Knife Making is so Easy Anyone could do it!

strahd71

strahd71

Joined
Jan 26, 2006
Messages
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i belong to a gun forum that just happens to have a knife forum. honestly i dont go go into the knife section much because theres no need i com here. but at any
rate i thought you guys might enjoy this quote from a post.

"My biggest issue is....I dont really wanna spend more than $120 on a knife...for the main reason that I know what the materials and time cost to make somthing
like that....there are no fancy machining tools requires...no laser CNC mills....
Just some High carbon steel (H13, O1, etc), an O/A torch, a hammer, and a bench grinder."

he was referring to a commercial company but its obvious he just doesnt have a clue as to the knife making process. dont you guys wish it was that simple?

jake
 
An old man at the local coffee shop told me he was trying to make a knife out of a file and bench grinder. He said "I just can't get it to look like yours, how do you do it?" I told him about sanding, etc. but that is the same idea that "All I need is a file and bench grinder!"
 
If anybody can do it I must be a nobody cause I ain't done it, not yet at least. After abandoning two and breaking two I've got another one ready for HT. I've had lots of different hobbies most all of them involving tools and this one is the most challenging yet.
 
strahd71 said:
i belong to a gun forum that just happens to have a knife forum. honestly i dont go go into the knife section much because theres no need i com here. but at any
rate i thought you guys might enjoy this quote from a post.

"My biggest issue is....I dont really wanna spend more than $120 on a knife...for the main reason that I know what the materials and time cost to make somthing
like that....there are no fancy machining tools requires...no laser CNC mills....
Just some High carbon steel (H13, O1, etc), an O/A torch, a hammer, and a bench grinder."

he was referring to a commercial company but its obvious he just doesnt have a clue as to the knife making process. dont you guys wish it was that simple?

jake
Click to expand...
in a way the guy is right. after seeing a picture of a knife posted that looked like it was just a flat piece of steel with a bevel ground on a regular bench grinder i started to think how someone could make a simple scandi ground knife just like it for next to nothing.

all a person would need is a flat piece of stock profiled the way they want the finished blade to look, set the bench grinder rest to 20 degrees and grind a bevel on one side and then do the same on the other. once you have the bevels ground and the blade cleaned up you would either send it off to heat treat if the blade was stainless or use a cutting torch if the steel was carbon steel and heat treat just the edge.

for a while i have been thinking of setting up a buddys bench grinder and do a tutorial to show guys how easy it would be to make a simple scandi grind knife.

i
 
Well, I found the post amusing. By that poster's logic, one should never pay more than $500 to have the whole house painted, because there are no special tools involved, just paint, brushes and ladders. And we should never pay more than 50 cents for a pound of prime steak, because cows eat grass and there's nothing special or expensive about cutting up dead cows.

Cavalier attitudes like these ignore the fact that work is an essential element to any product, and work costs money too. Maybe he could make a quality knife for $120 himself... if he had skills. But I'd bet if he did he would want to sell it for more than it cost to make it. Funny how people value their own time and work more than they value others time and work.

- Greg
 
I knew you bastids were all overcharging me!!! :D
 
Everthing is easy...when someone else does it!

As someone that has been invloved in various activities/hobbies that take several years minimum to master, knife making has been the hardest. I'm naturally good at most things I try, but my first few knives looked pretty rough. I doubt that I'll ever show them to anyone again.

I've noticed that many of the guys who claim that making knives is easy, have never made a knife or make extremely basic knives. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

I suppose it would be easy if all you are doing is adding a 1/4" bevel to a piece of bar stock.

If making a knife becomes "simple", then you're not learning anything new. I like the challenge of learning new techniques and constantly improveing the quality of my knives.
 
tryppyr said:
Well, I found the post amusing. By that poster's logic, one should never pay more than $500 to have the whole house painted, because there are no special tools involved, just paint, brushes and ladders. And we should never pay more than 50 cents for a pound of prime steak, because cows eat grass and there's nothing special or expensive about cutting up dead cows.

Cavalier attitudes like these ignore the fact that work is an essential element to any product, and work costs money too. Maybe he could make a quality knife for $120 himself... if he had skills. But I'd bet if he did he would want to sell it for more than it cost to make it. Funny how people value their own time and work more than they value others time and work.

- Greg
Click to expand...

LOVE this post Greg!!! :thumbup: :)
 
I'm glad he let us in on that, I guess I've been doing it wrong this whole time. Where can we see some of his work?
 
Before the criticism gets to far out of hand, I think it's worth pointing out that he seems to have been talking about a particular kind of knife and later agreed that he meant "I never said that anyone should never spend over $120 on a knife....Believe me, If I had the money to spend...I would....But I dont."

It's probably worth posting a link to that thread: here.

Tait
 
tryppyr said:
Well, I found the post amusing. By that poster's logic, one should never pay more than $500 to have the whole house painted, because there are no special tools involved, just paint, brushes and ladders. And we should never pay more than 50 cents for a pound of prime steak, because cows eat grass and there's nothing special or expensive about cutting up dead cows.

Cavalier attitudes like these ignore the fact that work is an essential element to any product, and work costs money too. Maybe he could make a quality knife for $120 himself... if he had skills. But I'd bet if he did he would want to sell it for more than it cost to make it. Funny how people value their own time and work more than they value others time and work.

- Greg
Click to expand...

its going, its going, its gone folks !!! Grand Slam..

you sure hit it out of the park X2:thumbup:
 
Tait said:
Before the criticism gets to far out of hand, I think it's worth pointing out that he seems to have been talking about a particular kind of knife and later agreed that he meant "I never said that anyone should never spend over $120 on a knife....Believe me, If I had the money to spend...I would....But I dont."

It's probably worth posting a link to that thread: here.

Tait
Click to expand...

i wasnt so much wanting to "pick on him" as just bring to light another example of the atitudes that knife makers deal with. "lawn mower blades make the best knives" "files are the best" 'my friend makes knives from bed frames better than yours" "my walmart knife is better than yours" etc. i wasnt trying to pick on him too much

jake
 
Harder to do doesn't necessarily equal better. It's not as important how much goes into the knife as how efficiently the resources where used.

A shop full of power tools, store bought supplies etc., doesn't necessarily equal a better end product.
 
strahd71 said:
i wasnt so much wanting to "pick on him" as just bring to light another example of the atitudes that knife makers deal with. "lawn mower blades make the best knives" "files are the best" 'my friend makes knives from bed frames better than yours" "my walmart knife is better than yours" etc. i wasnt trying to pick on him too much

jake
Click to expand...

Fair enough - I wasn't really wanting to pick on your post either.

As the thread evolved, I saw us being a little critical - In the end, the guy picked up a piece of steel and started working on it! What better way to educate someone on what it takes then to have them make a knife - either he'll be happy with it and maybe a maker, or he'll realize how hard it is.

p.s. +1 to all posts that +2 other posts!
 
oh i think its cool he's giving it a try, and i sincerely hope it works out for him and catches the bug!

Glad we managed to avoid a derailment and drama!

thanks Tait

jake
 
If you read that thread, the guy eventually comes around. He posted this after working on his first knife a while, and was trying to figure out the heat treat.

"PS: This does take a bit of work...no way Id sell this knife for my earlier dollar figure of $120...lots of time/blood/sweat/tears.

You bladesmiths have a definite trade skill."

So, first, we'll give the guy a break. Second--Invite him over here! This will either be his first and last handmade knife, or we can be enablers and get another maker hooked. . . heh heh!
 
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