Need some serious advice - for my health

jimh0220

jimh0220

Joined
Apr 15, 2008
Messages
3,010
Ok, let me preface my question with a little personal history. And, no, I don't need pity or am looking for attention here. I'm trying to move forward and get my life back, so I'm coming to some of the coolest, straightest shooting guys here for the real truth.

I was diagnosed about 3 years ago with Bi Polar Syndrome. A pretty f'ed up roller coaster in my brain. Then, a little over a year ago, a traumatic (20 on the 10 scale ) event happened in my life. Now I suffer with PTSD. Yeah, the same awful problem soldiers that live through hell in war suffer from. Flashbacks, nightmares that scare the shiz out of me and wake me up sobbing.

Like I said, pretty f'ed up in the melon. I can't hold down a job until my docs can help me get this under control. Hopefully soon, because being useless makes things worse.


All that said, I need an avenue to burn off some of the mental garbage and focus on something positive. Drs' orders. What do I love? Knives, of course. So, I love to browse the custom work y'all do, and there's a want to learn the craft, hopefully to get good at it someday, but mainly to find a passion again, as all my old passions faded long ago.

Here's the question: how do I start? Here's what I got for tools: Woodworking tools, a 6 in. bench grinder, an angle grinder, dremel, 2in belt sander, and a buttload of hand tools. A very basic staring point, from what I've gleaned here.

Shoud I start with blanks, and learn handles first, or get a hunk o' metal and dive in to grinding away? Or should I start with modding with existing blades?


You all started somewhere, and look at your work now! Any advice would really help.

Thanks to all who feel like inputting!

Jim
 
There are some good guides in the stickies at the top of the page. Have a browse through there. Good luck on the recovery with the bi-polar. I am a psychiatyric nurse, and specialize in bipolar and ADHD. Check out this site: http://www.mcmanweb.com/ADD-or-bipolar.html There are a lot of great articles on mood and treatment there.
 
Years ago I went through this with my X. She needed a focus too.

My suggestion, start with soime kits and jsut sit down at the bench, layout a knife and go after it jsut for something to concentrate on. Doesn't have to be pretty, or sellable, jsut a project.

Check with jantz, or Texas kits, or even premium and get a nice simple kit, say a little drop point with micarta scales. Polish the blade with a vice and sandpapaer over a steel flat, or even wood, until you like the look. Mount the scales and use your sander/hand tools such as files and paper and make it pretty. Apply finish, sharpen and admire what you can do. What I mostly picked up, its the work, not the result.

Luck, post pics of your proejct and get started.

Larry
Tinkerer
 
jimh0220 said:
Should I start with blanks, and learn handles first, or get a hunk o' metal and dive in to grinding away? Or should I start with modding with existing blades?


Jim
Click to expand...

What would you like to do?

Seriously everyone is different, pick whatever strikes your fancy and try it out.
 
Check out Wallie Hayes video on basic knifemaking.

It is a good little video and will give you some direction on starting with just minimal start up.
 
here is a place on eBay that has blanks at good prices. the blanks are ready to assemble, quality is good, and sharp. http://stores.ebay.com/PremiumKnife...Auction=1&_sid=17149286&_trksid=p4634.c0.m309
Aldo has steel for reasonable. you can get a piece of 1084 for less than $20 delivered. http://newjerseysteelbaron.com/shop/1084/
you will be amazed what you can make. you could send out for heat treat or DIY with charcoal, peanut oil, and a magnet.

on a different note, work with your MD to find which medicine is the best for you, the best dosage, and best schedule for taking the medicine. I have ADD/ADHD and it took almost a year to find that sweet spot where the medicine is helping but you don't feel drugged.
scott
 
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I'll agree with what some of the others have said. You need to determine what YOU want to do everyone starts out differently. Some folks want to dip their toe in and start with just doing scales or modding existing blades. Others want to dive jump right in and go from a piece of stock to a finished knife with everything from doing the HT to making the scales themselves. And other people fall somewhere in between those two spectrums. Look through the stickies for the "how too"..... as far as tools you can make a knife from start to finish with a hacksaw, files, sandpaper, and a lot of elbow grease and determination. Whatever once you get started ask questions or do a WIP and you'll get a lot of great help and advice if you keep an open mind. People showing or talking about what they're working on here is like "Field of Dreams".... Build it and they will come.
 
I wanted to make a damascus bowie but knew I had no way of pulling that off :). I made a couple skinners and other small 3 piece knives first. I did my first bowie about 5 months into this journey.
 
You may want to try both. Get a blank kit and call aldo for some 1084 or 5160 and make a knife. Lay out a plan and try to stick to it. I started with a upside down belt sander so that's about as cheap as you can get. They even sell ceramic belts for those belt sanders right at lowe's I saw them the other day.

I dive in head first with everything I enjoy so after a couple of years doing this I have picked up most all you could need from various places. Like Yard Sales and Craigslist.

My guess is you will get bored quick with the kits. So it sounds like you might be handy because you already have some tools. Give it a go. I have had times in my life when I lost some of that passion you describe that's missing. But I found that the simple act of forging out a blade on the anvil or doing a design from off the top of my head the stock removal method has brought back that passion.

Good luck my friend and God Bless
 
Getting in to knifemaking is one of the best things that ever happened to me.
I come from a different background but also needed to find something in life to be passionate about, to spend my time constructive and advance in it.
Cancer is my burden. What I like about making things is that it is hounest and patient.
I can work an evening on my knives, lay them on my workbench and turn off the light.
They'll be just as I left them the next time I come back, no matter if it is the next day or next month.
Everything that goes well goes well because I did well and it makes me feel good.
If things don't turn out well it is because I need to learn/practise more. It is hounest, no emotions, backstabbing etc.
When I didn't have the energy to work on the actual knives I spend countless hours on the internet reading about techniques, looking for inspiration and materials.
People here have helped me a lot.
It got me out of the house and I met some friendly people in real life as well.
In this age of everything digital it is nice to show people something real and solid you've made yourself and is beautifull.
A knife doesn't need updates or doesn't collect your data.
It is an hounest object that chalanges you to hone your sharpeningskills.
So yes, do get in to it.
Do it at your own pase, judge your current skills and the amount of time you want to invest before you get the result.
Life made me patient (knifemaking even more)
I started off with a 10" piece of stainless RWL34(cm154?)
I chalanged myself to make the best knife I could without powertools (exept a drillpress)
I outsourced the HT and impressed myself with the endresult.
All the best and enjoy. Don't get frustrated when you make mistakes because wou will make them.

He who doesn't make mistakes usualy doesn't make anything
 
Like others have suggested hit the stickies, tons, TONS of great info there. I too am just starting with this. Personally I started by getting a couple of blanks and making scales for them. I did lots of forum surfing just to make sure this is something I really really wanted to get back in to... after a bit of back and forth, I got my steel and have started down the road. I don't have the space for all of the machinery needed or preferred, but thanks to the many supportive members here I've found that one can do this with only some very simple tools (saws, a drill and a few choice files).

Best of luck to ya!
 
Learning to make knives may be just the thing to immerse yourself in. My wife, who has extreme emotional issues (think Borderline personality) has found that using the computer to play games, totally takes her away from 'bad' thinking...

If you decide to follow this path, I will be glad to send you a 10' piece of 1084 steel, Missouri walnut to use for the scales, and the necessary pin material to get you started. The only thing I ask is that you post any questions you may have and reap the wealth of knowledge that is available on this forum.

Good luck to you in your quest... Teddy (who is stone cold crazy about knifemaking)
 
Where to start is completely up to you.

Personally, I kind of dove right in. I built a 2x72 belt grinder, a heat treating oven, a kydex press, and a couple of other basic tools, and I just started experimenting.

I picked the simplest knife I could think of: A small, cord wrapped, chisel ground neck knife. I practiced on some scraps of steel I had lying around, and then I went for it. With every knife, I just try to do better, and every few knives, I try to challenge myself with something I've never tried before.

This may entail something as simple as using a new kind of steel or handle material, to trying a new grind, or a different method of construction.

It's definitely how I like to wind down at the end of a long day (or week... or month... etc....)
 
I have ADD and I feel knifemaking has been a positive force in keeping me busy. I think anything creative helps people with mental illness.

I sold one gun (around $500) and used that $ to build my shop. I have made almost that amount back and now saving for a kmg. One thing is its addicting!
 
You don't need a lot of tools to make a good knife. I made my first 2 or 3 knives with hand files and sand paper. It took a long time but I had fun doing it.
 
I started making knives due to a back injury that temporally took away a lot of the things that brought joy to me just over a year ago. I jumped head first into a lawn mower blade knife to see if I even liked making knives and quickly bought some 1075/1080 and have been grinding away since. It sounds like you have all the tools needed. Take a look at the Counts beginners knife making reply, it set me ahead by years. Remember to focus on the positives of your work, if I compared my blades to most of the other guys on here I would throw away all my stuff and start a new hobby. But 12 blades later and I'm almost proud enough to post one here soon.
 
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