My first attempt

[LogisticsGuy]

Well, I’m two days into my first attempt at making a knife. I’m going for a hunting knife.

Needless to say, I have a long way to go lol.

I started with 1 1/2 1084. We share a building with a manufacturing company and they let me use their 3”x 60” belt grinder. It only has one speed (fast) and has a 60 grit belt on it.
I began by drawing out the shape with a marker and rough cutting it out with an angel grinder. Then I took it to said belt grinder where I proceeded to get it extremely hot. Not sure how much damage heating the steel pre- heat treatment does???

Anyway, I then used a bastard file and crude jig to get it to where it is in the photos. I’m pretty sure I got the edge too thin and will pay for that when it comes time to heat treat. But hey, it’s been fun so far (besides for the blisters)
Any criticism (constructive or not) is welcome!

I’ll post more pictures as this knife progresses.

Thanks!
-Ryan

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Looking really good.... Keep filing to try to get the grind marks out of your bevels pre heat treat.
It's hard to tell from the pictures, if it's wavey?

Looks like an awesome shape and size

 

[LogisticsGuy]

Thanks for the tips! There is definitely a little wave in it. I tried to hold it vertical flat against the platen with a magnet after grinding it down. Orignally I did that just to remove the burrs but I noticed the belt wasn’t hitting the middle.This was the case on both sides. I went back and forth on each side I finally decided I was removing too much material and stopped. Not sure what happened there? I would think the steel came flat, and when pressed against a (assumed) flat platen it would show even grind marks across the entire face. The only other thing I can think of is if the belt was too far from the platen and caused it to concave.

Their grinder is old and really only used for cleaning off big burrs from their manufacturing process so it far from a finely-tuned machine.

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Thanks for the tips! There is definitely a little wave in it. I tried to hold it vertical flat against the platen with a magnet after grinding it down. Orignally I did that just to remove the burrs but I noticed the belt wasn’t hitting the middle.This was the case on both sides. I went back and forth on each side I finally decided I was removing too much material and stopped. Not sure what happened there? I would think the steel came flat, and when pressed against a (assumed) flat platen it would show even grind marks across the entire face. The only other thing I can think of is if the belt was too far from the platen and caused it to concave.

Their grinder is old and really only used for cleaning off big burrs from their manufacturing process so it far from a finely-tuned machine.

If it's old, and beaten up, their platen might not even be flat?

Look up draw filing. It's a two handed, kind of a push technique. It might help flatten your high spots.

Don't worry, yours looks good.

Don't forget to drill your holes Before HT

 

[Richard338]

Reading the post, I was ready to see something significantly worse. I'd say it's looking good so far. As Crag said, don't forget to drill those pin holes. We don't need another thread about drilling hardened steel. If you plan the pin locations carefully and take your time with the rest of the steps there's no reason this can't turn out nice.

 

[LogisticsGuy]

If it's old, and beaten up, their platen might not even be flat?

Look up draw filing. It's a two handed, kind of a push technique. It might help flatten your high spots.

Don't worry, yours looks good.

Don't forget to drill your holes Before HT

I’ll look it up now. Was wondering what was causing some of those lines to be crooked. I’ll give it a shot! And 10-4 on drilling before HT!

Any tips for trying to fix that wave? I was thinking of trying to clamp it between something flat after getting it up to heat.

 

[LogisticsGuy]

Reading the post, I was ready to see something significantly worse. I'd say it's looking good so far. As Crag said, don't forget to drill those pin holes. We don't need another thread about drilling hardened steel. If you plan the pin locations carefully and take your time with the rest of the steps there's no reason this can't turn out nice.

Thanks! Anything in particular to consider when planning pin locations?

I’ve have put any thought into what to use for pins or handle material yet.

 

[Richard338]

It depends on what you plan to do for the handle and whether you want 2 pins or 3. Try to get them evenly distributed and centered. Set up securely and use a drill press. Misplaced pins are a common sight on 1st knives.

 

[Lorien]

Thanks! Anything in particular to consider when planning pin locations?

I’ve have put any thought into what to use for pins or handle material yet.

I like my pins to be centered within the handle and equidistant from the ends
if you use a vulcanized fiber liner and laminate it to your handle material, it'll help fill in some of the small dips and scratches
the easiest pin material I've worked with is brass

 

[LogisticsGuy]

I like my pins to be centered within the handle and equidistant from the ends
if you use a vulcanized fiber liner and laminate it to your handle material, it'll help fill in some of the small dips and scratches
the easiest pin material I've worked with is brass

Thanks! I’ll start looking for those materials online. Is there anywhere in particular you reccomend?

 

[LogisticsGuy]

Wow, I have to say, I was not expecting all of this help. Especially this fast!

What an awesome community! I’m even more amped up than I was before to finish this thing and make more. I think I feel an obsession beginning

Appreciate it everyone!

 

[A.McPherson]

So the draw filing technique is the way to get your bevels flat.

Basically it goes like this:
Clamp the knife down to the bench or something with the point towards you.

Grab the file handle in your left hand, and the end of the file "blade" in your right. Lay the file flat on the bevel and with some downward pressure pull the file towards you with both hands.

This is NOT a fast process, but it will, with care to use even pressure in both hands, create a flat surface, with no waves.

Also another thing to be aware of, as with all filing, the middle of your stroke is the most effective, so make sure you're concentrating on getting even pressure, and use a straight edge occasionally to check for flat.

It works! It's just slow.

 

[LogisticsGuy]

So the draw filing technique is the way to get your bevels flat.

Basically it goes like this:
Clamp the knife down to the bench or something with the point towards you.

Grab the file handle in your left hand, and the end of the file "blade" in your right. Lay the file flat on the bevel and with some downward pressure pull the file towards you with both hands.

This is NOT a fast process, but it will, with care to use even pressure in both hands, create a flat surface, with no waves.

Also another thing to be aware of, as with all filing, the middle of your stroke is the most effective, so make sure you're concentrating on getting even pressure, and use a straight edge occasionally to check for flat.

It works! It's just slow.

I’ll be giving this a shot tomorrow! Does using any type of fluid help/ hurt the process?

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Figuring out hardware and location, and drilling is some of my least favorite part...

More advise I have trouble with....
Drill your holes After you know exactly what the profile is.
If it's a new design for me, I'll profile, and then drill the holes. Suddenly I realize I wanna tweak the profile a bit. Usually that means I wish the pins location could change too

 

[LogisticsGuy]

Ah I see. I’m sure there will be some trial and error but at least I am enjoying the process. Worse case scenario I’ll make another knife. Which, ironically, is also the best case scenario lol

 

[Lorien]

Thanks! I’ll start looking for those materials online. Is there anywhere in particular you reccomend?

Alpha Knife Supply comes highly recommended. You might want to call your order in so you can take advantage of some good free advice regarding sizes of pins and drill bits, epoxy and all the things. Put together a little kit for you

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Looks like a good start. Keep working at it. Make sure that all the file and grinder marks are sanded out before HT. When hand sanding wrap the paper around a FLAT block of aluminum or hard wood.

 

[bikedave99]

Ah I see. I’m sure there will be some trial and error but at least I am enjoying the process. Worse case scenario I’ll make another knife. Which, ironically, is also the best case scenario lol

Great first work man! I too use the Gough type file jig to great success. I love that its a deliberate process and you can ease into your shapes. I end up doing my rough bevel filing with the aggressive double cut file. Then, when I'm getting thin enough and my angles are still set on the jig, move over to a single cut file to smooth it out. Then move over to draw filing with a single cut.

As far as the thinness of the edge... my biggest finished knife problems early on were leaving the edge too thick before heat treatment. I made some pretty nice looking knives with chunky wedge for a sharpened edge. Don't be afraid to take it down to dime thickness or even a bit less.

 

[A.McPherson]

I’ll be giving this a shot tomorrow! Does using any type of fluid help/ hurt the process?

No, not really. But if you've got some chalk on hand, that helps. Before you start filing, rub the chalk up and down the flats of the file, kinda filling up the groves in the file.
It'll make it so the filings fall out of the file teeth better, and you won't have to clean your file as often.

 

[LogisticsGuy]

Great first work man! I too use the Gough type file jig to great success. I love that its a deliberate process and you can ease into your shapes. I end up doing my rough bevel filing with the aggressive double cut file. Then, when I'm getting thin enough and my angles are still set on the jig, move over to a single cut file to smooth it out. Then move over to draw filing with a single cut.

As far as the thinness of the edge... my biggest finished knife problems early on were leaving the edge too thick before heat treatment. I made some pretty nice looking knives with chunky wedge for a sharpened edge. Don't be afraid to take it down to dime thickness or even a bit less.

Thanks! Do you still use the jig when you’re draw filing or is that best done free hand to keep the file perpendicular to the blade?