Life Experiences That Affected The Way You Make Knives

So, I am new to this whole knife making thing; I focus on hollow grinding because I hope to build great Loveless pattern knives.

I guess the life experience that solidified the functionality of this type of grind for me is the first four I made. All four flat grinds, one slated to be my shop/leather knife. I quickly found that I like a leather knife as razor sharp as possible. This meant sharpening/stropping regularly. Of course this meant the edge moved up and got thicker with time becoming a very effective leather wedge not slicer.

I also think back to all the Buck knives I have used abused (all hollow ground) and I have not broken one blade. So at least in my world the hollow grind is king!

Very nervous typing this; afraid Rick is going to change the rules again!

David Sharp
 
Barely a maker here, but the start is fresh...

I started with specific state length and personal handle size requirements, and from there conceived an entire line that could be sold in my state. Have sold a single one yet :-)

I didn't want to spend $100 on a maybe-close-enough knife from another country, so it began...


The rest is evolving experience. I read a lot, and try to merge my understanding of theoretical and practical without producing ugly.

Dunno how I'm doing, but I'm having a blast. :-)

-Daizee
 
When I got into the idea of making knives I was cutting a lot of stone and wanted to make art knives with stone handles. I bought a few knives and re-handled them in jade, agate and that sort of thing. Then I got the idea (this part is funny) that it might be cheaper to make the knives myself (I told you) so I started my knifemaking adventure.

I then got another idea idea, I thought I should make myself a knife to use... not to re-handle. At that point I realized I wanted something tough. I started researching what made a hard use knife and since then that has dictated everything I do in knifemaking. They might not all be made for hard use but I don't make them just to look at. :D
 
Very cool thread idea, Rick. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

I started making knives because factory knives sucked in the 80's. They haven't gotten a whole lot better since, although some have gotten a whole lot more pricy. Like Justin, I just plain enjoy making things, so that helps... although also like Justin, my persnickety side can make me over-think things and that's usually not conducive to high productivity.

Rick Marchand said:
Does anyone have tales of why they choose a particular process? That kind of thing?
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Hidden tangs - I generally prefer full tangs because it's simpler to keep them strong, but I'm also certain that hidden tangs can also be plenty strong.

Satin finish - I like a hand-rubbed satin finish because it looks sweet. It's also pretty easy to take care of and if taken to a fairly high level, helps prevent corrosion just by not having deep scratches for gunk and moisture to "grab" onto. I like to go to 1000 grit and step back to 800 for a basic satin, but I've sold knives with 400-grit finishes and ones with 2000 grit; it just depends on the client's preference. I'm not crazy about buffed mirror finishes, but that is purely an aesthetic choice. I'm also not crazy about machine-satin or bead-blasted finishes, but if that's what the client wants, who am I to judge? That's usually more of a budget thing. Let's face it, hand-sanding is a freakin' chore and if someone doesn't want to pay me to do it... I'm OK with that.

Geometry - Geometry is KING. A blade with properly tuned bevels and balance for its intended use, made of scrap iron, will out-cut a clunker made of the very finest super-steel. Not for very long... but it will. My aim is to design a knife that will cut, chop and/or pry extremely well, then select steel and HT that will allow it to perform as long as possible without failure. Generally speaking, I believe thin is in and light is right.

Grind Style - I am no fan of hollow grinds. I have no desire to make a blade weaker all along it's length in order to get the same thin edge, and I do NOT buy the Loveless argument that a hollow knife will be usable longer, to any noticeable degree. If you have to sharpen the thing so much that you're wearing off a significant amount of blade and getting into the thicker material, you chose the wrong steel/HT and/or the thing was ground like an axe to begin with. I like full-flats and full-convexes. My convexes are pretty close to flat. I will (grudgingly) do sabre or sabre-vex grinds.

Pins or Bolts - I like bolts. Nicely peened pins are a very close second. Un-peened pins tubes and mosaics add lateral strength but don't do much to keep scales tight to the tang. I use epoxy strictly to seal things up and prefer to rely on mechanical means to hold my knives together. Having said that, one of my earliest projects is a hidden-tang K-bar blade with "mortised" pakkawood scales held on only by dimestore super-glue, and it's chopped many a sapling and pounded many a tent peg with no qualms. But I prefer a belt and suspenders, so to speak.

Forging vs. stock-removal - I'm a sparkmaker. I take perfectly good steel and make it smaller. I don't make a whole lot of big honkin' choppers or bowies, so there's simply not much to be gained by me investing another bucketful of cash/time in the tools/techniques required to forge properly. The only thing I have "against" forging is that in less-than-expert hands, there's a lot more that can go wrong and make a good piece of steel, worse.

Steel - I was once an unapologetic carbon steel snob. But the older I get, the less I enjoy sharpening and other maintenance. Happily, there are lots of great stain-resistant alloys available today that perform at or above the levels of the best-treated "plain" carbon steels, with a heckuva lot less maintenance. I don't feel any need to restrict myself to one type of steel, I'm just grateful there are so many really awesome alloys around these days. I feel it's silly to bother with old saw blades, leaf springs and so forth when truly wonderful fresh, virgin steel is a click or phone-call away*. Choosing one depends mainly on the clients' requirements. Which brings me to...

Clients - I have an irrational dislike for the term "customers". No hard reason for that, it just reminds me of slinging a nasty burger through a drive-up window at someone. "Take what you get and like it, slob! NEXT!" :D My job is to help folks get the knife of their dreams in their hands. I do my best to build knives that will outlast me and the client, and be passed on to their progeny, and I charge accordingly. I think that deserves a bit of class and respect on my part.

* I do still make knives from worn-out files occasionally. I make no bones about it, and I ask much less for such knives than ones I make from the finest alloys. I just can't bring myself to throw away a decent piece of carbon steel ;)

Whew, another marathon post from ol' James... hey, you asked! :D
 
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Not a surprise to anyone but:
I was trained in physics and math ,starting at age 5, by my grandfather, Leland J. Stacy physicist and inventor. I made my first knife at age 11. I have spent most of my life learning new things by reading and study. I have not to date taken any formal course work in any skill I have. If the person who wrote the books knows his stuff, I can learn what he has to teach. I buy used college books and technical manuals - as a kid at the used book store...now days online. I read things like Grey's Anatomy cover to cover several times by age 14. Those autopsy photos of women's parts probably set me back years. Later I learned veterinary surgery, electronics, engineering, Goldsmithing, gem cutting and faceting, chemistry,culinary skills, and many other fields. I love to work with my hands, and building things is often far more fun than using them. I built dozens of advanced RC models just to turn around and sell them, and build another. I was very active in Scouting for 40 years, and have spent over 1000 days and nights in the woods and mountains. I learned what a knife can and can't do, and learned the things you need for survival and the things that are hype. I have not been without a knife (unless mandated by law) on my person since 1958, when I received my first official scout knife as a birthday present.

When I returned to knife making about 15 years ago, I started out with a technological view of how to approach the , design of knives, manufacture methods ,and HT . I try and pass on as much of what have learned as possible, and am always learning new things from others.

Guys like Tai keep me grounded. Sometimes I get so wound up in the technical aspects of knifemaking that I fail to notice the artistic aspects of knifemaking. While a science based field - it is an art to do it well.
 
I was in college when I started making knives (as opposed to the vaguely knife-shaped things I'd been making previously). I did both forging and stock-removal, but I preferred stock-removal because it was easier for me to control the shape of the knife and easier for me to make it look good in the end. I took a year off after college and made a lot of stock-reduction knives and got pretty happy with the results. Then I went to grad school and I couldn't make knives anymore. It was killing me. A year and a half ago I decided that this business of not making knives was not working out for me (it had been five years) and I needed to do something about it. I was very poor and didn't have any room of my own to do it, so I asked my girlfriend if I could set up a forge in her 'yard' (what, in albuquerque, we call a 12'x12' square of gravel). I assured her that it would take up very little room when I wasn't using it. Forging knives and not having many tools (hammer, tongs, file) required me to completely rethink the way I approached knifemaking. Having seen Tim Lively's video, I started forging knives 99% to shape. I didn't even have a work bench or a vice, so even my filing was limited to holding the knife in one hand while resting the other end on my leg or the top of my toolbox. Cord-wrapped handles were pretty much the only way I could go because I didn't have a drill press to do handles. I eventually convinced my girlfriend to let me build a work bench in the garage, which allowed me to do better finishes, but didn't fundamentally change my methods otherwise. Every knife I've made since last May has been entirely the result of the limitations of my current circumstances.
And then last week, in celebration of my upcoming dissertation defense, I bought a Grizzly 2x72 (best I could afford).

- Chris
 
When I was deciding on an epoxy I read Tracy's "glue wars." I use synthetic on stainless and Speedbonder 324, to me, was the best bet - I haven't looked back and I love the stuff. Other than viewing the finished knife, gluing the scales becomes the most exciting aspect for me because I have to work fast. "Glue Wars" and Tracy Mickley is why I went with 324.

After making maybe 10 knives, I wanted more assurance that the scales would never fail even in the harshest conditions. I now make them with Corby bolts. I'm pretty sure it was Stacy that convinced me with one of his posts.

After seeing David Sharp's hollow grinds, I knew I wanted to do some of that! I have only messed around with it and no knives to speak of, but I will give it a good effort at some point.

After holding in my hand a few knives that felt more like an extension of me, than a tool I was holding, I knew I wanted to learn more about weight and balance. I'm drilling and tapering and it's a work in progress. BTW, most drilled and or tapered knives that I have held aren't even close to what I am describing.

Everything I'm doing now is because of an experience I have had, many of them have been here on BF. Good post, Rick.

EA
 
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I lost my status as a helper monkey when my mentor replaced me with the alien that tried to abduct him.


...... I friggin hate that alien!

angry_monkey
 
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I was influenced by science to only use the most accurate means to determine the results of a heat treat:

IMG_7602.jpg
 
everything i do is full width convex, because i cant get lines streight. but if i keep the blade moving, it turns out nice.
 
Rick Marchand said:
As not to clutter threads with long-winded personal opinions and topic stretching stories... I thought I would start a thread to allow folks to make public, some of the reasons why we have chosen certain routes in our knifemaking endevours. It can be anything from why you use a certain brand of epoxy, to what made you decide to switch from forging to stock removal. Just give your post an appropriate title and fire away.

Questions are okay. I would like this NOT to get into a debate.... state your reasoning, ask for clarification from others but try not to directly challenge or judge what other folks share. Your contribution should be able to stand on its own two feet without knocking down others.

Rick
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Rick Marchand said:
I lost my status as a helper monkey when my mentor replaced me with the alien that tried to abduct him.


...... I friggin hate that alien!

angry_monkey
Click to expand...

Rick, I saw how you tried to re-direct this thread at least twice, but look at you now - ha, you can't help yourself!

The wheels are officially off the bus.
 
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