Knifemaking fact and fiction....

J-siah said:
"meaning you will break your first blade " I should have read this a few hours ago :jerkit:
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if it make you feel any better at all the first knife i broke i was making to go into a portfolio for art school so i was on a bit of a dead line

-matt
 
In knife making if you went to the next step, in making the knife, before you finished the previous step....you just screwed up.

A bead chain (like you turn on ceiling fans with) attached to the grinder with a clamp and you with a rubber band will solve the static discharge problem. Use the rubber band so it won't hurt when you walk off from the grinder with it still on.
 
"Knifemaking is a profitable hobby. Fiction for most of us. If you're looking to get rich at something, knifemaking is probably not the easiest way"
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So far, this the only thing I dont agree with. Some people makes their entire living from making and marketing knives. With excellent craftmenship, knives that stand out, excellent reputation, etc, it can be profitable. (But at that point, its not really a hobby anymore, its a profession) And then again it also says "..for most of us." (And thats defiantly not me yet. I'm going broke.)

Factory made knives are carefully inspected for faults. Fiction
Gemstone isn't suitable for knife handles.(depends what kind) Fiction
Maker's mark is critical for reputation reasons. Fact

I can't seem to come up with any good ones:grumpy:
 
True You will learn your art 10X faster if you seek out good advice, reinventing the wheel takes time away from forgework :thumbdn:

True Play dumb when you're around smart people, they'll explain more and you'll learn things you didn't know to ask about:thumbup:

True An easy way to tell if the gloves belong to you is if there's a scar under every hole when you put them on:eek:
 
Fact: Customers will not only use the knife you make them, they will throw it at trees and other hard stuff. Think about how you will deal with this before it comes up.
 
True Play dumb when you're around smart people, they'll explain more and you'll learn things you didn't know to ask about

this is very true, and not much of a stretch for us newbies :confused:
 
Fact: When people hear you make knives they feel the need to tell you about their flea market collection.
Fact: In the public eye a Knife-maker also knows how to throw a knife.
Fiction: Makers enjoy repairing knives you bought elsewhere.(Usualy from their flea-market collection.)
 
Fact:
If your blade mirror polish isn't good enough to get asked ,
where do you get your chroming done,,
You'll need to work on that problem. :)
 
Fact:
You know the real experts in knives when you hear “you need to use some of that surgical stainless steel” or “You should fold your steel to 10,000 layers like the Japanese sword makers if you want good steel”.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard these two.
 
just when you think you have all the scratches removed from a blade you end up finding some you missed after taking some pictures.
 
Fact: when you think "JUST ONE MORE PASS ON THE GRINDER WILL MAKE IT BETTER/OR FIX IT" dont! take a break drink some coffee, get a snack, just dont touch the grinder something bad will happen, usualy anyway.

Ive Been told that it takes 2 makers to make a knife, one to make it and one to tell them when to stop making it.
 
Fact: You know you're obsessed when your wife yells "Your dinner's ready" and 2 hrs later you wonder why you're so hungry...
Fiction: You'll go upstairs and eat after this one last thing...
 
FACT: despite the INTERNET, cell phones, aim and other technological advances, books remain the single greatest source for information in the world.

FICTION: theres nothing left to do on that knife.

FACT: knife making can be very addicting

FACT: sharpening can be very "dangerously" addicting
 
tito said:
I throw knives great! It's making them stick in things that I would have trouble with...
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I thorw them too! but it's usualy because I just Screwed it up BIG TIME and it gets thrown into the scrap bucket, Its almost full now BTW.
 
Fact: Even if the knife maker can't throw knives, their buffing wheel/grinder probably can throw knives quite well. :D
 
FACT: eventually every maker gets asked, "Where are your cheap knives?" and "Don't you sell any seconds?"
 
I concur! Now if we could only get the jackasses making the steel to abandon all that fancy equipment and metallurgical nonsense and get back to doing it right. I’m getting keener and keener on this cold working idea, all heating the steel ever gave us was grief anyhow. I spent half my career chasing my tail with all that heat treating nonsense and what did it get me? Blades harder than 52HRC and so brittle that they would snap in half if you drove a bulldozer over them. There is no way they would flex well and take a proper set! They would keep springing back and springing back without a hint of a bend; there was always a chance the things would break if two of my buddies helped me on the cheater bar.

And that whole exact temperature thing! Pahhh what a waste! Every one of my blades came out exactly the same that way! How boring is that? Where is the art in that? If we wanted blades exactly the same we could go to Walmart! “control”, “control” the anal retentive eggheads continually go on about control, well how about just doing it right! Then you don’t need control! If a person would just learn how to heat treat they wouldn’t need salt baths and idiot proof crutches like quench oil! Do you know how hard it is to sharpen a blade quenched in real quench oil? While burnt 10w-40 and Crisco will make it a lot easier to sharpen and flex, why stop there? Stop all this unnecessary heating and cooling and make the best blade you can!

And while we are at it what the heck is this hang up we have on carbon? You do realize that that is what makes the blades brittle when you heat treat don’t you? Rebar would be the greatest knifemaking material ever (inexpensive and unique) if we could just get rid of the carbon that every other chunk has in it. I’m thinking of a project I thought I would try, so now would be a good time to run it by you folks in case somebody has already done it. Take some rebar and take ten times as long to forge it so that you give all that damned carbon a chance to get lost, perhaps use a brad or tack hammer, leaving it a little thick so that you could cold work the edge onto it when it cooled!

But to be honest I am having my doubts about the cold working thing as well, I mean if it makes the steel harder, how are we doing any better than all that metallurgical heat treating garbage? Stock removed railroad spikes may be the way to go.
 
Fact sooner or later somebody will ask you this question. Why do you make these dangerous weapons?
 
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