My first knife project begins

A

AlanZ

Joined
Dec 20, 1998
Messages
24
Greetings,

I've been a long time lurker, not having asked a question for quite some time. In the past I've gotten some very kind advice from Kit Carson, and have studied a bit with Daniel Valois, but that was a couple of years ago.

I have been uncharacteristically patient in setting up my little 12x12 basement shop. My first experiences at my grinder some time back were very humbling, and my attention got diverted to other things.

I had some time off recently, and decided to get my shop back in order.

I'm jump starting the making of my first knife by challenging my younger son (14 years old) to make one along side me.

So, I had him sketch out a knife he thought he'd like to make, and we're each taking a 440C blank and working through the process on my Bader III grinder.

We're playing it by ear at this point, experimenting with different techniques. In addition to the belt grinder, I have a bench grinder, drill press, a mini-lathe, dust collector, and a Paragon heat treating furnace. I'd really like a metal cutting saw and a small mill < s >

We put in a couple of hours tonight, going from paper sketch, to template, to partially profiled... making photos of most of the steps. This was Joshua's very first time at the grinder... he did very nicely.

So, if you'd like, please take a look at the first evening's photos by clicking here ... text will follow.

Suggestions are always welcome

It's nice to FINALLY get started < s >

[Edit-- 1/7/2004 updated the URL of the page... reorganized folders on web site]
 
Nice set-up, great pics, going to be fun to watch the progression!
 
Nice job! Cool that you're making your son's design, which I like a lot.

I use a pile of that colored acrylic stuff from the 60s that I got at a garage sale to make templates, and it works well. (Some day I'll use it for the stacked handle of a theater knife too :) ) I also put the drill hole guides in the templates, sized to fit my center punch snuggly.

Your water trap atop the dust collector is great!

I think you've put as much effort into your website as your knife project! Keep it up, even when it might seem like a lot. You have a good thing going, thanks for sharing.

Congratulations and good luck!
 
I can't wait till the warmer weather (and tax season) are over so I can get my forge built out back. My son is already itching to start beating hot steel.....

Thanks for the encouraging display.

Doc
 
You might want to move that grinder out of the corner. Place it in the straight area so you can move from side to side as you grind.
 
Thanks so much for the encouragement.

Reg Ellery... one of the first things I did after we scribed the blank was drill a hole in the template. My son was wondering what that was for... I smiled as I put it on a peg on the pegboard.

ddavelarsen, I too like Josh's sketch. I added the lines in blue ink. I'm not sure yet if we'll do a bolster, or ricasso, or shape the handle that way.... but I do like the forward slanting line (it will probably be something I'll regret). Also, the dust trap really seems to work well. The dust collector tube comes in at the bottom of the barrel (an Ikea waste basket). The water trap sits atop a pizza cooling screen. When we finished with the night's profiling, there was a substantial mound of steel in the center of the water tray/trap, and very very little on the floor or counters. So the vacuum seems to be sucking dust right where I want it... so far. We used an aluminum camping bucket for dunking the blades while grinding

rjudoka, yes... the missing respirator is embarrasing... though it was just missing for one or two photos. I'm testing both dust masks and better filter respirators... see what works better for us.

Mike Hull, I've considered moving the grinder, but at the moment that's really the best place in the shop for it. Fortunately (although the photos don't reflect this well), I have about 12" to 18" to the left of the grinder for me to move left and unlimited on the right. So far this seems to work fine.

Thanks again all!
 
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