Making guards, bolsters. Equipment needs never end. Help

J

Jefflynn

Joined
Feb 19, 2017
Messages
52
Stepping up. Bought
1.Bader 111 with many accessories knife grindee 2x72
2. Grizzly , upright 14 inch metal cutting bandsaw.
3. Nice porter cable floor stand drill press.
All equipment variable speed.
BUT. I guess, with all these additions, to my shop I can't make my guards, bolsters, without a milling machine??????
Any ideas on brass guards n bolsters with what I have and no milling machine.
I have learned I should have bought a milling machine that can drill. BUT,any other way to make my own brass guards and bolsters.????
 
Guard stock is one of the reasons I mentioned getting a vertical and a horizontal bandsaw in your other thread. The thickest stock I cut for knife making is mostly guardstock and large bars for forging and this gets done in the horizontal saw.

You don't need a mill to make guards, in fact the primary benefit of having one is for the slot, everything else is pretty easy on the grinder or saw. Using a drill and a files to slot a guard gets old very fast, especially considering how easy it is to get impatient and file it to wide then have to chase it and re file it. This will make you want a mill very fast.

I do have a piece of advise for you. It sounds like you are new to making knives and if this is the case I would recommend you slow it down. You have bought a lot of good stuff and you don't need to make guards and fancy stuff out the gate. Trust me on this, it will only make the journey frustrating. Just focus on the basics - grinding good flat bevels and fit and finish. I see way to many new guys skimp on this and it shows in their work. Plus you may spend a lot of money on something only to find out from experience you could have got something better for a hundred dollars more or worse a hundred dollars less.

Good luck and have fun

-Clint
 
Exactly, progress, learn, step up to custom brass guards once I have other skills in hand. And i see now, mill is for the slot. I can think of several other ways to slot. Thanks to both you men. I feel better. Was over loading and getting stressed. I'm fortunate to have the equipment I listed.
 
The way you are looking at knife making means you may not only need a special CNC but a guy to operate it as well. I don't have either a milling machine or surface grinder but have been making liner locking folders for the last twenty years.
Frank
 
For guards, all that you really NEED is a drill press and some files, at least for hidden tang knives. I can not comment on full tang blades. as I have only made a handful of guardless ones. With that said, a little micro-mill or mill-drill machine is not a bad thing to have around the shop.
 
A drill, a jeweler's hand saw and some files are all you need.
 
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