- Joined
- Feb 25, 2016
- Messages
- 27
I thought I would share my experience getting started making knives.
A big thank you to everyone on Bladeforums. I have learned a ton on here.
Wow what a learning experience! First things first, the blade is a 1075 1/8” thick. I know 1075 is not the most ideal, but it’s close enough to 1084 and was readily available. The scales are ¼” micarta from Pop’s Knife supplies. The pins are 3/16 stainless. I used Loctite 60 min epoxy.
I felt like I burned through more belts than expected. I am using Klingspor 1x42s from Pop’s as well. So for blade shaping I used 80, 120, & 220. After HT I cleaned up with 220, 400, 600, 800, 1000 then polished with a buffing wheel. For the scales I shaped with progressed 80, 120, 220, 400. As far as belt go I burned though 2-80s, 1-120, 3-220s, 2-400s. I feel like I went through the 220’s the most because I was trying to not be so aggressive on material removal.
I have since got my forge up and running. I also set a 100 lb block of 4140 in concrete to use as an anvil. I have been hammering out my bevels rather than going strictly with stock removal. This seems to save A LOT of belts.
My first forge was fashioned out of a 10” stove pipe lined with 2” ceramic fiber insulation and then coated with refractory mortar. I build a burner mostly out of 2” pipe fittings reducing down to 1” going into the forge. I equipped it with a Dayton Blower and a gate valve to fine tune. The propane is regulated between 0 and 10 psi then fine-tuned with a needle valve at the burner. I could never really get that perfect jet engine sounding burn, but close enough to get steel white hot. I think this was mostly attributed to my U-shaped burner causing turbulent flow. I did this at an attempt to make a more compact and balanced design since my burner was coming into the forge at a vertical position. It would work for the time being.
I just recently acquired some water accumulator tanks on CL (2 for $20). I have rebuilt my forge because I was finding that I couldn’t fit much in the stove pipe one (a little over 3” diameter working space). The burner is now coming into the forge in a horizontal fashion.
I picked up my sander at an estate sale for $50. It is a Delta 1x42”. I had a lot of trouble out of it with the motor overheating and pulleys not properly sized to fit the shaft. It was shocking to find the motor didn’t have bearings at the end of the shaft. It relied on a piece of cloth soaked in oil. I got lucky and picked up a brand new marathon 2HP 115/220V motor at a surplus auction. It had a cracked motor cover, but it was simple to fix. The v belt pulleys were wallowed out on the one end. They have since been replaced with bushing pressed in so it fits nice and tight on the shaft. Due to the larger size motor and my lack of patience to retrofit, I went ahead and left the disc sander portion off of the set-up. My last complaint is the wheels seem to have horrible alignment. The belts were all popping off every time I started it up. I was able to correct that issue, but the belts do not run true on every wheel. I also noticed it is quite easy to push and pull the belts while grinding. I’m assuming this is just a tension issue.
I have completed 5 knives and have 3 more that are very close to being finished. I am learning a lot on each one.
In summary, I am really enjoying it and pretty much think about it all of the time. I am hooked.
My first forge test run before finishing it up( I have another post highlighting the build and questions I had):
My second forge(not complete in the photo but very close):
First knife:
Two and three:
Four and Five:
Six thru Eight in WIP:
A big thank you to everyone on Bladeforums. I have learned a ton on here.
Wow what a learning experience! First things first, the blade is a 1075 1/8” thick. I know 1075 is not the most ideal, but it’s close enough to 1084 and was readily available. The scales are ¼” micarta from Pop’s Knife supplies. The pins are 3/16 stainless. I used Loctite 60 min epoxy.
I felt like I burned through more belts than expected. I am using Klingspor 1x42s from Pop’s as well. So for blade shaping I used 80, 120, & 220. After HT I cleaned up with 220, 400, 600, 800, 1000 then polished with a buffing wheel. For the scales I shaped with progressed 80, 120, 220, 400. As far as belt go I burned though 2-80s, 1-120, 3-220s, 2-400s. I feel like I went through the 220’s the most because I was trying to not be so aggressive on material removal.
I have since got my forge up and running. I also set a 100 lb block of 4140 in concrete to use as an anvil. I have been hammering out my bevels rather than going strictly with stock removal. This seems to save A LOT of belts.
My first forge was fashioned out of a 10” stove pipe lined with 2” ceramic fiber insulation and then coated with refractory mortar. I build a burner mostly out of 2” pipe fittings reducing down to 1” going into the forge. I equipped it with a Dayton Blower and a gate valve to fine tune. The propane is regulated between 0 and 10 psi then fine-tuned with a needle valve at the burner. I could never really get that perfect jet engine sounding burn, but close enough to get steel white hot. I think this was mostly attributed to my U-shaped burner causing turbulent flow. I did this at an attempt to make a more compact and balanced design since my burner was coming into the forge at a vertical position. It would work for the time being.
I just recently acquired some water accumulator tanks on CL (2 for $20). I have rebuilt my forge because I was finding that I couldn’t fit much in the stove pipe one (a little over 3” diameter working space). The burner is now coming into the forge in a horizontal fashion.
I picked up my sander at an estate sale for $50. It is a Delta 1x42”. I had a lot of trouble out of it with the motor overheating and pulleys not properly sized to fit the shaft. It was shocking to find the motor didn’t have bearings at the end of the shaft. It relied on a piece of cloth soaked in oil. I got lucky and picked up a brand new marathon 2HP 115/220V motor at a surplus auction. It had a cracked motor cover, but it was simple to fix. The v belt pulleys were wallowed out on the one end. They have since been replaced with bushing pressed in so it fits nice and tight on the shaft. Due to the larger size motor and my lack of patience to retrofit, I went ahead and left the disc sander portion off of the set-up. My last complaint is the wheels seem to have horrible alignment. The belts were all popping off every time I started it up. I was able to correct that issue, but the belts do not run true on every wheel. I also noticed it is quite easy to push and pull the belts while grinding. I’m assuming this is just a tension issue.
I have completed 5 knives and have 3 more that are very close to being finished. I am learning a lot on each one.
In summary, I am really enjoying it and pretty much think about it all of the time. I am hooked.
My first forge test run before finishing it up( I have another post highlighting the build and questions I had):
My second forge(not complete in the photo but very close):
First knife:
Two and three:
Four and Five:
Six thru Eight in WIP: