Looking For Cheap Materials...

[Britt_Askew]

I was thinking the same thing as Stacy, that trip with my truck would be 30 in gas and at least a couple hours of time. makes shipping one box a deal.

The cedar is probably going to be to soft

 

[Drew Riley]

1084, micarta, and pin stock is VERY inexpensive. Skip the big mac and fries at McD's a couple of times, and you'll have more than enough to buy a knife's worth of materials.

I'll also add that you'll typically find better deals online then you will any big box store, though that's not necessarily true for everything all the time.

 

[T.O. Rye]

I actually talked to my local hardware store's owner and he found out one of his suppliers sells steel cutlers rivets, so I had him order 50 rivets for me. That means I'll have a few knives worth of rivets within the next week or so

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

thanks to everyone who commented on this thread , I think I'll order from Jephco like a few of you suggested. I have a couple of other questions that are somewhat off topic. 1) Have any of you ever used cedar heartwood for handle material? I have a few cut, split, and heat cured chunks in my garage, and it looks beautiful when it's properly polished. How well does it hold up though? 2) I saw a design for a primitive in-ground charcoal forge online, it uses clay as insulation for the forge and a steel pipe of about an inch diameter with holes drilled in it to supply air to the coals from below. Has anyone seen or used a design like this, and if so is it worth the time of making it or are there better options for a DIY forge?

Cedar makes a poor handle due to its softness. Use it to make presentation boxes or display stands.

Pit forges will work OK, but are not very good at heat control unless you have a bit of experience in using a forge. A small brake drum forge or a simple small propane forge will probably work better.

 

[T.O. Rye]

Thanks for the info bladsmth.

 

[crank78]

and take my word for it if you build a forge. you can build one from lowes for 80$ or you can spend an extra 20$ or so and build one that actually works.