Knife Making Advice For A Newb?

T

T.O. Rye

Joined
Feb 9, 2014
Messages
53
Hello all, my name is T.O. and I am new to the art of knife making. I've made a few semi-successful tomahawks, machetes, and knives from random bits of scrap steel using stock removal, and I'm currently working on a fixed blade drop-point utility knife made from a used radial arm saw blade. I have limited tools and I'm looking for some advice on how to make the most of my limited toolage; with specific focus on heat treating, creating a good edge bevel, and different techniques for joining wood handle slabs together, but any advice is more than welcome. Also, if there are any blade makers near McEwen Tennessee, I'd love to get some in-person advice.

T.O. Rye
 
What's up? I'm pretty new to the knife making world too. Started late this last summer. I've just completed my little knife shop in the shed. Just finished a pretty decent knife. It's not perfect but I'm getting much better. How long have you been grinding?
 
limited tooling is rad, you can do amazing things without too much beyond time and energy...keep it simple, do it the hard way!
 
I've been messin around with metal since I was about 10 lol, but I just found out enough about knife making to really get serious with it for about a year.
 
project-knife

This URL should show a pic of my knife in progress, feel free to critique the design.
 
Thanks to Liamstrain I now have a picture of my blade-in-progress in a viewable format, I would love to get some feedback on the design.
 
First thing I would suggest is to read the stickies and go with known steel so you can research the recipe for heat treat and temper. Jantz, NEw Jersey Steel Baron, USAKnifeMaker are all reputable sites that sell materials and steel. Read the stickies the Count (12345678910) posted in the link he put up. Decide on whether or not you want to heat treat yourself or send to someone to do professionally. Did I mention read the stickies?

The jimping on the blade looks painful, looks like it would cut your thumb to shreds (could just be the glare) they also look like possible stress points as well. I am still in the beginning stages of making knives and I decided early on to forgo the jimping and worry more about the overall geometry of the knife. Jimping is a nice addition to a knife but the best jimping job in the world on a poorly designed blade still amounts to a poor knife. It's a good job though better then my first, second, and third! Keep it up!

Keep in mind I am a novice at best so take my advice with a grain of salt

Welcome aboard!
 
Last edited:
mccandmatt said:
First thing I would suggest is to read the stickies and go with known steel so you can research the recipe for heat treat and temper. Jantz, NEw Jersey Steel Baron, USAKnifeMaker are all reputable sites that sell materials and steel. Read the stickies the Count (12345678910) posted in the link he put up. Decide on whether or not you want to heat treat yourself or send to someone to do professionally. Did I mention read the stickies?

The jimping on the blade looks painful, looks like it would cut your thumb to shreds (could just be the glare) they also look like possible stress points as well. I am still in the beginning stages of making knives and I decided early on to forgo the jimping and worry more about the overall geometry of the knife. Jimping is a nice addition to a knife but the best jimping job in the world on a poorly designed blade still amounts to a poor knife. It's a good job though better then my first, second, and third! Keep it up!

Keep in mind I am a novice at best so take my advice with a grain of salt

Welcome aboard!
Click to expand...

yer gonna saw yer thumb off kid
 
Yes, I had noticed that the jimping was a bit too aggressive myself and had already considered modifying it, so after the comments about the jimping, I ground them down slightly so it still gives added grip but won't take your thumb off lol
 
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