- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Messages
- 1,639
Ever since I got hooked on fiddlebacks, I started to wonder about the knife making process, both what went into it and what it would take to make one. I really had little to know idea what was involved. I started to get little glimpses into the process through some of the sneak peaks and other pics from the shop. I also started looking online a little and ran across some of Dylan's great videos. Finally, Mist posted the epic Road to Fiddleback Friday post and I got a much clearer picture.
A few months back I picked up a 1x42 kalamazoo sander/grinder for various projects. I know most people don't use a 1x42" grinder to make knives but I though what the heck, might as well give it a try. I ordered some 01 tool steel and gave it a go. Even though I had figured out some of the steps involved the actual how to do it was still a mystery. I had done very little grinding up to this point. As I wanted to focus on making a knife and not designing one at first, I used one of my all time favorite knives as a basic template, the Fiddleback Arete. I modified the handle and the tip some. I hope that this is alright and that I am not infringing on any copyright laws. I promise never to sell this knife (for more reasons than that of course).
It was a fun journey and I learned a lot. I made at least a thousand mistakes, but ended up with a knife that is functional.
Here are some pics from the journey.
I tried using my bandsaw with a good metal blade but it was not up to the task so I had to cut it out with an angle grinder.
This pic is from my initial grinding on the 1x42. I ended up bringing the grind higher up later on.
I ground it down to about a dime's thickness at the blade and then I was ready to harden and temper. I looked into sending it out for the heat treating but I really wanted to do as much as I could myself. Not to mention I didn't want to wait. When I got the 01, I thought I just needed to bring it up to non magnetic and then quench in oil. The more research I did, the more I ran across folks saying it actually should soak at that temperature for at least 15 minutes. Oh well. I just decided to give it a try and see what happened. It was just for me anyways so if it failed, no biggie. So I made a mini forge that was powered a mapp gas torch. It got the blade to non magnetic in a few minutes. I tested with my funky magnet on a fire poker I made. It was non magnetic to about mid handle. I quenched in canola oil that I had warmed up with a hot piece of rebar. After the quench, I tempered in my oven at 400 degrees for one hour, twice. I think I probably should have tempered at a little higher temperature as it came out pretty hard. I was going to use hand files for some of the post tempering work but that wasn't going to fast.
I glued together a forest green and ghost jade g10 liner to a black linen micarta. It turns out the ghost g10 liner didn't really do much because you can't even see it is there. You can hardly see the green but I like subtle. I used loveless bolts and a 30 minute epoxy to hold it together. I screwed up the handle so many times it is amazing it turned out. I didn't have an 8" wheel to shape the handle so I used the free part of the belt on the 1x42 and a rasp. I wore a good respirator for this part and the rest of the grinding after using the angle grinder.
Here is a picture of my "shop" and the tools I was using. The biggest challenge for me was the one sided "platen" on my grinder. It made it very difficult to grind the two sides evenly. I put platen in quotes because it might not even qualify as a platen. The base plate also is interrupted by the motor as you get away from it so I had to raise it up. My wood solution was not great and it was very hard to get the spine square. I reground it about 100 times because I kept messing it up. I thought I was going to end up with a runt in the end.
Here is the final product. When I put it next to a Fiddleback it makes me crack up. It is like putting a go cart next to a sports car. Andy's work is insane and now I know much more what a great piece of craftsmanship we are getting when we buy his knives. I would like to continue to make so more knives, but doing this did not quench my appetite for fine fiddles. I do wish there were more folks out here into making knives. I hope to some day visit the fiddleback shop and get to see the masters in action, maybe ask a question or two. I have quite a few questions now that I tried to make a knife.
Next to my inspiration, an absolutely beautifully ground Arete.
A few months back I picked up a 1x42 kalamazoo sander/grinder for various projects. I know most people don't use a 1x42" grinder to make knives but I though what the heck, might as well give it a try. I ordered some 01 tool steel and gave it a go. Even though I had figured out some of the steps involved the actual how to do it was still a mystery. I had done very little grinding up to this point. As I wanted to focus on making a knife and not designing one at first, I used one of my all time favorite knives as a basic template, the Fiddleback Arete. I modified the handle and the tip some. I hope that this is alright and that I am not infringing on any copyright laws. I promise never to sell this knife (for more reasons than that of course).
It was a fun journey and I learned a lot. I made at least a thousand mistakes, but ended up with a knife that is functional.
Here are some pics from the journey.
I tried using my bandsaw with a good metal blade but it was not up to the task so I had to cut it out with an angle grinder.
This pic is from my initial grinding on the 1x42. I ended up bringing the grind higher up later on.
I ground it down to about a dime's thickness at the blade and then I was ready to harden and temper. I looked into sending it out for the heat treating but I really wanted to do as much as I could myself. Not to mention I didn't want to wait. When I got the 01, I thought I just needed to bring it up to non magnetic and then quench in oil. The more research I did, the more I ran across folks saying it actually should soak at that temperature for at least 15 minutes. Oh well. I just decided to give it a try and see what happened. It was just for me anyways so if it failed, no biggie. So I made a mini forge that was powered a mapp gas torch. It got the blade to non magnetic in a few minutes. I tested with my funky magnet on a fire poker I made. It was non magnetic to about mid handle. I quenched in canola oil that I had warmed up with a hot piece of rebar. After the quench, I tempered in my oven at 400 degrees for one hour, twice. I think I probably should have tempered at a little higher temperature as it came out pretty hard. I was going to use hand files for some of the post tempering work but that wasn't going to fast.
I glued together a forest green and ghost jade g10 liner to a black linen micarta. It turns out the ghost g10 liner didn't really do much because you can't even see it is there. You can hardly see the green but I like subtle. I used loveless bolts and a 30 minute epoxy to hold it together. I screwed up the handle so many times it is amazing it turned out. I didn't have an 8" wheel to shape the handle so I used the free part of the belt on the 1x42 and a rasp. I wore a good respirator for this part and the rest of the grinding after using the angle grinder.
Here is a picture of my "shop" and the tools I was using. The biggest challenge for me was the one sided "platen" on my grinder. It made it very difficult to grind the two sides evenly. I put platen in quotes because it might not even qualify as a platen. The base plate also is interrupted by the motor as you get away from it so I had to raise it up. My wood solution was not great and it was very hard to get the spine square. I reground it about 100 times because I kept messing it up. I thought I was going to end up with a runt in the end.
Here is the final product. When I put it next to a Fiddleback it makes me crack up. It is like putting a go cart next to a sports car. Andy's work is insane and now I know much more what a great piece of craftsmanship we are getting when we buy his knives. I would like to continue to make so more knives, but doing this did not quench my appetite for fine fiddles. I do wish there were more folks out here into making knives. I hope to some day visit the fiddleback shop and get to see the masters in action, maybe ask a question or two. I have quite a few questions now that I tried to make a knife.
Next to my inspiration, an absolutely beautifully ground Arete.
