My first knifemaking experience (pics)

Senator

Senator

Joined
Oct 2, 1998
Messages
1,874
Last month I was invited down to GenO Denning's shop for my first lesson in knifemaking. It was a fantastic experience for me. We made two small drop points while I was there. I wanted to start with something small and relatively simple. GenO would show me how to perform a task on one knife, then I would attempt it on the second knife. While I didn't do all the work on the knife (GenO had to step in and save me from myself more than once!
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), I did the following - scribed the pattern onto the barstock, cut the barstock down to size on the bandsaw, ground the blade blanks on the "hoggin" grinder, drilled the holes, ground the blade, tapered the tang on the surface grinder, rough-ground the micarta slabs and cut out the spacers, epoxied/attached/screwed the spacers and handles, ground the handles and screws down close to the final shape, hand sanded the handles to the final shape, and bead blasted the knife. As I almost put a "window" in the blade during grinding, I wussed out at the end and made GenO put the final satin finish on. I didn't want to screw up a good thing.
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We didn't have time to do the sheaths from scratch, so we used a couple that he had already done most of the work to. GenO uses a photo-etching process that requires a negative of the logo, so we didn’t put any logos on. GenO wants me to design a logo for myself and put it on the blade, but he did enough work on the knife that it’s not really all mine, ya know?

GenO heat treated the blade in his oven (while I was driving 2.5 hours back to Charlotte after getting called into work.
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I was NOT a happy camper!) I came back a few weeks later and we finished up the knives.

The knives have 2 5/8" satin-finished hollow-ground blades, with a 6" OAL. The barstock is 1/8". The handles are bead blasted black micarta with red spacers. The full tang is also tapered.

Here's a scan of the two knives we made. The one at top is the one I did most of the work on. The bottom one is the one that GenO would use to demonstrate with.


<CENTER><A HREF="http://home.carolina.rr.com/senator/images/Yates-Denning%20Knives.jpg"><IMG SRC="http://home.carolina.rr.com/senator/images/Yates-Denning_Knives_small.jpg" border="5"></A></CENTER>


Here’s another pic of my knife by forumite Terrill Hoffman, along with my little Seecamp .32 pistol for a size comparison.


<CENTER><A HREF="http://home.carolina.rr.com/senator/images/Yates-Denning_Hunter_Seecamp.jpg"><IMG SRC="http://home.carolina.rr.com/senator/images/Yates-Denning_Hunter_Seecamp_small.jpg" border="5"></A></CENTER>


I can spot a ton of mistakes, but my knife turned out much better than I expected (all due to the teacher I'm sure.)

GenO's got a great shop that's well equipped, well lighted, and has lots of ventilation, power, and air supp1ies. Here's a link to a pictorial shop tour that I did.

Many thanks to GenO for inviting me down and showing me the ropes. He was patient, letting me make my mistakes, but stopping me before it was too late. I had a great time and look forward to trying it again sometime.


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Kelly
My Custom Knife Collection
AKTI Member #A000289

Deo Vindice

[This message has been edited by Senator (edited 07-19-2000).]
 
Senator,

I only wish my first attemp had looked that good.
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Hate to tell you, but now you are hooked.

Rick
 
Very nice, Kelly. What a great experience. And kudos to GenO for taking the time to help you get your feet wet. But please stop now. The last thing I need is ANOTHER maker that I have to buy a knife from.
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Jack
 
Kelly, like I said before...your little knives look really nice and GenO's version is not too bad either.
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Wish GenO lived less than 3 states away! Thanks for sharing.

Jeff Jenness
 
Nice pics! I see that GenO had you clean his shop before he let you take all the pictures
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That's one of the cleanest shops I've seen!
 
Nice work Senator! GenO seems like a helluva teacher (either that or you have more natural talent than I could ever hope to posess!)

Wish I had known about Senior Denning when I lived in Charlotte... ah, but I was a bond-jockey then...probably wouldn't have made a difference...

Keep it up Senator!

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http://www.apechild.com/blades
 
Howdy There Kelly......!
I really enjoyed checking out the new blades, they Lookin Good..! I also use to live in the Big Queen City, worked for the Big DUKE, but now retired and live in Easley SC, it is only an 1 1/2 drive Charlotte, I have a shop that you can come use anytime you would like to try again. I think that we meet at the NC Guild meeting back in April at Troy. If you would like to come down just let me know. You are going to get "Hooked" on this stuff if you don't watch out.


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Thomas Clegg
 
Hi Thomas. Yup - that was me at the NC Guild meeting. I had so much fun at the meeting that I joined up with the Guild. I sorta knew then that I'd gotten the bug.
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Thanks for the offer to come down to your shop. I'd love the chance to do that!

Wulf - I think you're right. It's definitely the teacher. It would appear that GenO learned well from his teacher - George Herron.

Thanks all for the compliments. It was a blast doing it. I've already started to scheme ways to turn the garage into a shop.
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Kelly,

I can't see the photos on your post, but I did go to the "shop tour" link. If that small hunter with black micarta is the one, you did good!

A little less than a year ago, I "found" knives and really fell hard. Low priced productions knives is all I've bought. But the Blade Show really opened my eyes. Ever since then, I've been toying with the idea of making a fixed blade like the one you made.

You've given me inspiration. Thanks.

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Jay
 
Jay - Please drop me a line at senator@carolina.rr.com .

Aparently my website server is down at the moment, so the pics aren't available. I'll try to put them up on my PhotoPoint site. Thanks for the kind words.

GenO - Yup, I've got the bug. Now if you (and other makers) would only quit making those purdy knives, I might actually have a chance at buying some equipment instead of knives!
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Kelly
My Custom Knife Collection
AKTI Member #A000289

Deo Vindice
 
Originally posted by GenO Denning:
How many knives does a grinder cost?
Click to expand...

That depends on a couple of things. 1. Whether I get a Bader BIII or something cheaper. 2. How many of the knives I buy or have on order have names like Denning, Fitch, Simonich, Carson, Etzler, Caffrey, Ralph, and Draper on them...
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Kelly
My Custom Knife Collection
AKTI Member #A000289

Deo Vindice
 
It sure is tuff trying to decide what assets to transfer, I hate it when i have to do that, oh no Mr. Bill here comes Mr. Sluggo
 
like bob loveless said "If these guys had been around when I started, then I wouldnt have started" very nice. watch that picture posting though...you have used up your two for the month...although the second one with the gun (thats the one i wanted to see) didnt load.
 
There ya go Tom. My ISP server crapped out and they reloaded a backup copy of my website. I uploaded the latest changes and pics this morning.

As for equipment, a grinder is not in the budget anytime soon. Looks like it'll have to be saws and files for me! LOL I've got a few little projects that I'd like to do with my 12-year-old son. Build a few knives together. Sounds like fun.



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Kelly
My Custom Knife Collection
AKTI Member #A000289

Deo Vindice
 
Kelly, you shouldn't have done that! You are now going down the dark road for which there is no return.
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I bet it was a great time and experience at GenO's. Pretty soon we will be seeing your knives in the for sale section in preparation for buying all those new machines you will need. If and when you ever get that first grinder may I highly recommend you get a variable speed. Save up a few more bucks for it, it will be well worth it in the long run. You know you have to get a grinder since you have spent all these years honing that fine knifemakers toolrest!
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[This message has been edited by CJ (edited 07-21-2000).]
 
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