Knife Kit or Bar Stock for first knife?

Jax718

Jax718

Joined
Jan 19, 2008
Messages
360
Hi Folks, I'm about to start on my first knife and am trying to decide if I should start with a complete kit or a piece of stock and handle parts. If anyone can offer some opinions on the pros and cons it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance for your time and advice. I'm mainly concerned with the difference in the degree of difficulty between the two.
 
If you have files, a hacksaw, a drill and maybe an angle or bench grinder then making a small edc or skinner out of 1/8" stock should not be too overwhelming. If you lack this stuff then a kit might be your best bet.
 
The files and drill are no problem, neither should be a hacksaw. I do not have a grinder at all.
 
Make the whole knife, that way it is your knife and not somebody others work you've finished.

A kit knife is a nice option if you want a 'not to hard one of project'
 
Thanks for the replies so far, I have the hand tools covered. What would be the most versatile piece of power equipment to purchase first in your guys opinion?
 
No matter if you do kits or make blades from stock removal a GOOD drill press is indespensible in the knife shop. After you make a couple and find yourself still interested a good belt grinder.
 
Ok, time to order some steel and accessories. And start looking for a drill press. I've read all the stickies and am going to try and do this right. I appreciate any and all tips and suggestions.
 
drill press, I got one at Harbor freight pretty cheap and it works, its good for other things besides drilling with diff grinding attachments, buffing and even punching holes in leather when you decide to make a shet
 
bar stock if you make it from scratch it may suck the first time, or first half dozen times, but at least you made it, and that makes all the difference.
 
Since you have limited equipment when you buy barstock, I suggest you buy some good tool steel barstock that is already annealed and has the scale ground off. It will save you a lot of time and effort. Trust me, the minimal extra cost is money well spent. O1, A2, & D2 are all readily available and a 1/8" x 1&1/2" x 18" bar should be $20 bucks or less and you can make two knives out of it.
 
Just a thought I'd like to share:
The drill press doesn't do the work, it drives the dril bit that does the work.
If your budget is limited I'd go for a cheap dril press and some high quality drill bits.
I like cobalt drill bits in combination with coolant fluid
 
Another vote for buying a drill press first. Go cheap or go big on the press, but do NOT go cheap on the bits. Don't forget to run the press as slow as it will go when drilling steel, and don't be shy with the lube. Thread-cutting fluid or even motor oil will help keep the bit cool and stay sharp longer.

Before you go hog-wild on steel, consider how you're going to HT it. I won't bore you with all the details, the various ways to do it or have it done for you are in the stickies.

There's nothing wrong with building a kit knife your first (or 10th) time. Unless you have a good deal of general shop experience, you have a much greater chance of ending up with a decent, usable knife when starting with a kit blade. Just a thought.
 
I agree with James on kit blades. I've done 2 and I'm working on my 3rd kit. They do help you get a great, usable knife right off the bat. Also, they allow you to practice the fitting and shaping of handles first instead of being overwhelmed and learning how to cut your shapes, grind the steel, and make the handle all at the same time.
 
What GrizzlyBear said. It also bears mentioning, you may find that putting together a kit blade is a tremendous PITA and not worth the bother, in which case you'll have a lot less invested in it.

On the other hand, you may decide the PITA is worth it and next thing you know you have a whole garage full of barstock, handle materials, grinders, files, sandpaper, drill presses, and not a dang penny left for beer! It happened to me, it could happen to you! :D
 
I have made two kit knives to make sure I would have fun doing it. I should get my bar stock tomorrow to go for the full experience and get to call myself a knife maker ;)

For me I decided on A-2 for the bar stock and will get the HT done by Texas Knife makers Supply. If you want to do the heat treatment you would go with O-1 since it seems to be the easiest to HT. TKS does not do HT on O-1 only air hardened steels which is why I went with A-2. If you read up on steel A-2 sounds like a great one for non-stainless blades.

Have fun!
 
If you want to get practice doing handle work, go for the kit. But realize that no matter how good a job you do, that knife-from-a-kit will never be "your" knife.

If you start from the beginning and make the knife from the ground up, you'll get the same amount of handle-work experience..... as well as the blade-working experience .... and end up with a completed product that is entirely your own doing. That is a truly priceless experience.
 
I'm working on my first knife (and first post, hello by the way) and my advice echos everything that's already been said. If you want to get your feet wet and just seen if this might be for you, get some stock and make a batoning/splitting knife. Cut off a nine or ten inch section, grind an edge on it, get it tempered and heat treated, and put on some scales. I see that a knife is a blade and to make a knife you should make a blade, it doesn't matter what style. I would only assemble a pre-made knife if I ever wanted to make a few dollars in a shorter time (and would stamp the handle saying it was assembled by me, not made). I can say from my first endeavor in this trade that its amazing to work your own steel and see it come to life.
As far as tools, I have to agree with the drill and good bits. But I would also recommend a grinder of some sort (you can get by with a cheap one at first) but get a good china wheel and at LEAST one de-burring wheel, medium, will make it easier and the de-burring wheel will (slowly!) take out all tool marks so it will look better. I have seen people use just a 6in belt sander but if your not looking to dump a lot of money into this right now, you can find a cheap grinder at a place like Harbor Freight Tool (www.harborfreight.com) or somewhere similar.

Good luck and don't EVER let yourself get discouraged or bored. If it feels like its taking to long, walk away for a bit and come back fresh. If you work something like D-2 its easy to get tired of running it on a de-burring wheel. Be patient and realize it can take even an experienced knife maker up to 20 hours total work to make one.
 
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