Munky's first Knives Plog

[Munky88]

I thought I would make a newbie tutorial post of sorts. Written by a newbie with my learned guidance implanted as i go. There are quite a few good start to finish threads already made, but most are done by experienced people with more advanced tools, whereas most beginners don't have those tools. This is done will a drill, hacksaw, dremel, and perhaps a jigsaw if it works on the thinner steel.

I hope to also post questions in this thread as I come across problems, so as not to litter the board.

So here we go, These are the knives as i have mocked up. A kitchen Nessmuk as a Christmas present for my mom. a small edc knife for the Christmas exchange. And a larger woods knife for me. They're not to scale in that picture, but irl the top is 6.5 inches 1/8 thick, the nessmuk is 9 inches overall 3/32, and the woods knife 9.5 inches 3/16th

The woodsknife is in s30v, the others are cpm154cm. I went with Air hardening steels as advised, so that I could do more work on the knifes before they were hardened, as once hardened i dont have any tools that can put much of a dent in them. Ordered the steel from rob at knifemaker.ca, and if your Canadian would highly suggest you do the same. Also getting them heat treated there if all goes well.

So last night I had some fun with modeling clay, and tested out the handles that i had made. Slightly modified it in terms of size for the finger holes. Then discoverd that it would be quite difficult to cutout the middle/fore finger gouge, and went back to the drawing board and came up with the second.

And this one for the woods knife. overlayed ontop of the metal so you can see what i have to remove. May change this to something simpler aswell.

And tonight the fun began. I found the best way to get the curves on the inside of the handle were to drill 1/4 inch holes, cut into them with a hacksaw or dremel, and then file down to where i wanted. The sanding wheels on the dremel proved quite usefull for fine tuning the curves. I'm very pleased with the result. the handle is compact (about 3.5 inches) yet feels very full and secure.

 

[Keith_H]

Nice job, please keep us posted!

 

[Phil Dwyer]

GREAT, keep those posts coming!

 

[panch0]

Nice Job! The dremel is a pain but it works for me too. Keep us posted.

 

[J-siah]

Ya keep us posted. I love progression threads.

That cpm154 is some good stuff. In my experience it performs a lot like D2 (a little better edge retention) but is stainless. I have thought about getting some s30v but for most my blades its not practical, let us know how you like it.

 

[Munky88]

Finished the cutout of the edc this afternoon. Harder then i expected. Im sorry about these pictures, had some dirt on the lense which messed up the auto focus.

So i started by dremeling a little grove in to make starting the hacksaw easyer. Hacksawing does not get easyer, 2 blades in and i was only a quarter into the first cut. Is this normal, or did i get the wrong kind of blade?

Gave up on thehacksaws and I ended up scoring it with cutoff discs, and then snapping it off.

Went to town with files and ended up with this. Blade is 3.25 inches long, for an actual overall of 6.75 inches. Once i grind it and put handles on it, the balance should be right in the middle of the front finger hole.
Im thinking about filing the concave part of the spin flat as well. Wasn't really done on purpose but i just ran with it, looks like it was done by mistake though as its not symmetrical. Opinions?

Will of course clean up the edges better latter. Hoping to get to the kitchen knife later tonight. Could be rough if the jigsaw dosnt work.


Oh, and my filing collection system. Smashed up some old hard drives for there magnets and stuck them on the vice.

 

[Will Leavitt]

You are a knifemaker..... 99%of the people come in here and ask what type of equipment and how much do they need to spend, you're "just" making a knife with what you have on hand. Welcome to knifemaking.

Course you're Canadian, probably already stuck in the house and unable to leave until the sun comes out in July so you're probably getting ready to reenact the scenes in The Shining.

Nice job.

 

[Munky88]

Well there is something rewarding about doing it without fancy power tools. But mostly im just too stubborn to give up. I'd probibly break down crying knowing it could have been so much easier.

2 files down, 1 and a half drill bits, and 7 hacksaw blades.... and i havnt even gotten to the big knife yet. The jigsaw didn't work. I've finished the profile on the kitchen nessmuk, the EDC, and a bushcraft knife. Pictures tomarrow. Im afraid to start on the 3/16th woods knife.

anybody know where I can get a cheap file guide? or Plans to an easy to make one?

 

[panch0]

hey Munky88 my arms were sore after I cut out my blades. I tried to flat grind and my wife said why don't you get a grinder. I was out the door before she could change her mind. I used it to put the flat gring. keep up the good work.

 

[Munky88]

will the 1x30 inch once work sufficiently well for putting a flat grind on?

The only once I've been able to find used.

 

[Munky88]

Really like the kitchen nesmuk. still haven't figured out how I'm going to bevel these. The woods knife has been scaring me, 3/16th thick was a bad idea. I'll try and bust it out tonight and tomorrow.

 

[galadduin]

Really like the kitchen nesmuk. still haven't figured out how I'm going to bevel these. The woods knife has been scaring me, 3/16th thick was a bad idea. I'll try and bust it out tonight and tomorrow.

Dont be scared, you're going just fine :thumbup:... I did my first knife just like you, with files and lots of sand paper... It was .25" D2 stock and I managed to make a chefs knife 0.08" thick ... It needs only patience and to work by only hand tools is slow but fool proof. You have more control over the work than us, using belt grinders etc. Takes weeks to finish a knife by hand maybe but it is very very fun and fruitful...
Thanks for sharing & good luck.

Emre

 

[Angus McGunnigl]

The old hard drive magnets on the vise to collect the metal bits is and OUTSTANDING IDEA !

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT !

The blades look nice so far. Keep on it !

 

[Munky88]

Still havnt gotten around to working on them again. However I will have a nice peice of scrap metal left over, and decided to do something with it.

Here is what i came up with.

A razle type thing with a rescue hook/bottle opener. made to fit perfectly into change pockets at about 3 inches. Although i may have to make the hook smaller to avoid cutting fingertips, which would make it useless as a bottle opener... ah, prioritys.

Thanks for the re-assuring support Galadduin.

 

[Munky88]

woohoo, profiles are all done. Draw filing for the win! Need some advice on the bevels though. I dont know how thin I should take them. I've decided I'm going to file the bevels, and forget about the belt sander for now. Running out of time to find one, and would probibly just be frustrated with it. Instead I have a macguyver filing jig setup utilizing a swiffer, duct tape, and wooden dowls.

So yeah, how thing should i take the bevels for each knife? I was thinking i would sharpen the nessmuk at 15 deg if that changes anything. the others all at 20


By Eric_Smith_

and all the others have been cleaned up a bit and tweaked.

And for future knife makers, the s30v was much easier to work with than the 154cm. Even though this knife was twice as thick as the kitchen nessmuk the holes drilled faster, and hacksaw blades lasted and cut better. even draw filing felt smoother.
Having known this before i may have used it on the two smaller knives instead, but 154 is still better suited for a kitchen knife in my opinion. Easier to sharpen, better stain resistance. Having finished all the rest it was literally a joy to work with. Maybe Rob just sent me hardened 154cm as a joke.

 

[Keith_H]

Looking good!

I am filing my knife to a little over 1/32" so that I don't have to sand too much after the heat treatment. I don't know about zero edge grinds though.

I recommend a jig like mine. The best part is that I can take the blade off and on and as long as the edge is the same distance from the angle iron.

 

[Munky88]

is your jig any better then one similar to a giant apex sharpener? I dont really need to take the blade off, but dont see reason why I couldnt. I dont really have enough room for a jig like yours.

Never realized how similar our knives were. I challenge you to a showdown -_-

 

[Keith_H]

Challenge accepted!

It is pretty close I think. My jig is a little oversize, the big guide bar only needs to be a couple inches long. It needs to be moved a few times in order to file in the curve of the edge and sanding at different grits.

 

[Rob!]

So yeah, how thing should i take the bevels for each knife? I was thinking i would sharpen the nessmuk at 15 deg if that changes anything. the others all at 20

If you are asking the question from a final performance perspective, these look more like cutters than choppers or screwdrivers. The CPM154 is twice as tough as regular 154CM for the same hardness - so can go thinner for a better cutter without sacraficing edge integrity.

If you are asking the question from a heat treating point of view, we prefer not to be handling sharp blades - but having said that, some have sent us zero ground blades - that would shave arm hair soft - and we sent them back still shaving.

There are a lot of people enjoying your journey vicariously. Thanks for sharing.

Rob!

 

[Munky88]

Ok so it looks like 1/32 is standard for the bevel, and i can go either side accordingly? thats conviniant for scoring the center line will drill bits at least.

the other question is how do i sharpen these after. I guess i can use the same jig with sand paper? I have a sharpmaker too, so would diamond stones make that feasible, or is it still going to take forever?