Hi all, I hope this is in the right place.
I've been lurking for quite a while but recently had shoulder surgery so the knife making has halted and the reading/research has increased significantly. I figured it was a good time to say hi. I'm based in Canberra, Australia.
I decided in 2012 to make some knives and spent the next year getting some equipment. I got a 75kg cast steel anvil that came with an enormous 250mm 63kg bench vice! It also came with some hammers. I then went to a hammer in and built a gas forge. The forge is a 9kg gas bottle and was just the rough forge after the hammer in. Once home I cleaned it up, painted it and built a frame for it. It gets a lot hotter than pictured.
I've since made a few more forges for other Bladesmiths in Aus. Here is a bench-top model with an improved front door. The door insulation is not in place but would be there for use. The burner is also not in place at the moment.
A very generous member of an Aussie knife forum donated his old home built 2 x 80 inch belt grinder to me. I have since modified it for 2 x 72 belts, an adjustable tool rest and added a ceramic platen. Sadly I can't find any pics and I gifted it to another newbie just last week.
In Jan 2013 I did a knife making course at Tharwa Valley Forge and made two reasonable knives.
There is a whole bunch that needed to be touched up on these but I chose to leave them as they are, so I can see where I started. Both 1075 steel and forged to shape.
I've since made a stock removal knife. This is 5.5mm thick at the spine with a distal taper and swedge and a slightly tapered tang, carbon fibre scales and vulcanised fibre spacers with ss corbies. A friend did the Cerakote.
I then spent some more time out at Tharwa Valley forge and made my first damascus billet. 130 or so random pattern 1075/15n20.
I also learnt to make mokume out there on another day. I made a nickel silver and brass piece and a nickel silver, copper and brass piece. Both 20 layers.
This is another of two blocks I made later of the three metals. Yet to be patterned. 30 layers and about 2 x 2 inches.
While doing this I got into stabilizing with Cactus Juice and got that set up too. I've since built a second chamber so I can run the two in a series. Works nicely and can do about 20-30 knife handle blocks at a time.
Once I'd finished with that I made my first kitchen knife and fourth knife ever.
I used the damascus I'd made, along with some of my mokume and stabilized figured tassie oak.
I'm a big fan of kitchen knives, having spent 10 years in the trade and made a stock removal 154CM chef knife, with a ringed gidgee handle.
I submitted these three knives to the Australian Knife guild and was pleased to be accepted as a probationary member.
I then got to spend some time with Keith Fludder, who some of you may know, making Damascus. I've been to Keith's shed and he is a great guy and very knowledgable. We made a billet of triple stacked twisted W's and forged out a 270mm chef knife. I've since forged out another 160mm chef knife. This is the billet and larger blade.
When I'm repaired I plan to finish these off with nickel silver fittings, mammoth ivory and ancient red-gum.
My latest knife is a forged hunter for a beginner KITH on the Aussie knife forum I'm on. It's still in need of some tidying up, but is currently off being sharpened as that is not something I can do one handed.
It's 1075 steel, brass and nickel silver mokume gane guard I made, fibre spacers, giraffe bone spacer and jarrah burl I stabilized. It's about a 5 in blade, 3.5mm wide at the Ricardo with a distal taper.
Three days after my shoulder surgery my Wilmont little buddy 2 x 72 in grinder arrived. I am also currently having a house built and the slab has been laid for my 3 x 6 m workshop. I'm currently using the garage, so it will be awesome to have my own space that I can customise.
Some other tools I have in the shed are a 4-5 tonne fly press, pedestal drill, 220amp mig welder and assorted power and hand tools. I have also made a knife vice and eventually I will make tool rests for the grinder, a disc sander I've ordered to hook up to a VFD (along with the little buddy) and a surface grinder attachment for the little buddy too.
His is my home made knife vice. It's a handy thing!
I'm not someone with big dreams to do this full time, I just like making knives and other useful stuff, and I'm lucky enough to have a missus who supports a rather expensive hobby and an income that doesn't allow me to splurge but does let me slowly gather things together.
Hopefully I'll be able to contribute a bit to this awesome forum and that this is of interest to some people.
Regards,
Matt
I've been lurking for quite a while but recently had shoulder surgery so the knife making has halted and the reading/research has increased significantly. I figured it was a good time to say hi. I'm based in Canberra, Australia.
I decided in 2012 to make some knives and spent the next year getting some equipment. I got a 75kg cast steel anvil that came with an enormous 250mm 63kg bench vice! It also came with some hammers. I then went to a hammer in and built a gas forge. The forge is a 9kg gas bottle and was just the rough forge after the hammer in. Once home I cleaned it up, painted it and built a frame for it. It gets a lot hotter than pictured.
I've since made a few more forges for other Bladesmiths in Aus. Here is a bench-top model with an improved front door. The door insulation is not in place but would be there for use. The burner is also not in place at the moment.
A very generous member of an Aussie knife forum donated his old home built 2 x 80 inch belt grinder to me. I have since modified it for 2 x 72 belts, an adjustable tool rest and added a ceramic platen. Sadly I can't find any pics and I gifted it to another newbie just last week.
In Jan 2013 I did a knife making course at Tharwa Valley Forge and made two reasonable knives.
There is a whole bunch that needed to be touched up on these but I chose to leave them as they are, so I can see where I started. Both 1075 steel and forged to shape.
I've since made a stock removal knife. This is 5.5mm thick at the spine with a distal taper and swedge and a slightly tapered tang, carbon fibre scales and vulcanised fibre spacers with ss corbies. A friend did the Cerakote.
I then spent some more time out at Tharwa Valley forge and made my first damascus billet. 130 or so random pattern 1075/15n20.
I also learnt to make mokume out there on another day. I made a nickel silver and brass piece and a nickel silver, copper and brass piece. Both 20 layers.
This is another of two blocks I made later of the three metals. Yet to be patterned. 30 layers and about 2 x 2 inches.
While doing this I got into stabilizing with Cactus Juice and got that set up too. I've since built a second chamber so I can run the two in a series. Works nicely and can do about 20-30 knife handle blocks at a time.
Once I'd finished with that I made my first kitchen knife and fourth knife ever.
I used the damascus I'd made, along with some of my mokume and stabilized figured tassie oak.
I'm a big fan of kitchen knives, having spent 10 years in the trade and made a stock removal 154CM chef knife, with a ringed gidgee handle.
I submitted these three knives to the Australian Knife guild and was pleased to be accepted as a probationary member.
I then got to spend some time with Keith Fludder, who some of you may know, making Damascus. I've been to Keith's shed and he is a great guy and very knowledgable. We made a billet of triple stacked twisted W's and forged out a 270mm chef knife. I've since forged out another 160mm chef knife. This is the billet and larger blade.
When I'm repaired I plan to finish these off with nickel silver fittings, mammoth ivory and ancient red-gum.
My latest knife is a forged hunter for a beginner KITH on the Aussie knife forum I'm on. It's still in need of some tidying up, but is currently off being sharpened as that is not something I can do one handed.
It's 1075 steel, brass and nickel silver mokume gane guard I made, fibre spacers, giraffe bone spacer and jarrah burl I stabilized. It's about a 5 in blade, 3.5mm wide at the Ricardo with a distal taper.
Three days after my shoulder surgery my Wilmont little buddy 2 x 72 in grinder arrived. I am also currently having a house built and the slab has been laid for my 3 x 6 m workshop. I'm currently using the garage, so it will be awesome to have my own space that I can customise.
Some other tools I have in the shed are a 4-5 tonne fly press, pedestal drill, 220amp mig welder and assorted power and hand tools. I have also made a knife vice and eventually I will make tool rests for the grinder, a disc sander I've ordered to hook up to a VFD (along with the little buddy) and a surface grinder attachment for the little buddy too.
His is my home made knife vice. It's a handy thing!
I'm not someone with big dreams to do this full time, I just like making knives and other useful stuff, and I'm lucky enough to have a missus who supports a rather expensive hobby and an income that doesn't allow me to splurge but does let me slowly gather things together.
Hopefully I'll be able to contribute a bit to this awesome forum and that this is of interest to some people.
Regards,
Matt
