New to knife making, do I have everything I need?

S

SLiuGraphite

Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Messages
98
Okay guys, I'm getting ready to make my own knife now and so far I have,
5 speed drill press
Handle scale material
Brass pins
Round and flat bastard files
Digital calipers
Hacksaw
Sandpaper
Hammer
Aldo's 1095
Designs
and last but not least, PASSION.
Is there anything else I need? I'm going with stock removal as my neighbors wouldn't appreciate the banging of a hammer.
Wish me luck!

Thanks,
Sean.
 
A second cut file for smoothing out the bastard file marks will help,other than that a big Bucket full of elbow grease,and get started.
Stan
 
Looks like you have enough to get started. Some people do an amazing job with a hacksaw, files and sandpaper.

How are you going to heat treat your blade? If you're going to send it off, 1095 will do fine. If you're going to do it yourself, you may want to research heat treating 1095 as it can be complicated. Having said that, there are many makers who turn out good knives using 1095 while using basic HT setups, but they're probably not realizing the full potential of the steel (which can be subjective...maybe you only get a 56 rc out of ht'ing when you could get a 61rc for example). 1084 is considered a good steel for beginners due to it's rather simple heat treating requirements.

You can do a lot with a drill press. Buffing bobs and sanding drums will help out a lot. I'm also told that some of the coarser ScotchBrite wheels do well, but I haven't tried them yet.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever saw for beginners was from (I think) Brian Fellhoelter who said "choose one knife design and make ten of them. Your tenth should be a lot better than your first". You'll learn a lot by building ten knives of the same design! I wish I'd read that when I began. It would have saved me some anguish and wasted steel and leather!

Good luck and let us see your work!
 
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Actually I forgot to add that! I'm going to attempt to heat treat in my backyard with a grill and a hair dryer.
Sounds fun right?
I also have a 2nd and single cut file.
 
Please don't try to do HT for 1095 in your backyard. You may get it hard, but you will most likely not get it anywhere its potential. The amount of money and time that you put into your first knife merit a professional HT on any steel except 1084. Darrin Sanders will do it for about 10 bucks, and shipping. It's worth it.
 
SLiuGraphite said:
...I'm going to attempt to heat treat in my backyard with a grill and a hair dryer...
Click to expand...

Please don't. You're going to spend a lot of time cutting and filing by hand, why waste it with a poor heat treat? There are plenty of people (some right on this forum) who will do it for a small charge. There's no shame in it, and you won't learn much about proper heat treat with that setup. If you want to do it yourself, get some 1084 and try that. 1095 isn't good for jerry-rigging.
 
Don't forget some good epoxy for the handle scales. Other then that, I give a big +1 to making 3-4 of the same design at once. Do each step, profiling, grinding, HT, finishing to the whole batch before moving on to the next step. Your first will suck and your last will be awesome :D

I made the mistake of trying to HT 1095 for some of my early knives. While they work, they leave a lot to be desired. I am getting a big batch of 1084 to play with before I eventually go on to better steels and professional HT. If you don't want to get some 1084, go with the pro's, it is worth it.

One more thing. Clamps and a good vise are sometimes overlooked. Make sure that you have enough clamps for gluing up your handle and that you have a way to hold the blade still while filing it.

Cheers
 
Oof, I didnt't think it was going to be that difficult to do!
I guess I should send my knives for a professional heat treat.
Any suggestions as to who has the best 1095 heat treat?
 
One thing you need, if you get hooked that is, is to be prepared for the giant black hole that will suck out every dime from your bank account. ;)

Welcome to our addiction!
 
Haha, my bank account is already feeling it! I already order too many knives so I'm gonna need to back off that for a bit I guess.
Alright, I'll give him an email.
I plan on getting plenty of clamps and a good vice later next week.
I'm so ready for thiss.
 
SLiuGraphite said:
Haha, my bank account is already feeling it! I already order too many knives so I'm gonna need to back off that for a bit I guess.
Click to expand...

I actually buy custom knives so that I can compare them to my work. It's one of the best ways I know to judge your own work. Besides, I think it's just good karma. How can I ask someone to shell out a hundred or more bucks for my work if I'm not willing to buy my fellow knifemakers work?

Sounds like you have a good start and a few customs to compare your work to. Can't wait to see what you turn out!
 
I recently had Darrin Sanders heat treat a piece that was too large for my equipment. He did a wonderful job, very quickly, for a very reasonable price.
 
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