New member with some questions

M

Markus77

Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Messages
9
Hi
My name is Markus. I have recently found this forum. I am an outdoorsman but have lately started to making knives, first ones with bought blades, adding handles and making a sheat, but I have know gotten som stainless, acid restistant steel from a company that makes containers of some kind for the industri. It was labelled 1.xxxx I don´t remember the numbers. What do you think of that steel, is it useable. Should it be hardened? I don´t know very much about making blades, so any hints is appriciated. I also got a piece of steel that the company called blacksteel, not stainless, anyone can guess if that is any good for making knives?
When I have been reading in this forum I have seen that you guys don´t like knives from China. I know as little about knife industry as about knife making, can anyone tell me whats wrong with chinise knives?

kniv2004.jpg


bowiekniv3003.jpg


bowiekniv3012.jpg


Here´s two that I made. The sheat on the first one is really ugly I think, I tried to decorate it by carving some patterns with an screwdriver. But the leather on the other one is really good looking, it´s fat treated leather, really thick and durable and good for a big knife sheat.
 
Those look nice. :thumbup:

First, welcome to the forums.

As far as the steel goes, you'll have to be more specific. Each steel has different characteristics and requires differences in heat treating. For that, we need to know the numbers. Keep in mind you can make a knife out of anything. So if you are unable to locate the number, that doesn't mean you don't end up with a decent knife, but without proper heat treatment, the edge will not be as sharp as it could be, nor will it hold an edge very long. So having an idea of what steel you got would be good. Maybe some other members can help you more on that.

As far as Chinese made knives, the problem is (mostly) quality control. The typical Chinese knife you'll find (not all, by a long shot) have a reputation for being cheap, not well made knives. The same doesn't apply to Taiwan made knives. Taiwanese Knives usually use better materials and have very good workmanship and quality control, the result of capitalism at work. Some well known US knife labels sell Taiwanese made knives.
 
Welcome to the world of knifemakers. Your first efforts are certainly better than mine were

Steels ain't steels. You can make a knife out of anything, but if its going to be any good you need to get the right combination of toughness-hardness - so you need to choose the right steel and be able to heat treat it properly.

A SS steel for containers would have very different properties to what you would need to make a decent knife. Also, heat treating of stainless steels is very different from a high carbon steel like 1080 - you really need specialist knowledge; a heat treating oven & possibly liquid nitrogen to do it properly.

If you really want to learn, find a custom knifemaker in your area who is willing to teach you.
 
markus77 welcome to forum. there are hundreds of steels many not adequate for knives. your best bet is to try blades of known composiotion from a knifemakers supply. some come already heat treated. heattreat is many times more important then specific compositions. if a chinese maker is monitored for quality & given a decent profit margin ,they can make a knife as fine as any made in the world. you ca'nt expect to pay 5$ for a chinese knife & get quality. as far as quality issues with all factors equal the chinese can do it as well as anyone in the world.
dennis
 
When I have been reading in this forum I have seen that you guys don´t like knives from China. I know as little about knife industry as about knife making, can anyone tell me whats wrong with chinise knives?
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Nothing really if you get one from a big manufacturer. What most people don't like is that they're not helping the US economy at all and every knife they sell could possibly be one that would in some way benefit our country. Take the SanRenMu on evilbay, threads for example a couple of months back.

Benchmade, Spyderco and Cold Steel, maybe more (?) have been involoved with Chinese companies but the knives come back to the US and are sold and taxes are paid - contributing some funds to the economy. Purists won't even touch those.

I'm not sure but it appears that most members here are Americans. That would be a cool poll or thread to have. I've often wondered what the spread of our membership is - how many from what countries etc.

I agree with DennisStrickland:

as far as quality issues with all factors equal the chinese can do it as well as anyone in the world.
dennis
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Thank you everyone for the answers and welcomes.
I can get the number for my stainless steel piece, next week perhaps. I will probably order some steel from a knife making supplier. But I don´t have to much time for making knives at the moment, the two pictured above I made when I had a couple of months of from work to be home with my little children. It is at most a couple of ours every weekend, but I also have some longbows I am working on, and also need time to practise shooting the longbow, and take some walks in the woods with my family.
Regarding to CZIV post I am from Sweden, but I have supported your economy some by buying arrows and archery tackle from USA. Since your economy have influence on the whole worlds economy it seems like a smart thing to do.
 
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