My first knife ever, I'm 18 years old and I'd like some pointers.

Wow, good job man! I like the the fact that you never gave up and still pushed forward.
Unfortunately, I cannot offer any pointers as I do not forge or make knives.
You have a bright future in the knife world as you were able to over come the equipment and was able to make things to suit your needs. :thumbup:
Your knife looks awesome btw! :thumbup::thumbup:
 
Not a bladesmith either, but wanted to pass on my congrats anyway. Looks great! Making a knife is on my bucket list.
 
Interesting video. Keep us updated on your progress and welcome to the forums!
 
Hello,
First off I'd like to say welcome to the world of bladesmithing. Secondly, I would definitely recommend making your anvil more solid. As it is in the video you will probably have a lot of bouncing when trying to forge, which will result in much less control and stability, which could lead to you ruining your knife from some accident caused by unwanted movement, or having it spring over the fence. I would suggest a tree stump or other large and heavy block of wood, to which you will mount your steel plate tightly. Next, a grinding wheel isn't really very suited for removing the files teeth, as it is very hard to maintain a flat surface, without ridges. You would be better off using a belt sander as this will provide a constant, flat surface.one more thing I would do is make sure the pliers or tongs you are using have a lot of contact with the metal. Good tongs make for a great hobby and bad tongs lead to a premature death, due to stress.
 
Michael, welcome. I second what sean said and add the recommendation that you find a piece of railroad rail to use as an anvil. the work and are cheaper than a real anvil. shy away from cast iron for an anvil. seen three of them fail and fail quickly. I have three anvils 85, 125 and 160. the 85 was my uncles I bought the 125 for scrap price off a truck headed for the scrap yard and the 160 was luck being at the right place at the right time. belt grinder is also a must there are differences in a true grinder than a sander. for around 100 if you have a motor the viel s5 works and its a 1x42, for a 2x72 you are looking at 10 to 20 times that. I use the atlas mini forge and love it. it handles 2 1/2 x around 12" stock and unless you are making cleavers works very well. if you look at it you could come close to getting an idea for making a firebrick forge in a different fashion and still come out with a nice forge. I have used both coal and gas forges, I like coal but its hard to source here and love the no mess gas. hang in there and you will make it. want to and persistence will get you there. you also need to put a location in your profile probably have a bladesmith closeby willing to give pointers.
 
Dam!! Very impressed!! I'll be the first to sound like an old fart and say it it extremely refreshing to see an 18 year old doing something other than bugging out on video games!
Huge thumbs up!!
I have a feeling your neighbor is gonna find the other half while mowing his lawn!! Oops!!
Keep it up Mike!!
Joe
 
I had a very similar forge setup when I had a yard to work in. Actually worked surprisingly well aside from burning out some hair dryers. I'd suggest adding some more insulation via bricks to keep the heat in on the forge, I usually would build a mini tunnel after the coals were well lit and it made a huge difference. Cheap electric leaf blowers work really well for an air source, you can usually get them on your local craigslist for cheap or free.
 
Nice job! Impressed. Keep it up, you've got the mind of a craftsman... Keep honing your skills and experience and always keep the passion for making things yourself:):thumbup:
 
michaelpressman said:
I made a video on my first knife, I've tried my best to make this knife without looking anything up so everything I've done is either from logic or something I've seen a while ago. Here is the link, I'd like some pointers please https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW_tmZaCO5g
Click to expand...

Awesome effort and nice result Michael!

I've seen pro's forge on a section of cylindical bearing embedded in an old log or even a section of railroad track; a huge anvil is not a necessity but definitely nice to have. :thumbup:

Also, you can buy annealed files from flea markets and such in my experience; even knife shows and that would cut down a lot on the amount of time spent in the beginning.

Or, scrounge up scrap pieces of metals and such; Islandblacksmith on Instagram uses almost (if not completely) reclaimed found materials and no power tools; pretty incredible work too... :thumbup:

Keep on creating!
 
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