating in the hardware store for $5: will this protect carbon steel blades o.k.?

5) Handle shaping and handle design: This I need a lot of help on!

6) Sharpening tips

7) More stuff on fighters!


Thansk everyone for making my b-day special.

P.S., I have a little benchtop drill press which doubles as a buffer and a sears 2X42 grinder with 8" wheel.

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"Come What May..."
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY and BLADE GRINDING Dreams to YOU.......
Try my tutorials out for some advice on how to do some different things...
As for blade design,if it flows well and feels good and quick and will hold a good edge then you should have a good design to work with....Good Luck and give me a hollor if you need some advice.
Bruce

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Bruce Evans Handcrafted Knives
The soul of the Knife begins in the Fire!!!!!
Member of,AKTI#A000223 and The American Bladesmith Society
asmallpicofbruceforforums.jpg
 
Happy Birthday! Hollow grinding aint so bad, Grind with the edge up and make a full pass every time although you may need to vary the pressure as you make the pass. Try to be consistant and adjust your angles until you make identical grooves on each side. A varible speed with a big wheel would be nice. Treat yourself to one for your birthday, You deserve it! Bruce
 
Hey, something Bruce Bump and I disagree on! A first for everything right? There are lots of times that I don't take a full pass on a hollow grind. I grind very similar to the way Allen Blade did in the video he made. I find that I can take short passes and avoid big mistakes. BUT, no matter how you do it, you will always have to follow through with clean, full passes...otherwise you'll end up with waves and dips and uneven grind-lines.

Bruce just heat-treated a big-gawdy knife I'm making as a custom order, and the grinds were as ugly as sin when I sent it to him. Once hardened, I took the grinds all the way to the center where they meet like on a dagger, and they are now clean lines. So don't always think it has to be perfect before heat-treat. You want to get it close if you can, because a nasty grind can warp the heck out of it during heat-treat...but it's not the end of the world.

As far as the Randall design, if you really want to copy it, print some photos of them off the net and then copy/enlarge them. Glue the copy to a piece of barstock or sheet and the rest is work work work. You will still have to adjust when you profile, but that's the easiest way to get a replication.

Knife design is a funny thing. Everybody will do it differently. Sometimes I sit down and draw a knife out and work very hard to keep to the plan, and other times I just draw it out really rough and then work to whatever seems to look right and feel right as I go.

Handle shaping is just like blade design, there are so many variables...and these are the two most definitive things to you alone as a knifemaker. As you well know, many knives will give the maker away without seeing the name.

Sharpening? Who needs sharp knives?
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Practice, and practice, and practice...but it also depends on what kind of edge you desire. Some like as fine an edge as you can hone, others like a somewhat rough edge that bites.

The biggest thing on fighters IMHO, is strength, piercing ability, and grip. The knife probably (hopefully) will never ever be used for its created intention...BUT...if you are going to make a true fighting knife: I think it should have a fairly long blade with a very slim, piercing point and at least a false edge, if not a double edge. The guard area should give at least protection for the fingers, so as not to slip up onto the blade, and it's even better if there is protection for the top of the hand as well. Once that knife has been thrusted forward, it's gotta come back, so a retention style pommel (i.e. a flare at the end of the handle) is required, and most guys that I've seen flash a knife around that were trained to do so, used a paracord thong to help even more with keeping that thing in the hand.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures up soon, and it will be more clear what I'm yapping about.

Personally, I hope my knives are either sitting on a shelf, or working in the field, but not filleting people....

Nick

Oh by the way, I'm gonna be 23, Jan. 9th, what do I get ???
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Geez Nick, I see you wrote a book for his birthday. I saw Nicks grind lines on his very big fighter, He knows what he speaks. I havent had formal education on the subject but have the video by Jim Hrisoulas where he grinds a fine double edge dagger. He says if you dont carry though, the edge of the wheel will dig in. I know Nick has his wheel radioused on the edges. Mine are still square. I think we are both right. Nick what do you want for your birthday? A new Car?
 
Guess it's your turn is it? Happy Birthday!

I've been reading many of these postings on protective coatings for carbon steel blades and have gathered my own opinions from making and using. Carbon steel is used from the users perspective to gain in the quality of the edge holding and ease of sharpening characteristics. The stainless steels generally trade off one or the other for the rust resistant qualities. If someone's going to buy and use a carbon steel blade, there's no replacement for proper care. The blades can be blued, coated, waxed, or what have you and the blades will still be carbon steel and have a tendancy to stain or corrode. Appropriate care will still need to be taken.

Care during storage includes waxing or oiling. The old timers used bear fat to season the blades. The natural patina given by regular use and care will create a small amount of natural protective coating.

I use carbon steel for myself and will make carbon steel for others on request. I expect these to stain. It's not a down side. In fact, a well formed patina on a carbon steel hunting blade is my preferential look.

Hope this helps in some way... Happy B-day.

Dan
Hannon Bearpaw knives
http://home.nfolink.com/~dhannon/index.com
 
:
A good tip for knifemakers is to Always check the coin returns on phones and vending machines for forgotten change.
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Oh yeah, Happy Birthday!!!!
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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

Each person's work is always a portrait of himself.

---- Samuel Butler.

Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Website

[This message has been edited by Yvsa (edited 01-09-2001).]
 
What great tips so far! Thanks for helping make this great birthday present. there is still 13 days left, so if there are any more tips, stick them in!

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"Come What May..."
 
happy birthday to crayola.well my two cents are, i do all of my handle shapeing after the scales are fixed to the blade. this really gives the flow from steel to wood. take the cover off the idiler wheel and use it for profiling steel as well as scualpding the handle you can make a comfortable palm swell this way.

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Laurence Segal www.RHINOKNIVES.com
 
Happy Birthday and may all your bladesmithing wishes come true. As far as fighters are concerned, I'm going to have to go with what Wayne Goddard wrote in "The Wonder of Knifemakeing". A fighter should be through-tang and made of edge-quenched 5160. It seems like a good balance of edge-holding and overall toughness, especially with Ed Fowler's directions for triple-quenching and tempering 5160.
 
You know Robert, I have a reading weeek break comming up and a bus ride to the Hat wouldn't kill me...

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"Come What May..."
 
You seem to have a good balance between asking for advice and doing things your own way. That translates into quality and originality. Hang on to that gift and you will go far, not only as a knifemaker, but in all the things you do.
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Terry
 
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