Knife making equipment

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lpburke86

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May 19, 2016
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Hello all. Ive been reading this forum for about a year after my brother turned my attention here when i got tired of having a new broken knife every couple of months and decided to turn my attention to making my own. I know that my use of a knife in many, if not most cases, classifies as abuse. I also know its never gonna change. Thats a cliched "is what it is situation". But the way i see it, if i'm abusing 20-40 walmart knife, then i am not hurting anyones feelings... if I bought a good knife, such as a WAS, or a Fiddleback knife, I would be disrespect the the designer and maker in my abuse. However, if I design and make the knife.... well thats the purpose.... For me to abuse the crap out of it, and be able to make another when I break it; then at some point when I have a bullet proof setup, maybe start selling them.

I have a design based off of several knives I have owned and/or played with. Its about 9" long, 1 1/4" wide, and 3/16" thick, full tang, with Live Oak scales. The problem is that I think I want to use either O1 or 1095 steel, but I dont actually know. Is there a better steel for a tuff as nails, but easy for a beginner to make, knife?

I have a full woodshop, with a few metal working tools available to me, including scroll saws, belt sanders, side grinders, angle grinders drills drill press, ect. Will a scroll saw cut the curves in the steel before it is heat treated? If not, what is my best option to cut it?
For a 3/16" finished thickness, what thickness ruff stock do I need?

As far as heat treat, I was planning on a charcoal forge with a hairdryer and pvc for a blower, magnet for finding critical temp, and vegetable oil for quenching.... reason being that is all I could probably convince swmbo to allow me to live through paying for on the first one. Is that hot enough for O1 or 1095 steel?


I have searched the forums and google for the answers to all of these questions and ended up with information overload with no way of knowing if the info was bullshit or not.... So if you are only going to reply with "search the forums, this has been discussed before", please dont bother.... If you provide me with with links to discussions where my questions are answered, please let me know which question.... I really just cant do the info overload again.

Any questions, I'll gladly answer as best I can....
 
There are MANY knife makers in Texas and I suggest you look around for a knife maker group or a maker around you to walk you through your many questions about heat treating etc.

Most groups have monthly meets where one of the makers will host at his/her shop and you can watch as they will show the group how they profile a blank or grind a blade etc.. You can meet folks in your area and perhaps make a few friends too.
 
Most all the answers to you questions are in the Stickys. There is a lot of good new-maker info there.


1095 and O-1 both require a better HT than you can do with a simple charcoal forge. It would be a far better idea to get the HT done by a more skilled maker or a professional HT provider. Texas is full of people who can do it for you. Cost is about $10 for a carbon steel blade.

Post your drawings and ideas. Having some experienced eyes look them over can help avoid any problems later on ... especially if it will be a rough use knife.
 
I'm not a "maker" (yet), although I have a similar shop set up to you it sounds. I'm inspired by the forum and the beauty of the process. I've got a lot of carpentry experience and run a small engraving shop, so I'm good with my hands and can bring ideas to life. I've been following various makers, learning, drawing and researching knives for a while - this forum is addictive and the Stickys are amazing resources. I'm going to try my hand at this but not until I read everything - been lurking here for a while and have kept coming back.

For tools - I'm using my angle grinder, drill press, hacksaw, dremmel tool, and 4" belt/disc sander with hopes to find a cheap Metal Bandsaw on Craigslist. Then my host of tools for handle/scale shaping. Also looking at plans to build a DIY 2x72" grinder (...but that's in the future).

Cheap metal from Lowes to practice grinding on my 4" belt sander, going well. It sounds like O1 or 1095 would be a good starting metal for me to start once I make sure I've got some more shaping practice down. O1 seems readily available and less expensive. I've studied the forum deeply and other sites to learn all I can about HT for O1. I feel comfortable with the process for that metal - figure I'll stick there and study that metal until I make sure I've got that down before trying others.

Building my own propane fired forge from a small metal trash can using a combination of materials I've researched- I'm gathering the pieces/parts for this as we speak. I'll start my build this weekend. Once that's working and I've got some shaping practiced I'll get some O1 and put my "book knowledge" to the test. Currently trying to read about final edge creation after HT for O1.

My first project was to reshape and rehandle a cheap broken kitchen knife. Epoxied the handle and placed the pins last night, breaking clamps soon. Then will start final handle shaping. My first foray into shaping metal and wood together. I'm starting off, thought I'd share my process and thoughts. Good luck to you!
 
If you want to do your own heat treating go with 1084. You will get better performance from it than other steels unless you send it out. If you send it out it doesn't matter so much.
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
There are MANY knife makers in Texas and I suggest you look around for a knife maker group or a maker around you to walk you through your many questions about heat treating etc.

Most groups have monthly meets where one of the makers will host at his/her shop and you can watch as they will show the group how they profile a blank or grind a blade etc.. You can meet folks in your area and perhaps make a few friends too.
Click to expand...

The biggest problem is the size of this state. I live in the center of the coast about 20 miles north of Corpus Christi.... the closest groups I have found are more than 100 miles away in the San Antonio area.... Houston is close to 200 miles, Austin is about 175 and Dallas is 300. Corpus is a weird city... it doesn't have much other than alot of people.
 
Shipshores said:
If you want to do your own heat treating go with 1084. You will get better performance from it than other steels unless you send it out. If you send it out it doesn't matter so much.
Click to expand...

I am assuming that 1084 is suggested based on me using a charcoal forge? If so, awesome.... that's the kind of thing I have been trying to figure out. My brother used to make knives, and he always sent them out for heat treat, I would just prefer to do it all myself.

Would 1084 be a good steel for a rough use knife?
 
The propane forge is a good idea... will a small homemade propane forge heat treat 1095 or O1?

The problem that I have is that some places said a charcoal forge was hot enough if you use something like live oak for the fuel.... something I have an abundance of. But if it's even questionable, as it swwms to be, I don't want to bother....
 
lpburke86 said:
The biggest problem is the size of this state. I live in the center of the coast about 20 miles north of Corpus Christi.... the closest groups I have found are more than 100 miles away in the San Antonio area.... Houston is close to 200 miles, Austin is about 175 and Dallas is 300. Corpus is a weird city... it doesn't have much other than alot of people.
Click to expand...

I just googled Knife makers, Corpus Christi Tx,

http://www.jbowenknives.com/contact-us.html I have never met the man, but give him a call.

Mike Snody lives in your town as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Snody
 
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Depending on what you mean by "rough use", 1084 SHOULD suit your needs decently. Heat treat is of course a major component of "toughness", but geometry, profile, and general design will also play a factor.
If you give is a better idea of what your idea of "use and abuse" is, as well as post some pics of your designs/drawing, you will likely get some more refined and specific suggestion.
 
I'm a carpenter, mechanic, avid outdoorsman and life on a ranch. My knife gets used for skinning, cutting, carving, chopping, batoning, etc. It get used as a pry bar, an hammer, pretty much everything but a screwdriver.

What I am wanting to make is a bushcraft style knife with a scandi grind, 4 and a half inch blade, 3/16" x1 1/4" full tang, three brass pins to hold the live oak handle scales on....

I'd post a picture of my drawing, but I don't know how to do that from my phone.
 
lpburke86 said:
I'm a carpenter, mechanic, avid outdoorsman and life on a ranch. My knife gets used for skinning, cutting, carving, chopping, batoning, etc. It get used as a pry bar, an hammer, pretty much everything but a screwdriver.

What I am wanting to make is a bushcraft style knife with a scandi grind, 4 and a half inch blade, 3/16" x1 1/4" full tang, three brass pins to hold the live oak handle scales on....

I'd post a picture of my drawing, but I don't know how to do that from my phone.
Click to expand...

The easiest way to post a pic via your phone is with the Tapatalk app. Aside from that, I believe you can go though the standard process of inserting a picture via your phone's web browser as if you were on a regular computer.
 
knife to a gunfight said:
The easiest way to post a pic via your phone is with the Tapatalk app. Aside from that, I believe you can go though the standard process of inserting a picture via your phone's web browser as if you were on a regular computer.
Click to expand...
I couldn't figure out how to do it the browser, so I finally put this app on.

6bad122cbc8d01797ad024fafb21fac9.jpg


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
 
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