Looking to make my first knife

efreedma

efreedma

Joined
Feb 26, 2014
Messages
369
Would D2 tool steel be a good place to start with my first knife? Looking to make a frame lock folder by hand. Any input would be much appreciated.
 
Sounds like you haven't read the "stickies" above. It will tell you about all sorts of things on knife making. I can tell you it will be a most frustrating experience tell to start planning to make a frame without any previous knife making experience. Did you try using the "search" key? There is at least on work in progress for a liner lock. Try to find that. A frame lock isn't much different. By the way this is a huge topic. Frank
 
Holy crap there is a lot of info out there. This will keep me busy for quite sometime. My wife is going hate me, I told her it would cost less if I made my own knives instead of buy them lol. I have been toying with the idea of making my own knife for sometime and I think its time to take the plunge. I plan on doing this all by hand as much as possible. I do have a drill press, ban saw and more files than I know what to do with. Is it possible to use a router to mill? I am a very handy person and do pretty much everything I can on my own. Eventually I would like to get a mill and some kind of belt sander, but I really want to perfect this by hand before I jump into the machine part. I also have a buddy who have a machine shop and I was thinking of giving him my design for the handles and frame lock so I had a perfect example to work off. Is that cheating? Well I better get to reading, there is plenty to keep me busy here.
 
efreedma said:
Holy crap there is a lot of info out there. This will keep me busy for quite sometime. My wife is going hate me, I told her it would cost less if I made my own knives instead of buy them lol. I have been toying with the idea of making my own knife for sometime and I think its time to take the plunge. I plan on doing this all by hand as much as possible. I do have a drill press, ban saw and more files than I know what to do with. Is it possible to use a router to mill? I am a very handy person and do pretty much everything I can on my own. Eventually I would like to get a mill and some kind of belt sander, but I really want to perfect this by hand before I jump into the machine part. I also have a buddy who have a machine shop and I was thinking of giving him my design for the handles and frame lock so I had a perfect example to work off. Is that cheating? Well I better get to reading, there is plenty to keep me busy here.
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Speaking from a guy who thought the same thing, the costs of building will outweigh the cost vs buying! Once you get started you will start to buy more tools, then you have belts, abrasives, epoxy, and etc. If you do it by hand with files it's not as bad but if you plan on making knives with an s like you posted and you get addicted then you'll be buying 2X42's, buffers, and etc. That really starts to add up.
 
The costs of the machinery, tools, materials and supplies to make knives yourself will far exceed the cost of just buying knives you like. But People who make knives don't really do it to save money. They do it because they are creative people and they NEED that outlet. They have a vision or visions for their own designs and want to see those designs come to fruition. There may be some motivation to eventually make money from their knives but at the core it's usually about the need to create.
 
i4Marc said:
The costs of the machinery, tools, materials and supplies to make knives yourself will far exceed the cost of just buying knives you like. But People who make knives don't really do it to save money. They do it because they are creative people and they NEED that outlet. They have a vision or visions for their own designs and want to see those designs come to fruition. There may be some motivation to eventually make money from their knives but at the core it's usually about the need to create.
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Mine was just this. I have no goal, dreams or desires of becoming this known knife maker to sell. I wanted something to do during the winter months when it's too cold to golf. Even though it's ate into my golfing season a bit with the habit I've started. It's much harder and rewarding than I expected.
 
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