Newbie on knives. What, Where, How, etc....

[FJF6122]

I am interested in buying a custom made knife, but do not know anything about different materials that are used. Where can I find information about the materials used in making custom handmade knives(what's the best metal to use; blade hardness; etc...) so I will be educated before I make a decision.
Thanks
Trey

 

[etp777]

A good start would be to tell us what kind of knife you're looking for/it's intended uses

Everyone will have a different answer for best handle material, best steel, etc. But if we know type of knife, will limit some htings. IE, I'd suggest a different blade steel for a framelock folder than I would for a 16" bowie.

 

[FJF6122]

I am looking for a fixed blade caping knife in the 3 1/2" to 5" length. Will be using to skin deer, hogs, rabbits, etc.. I want a good knife with a blade that will hold an edge.

 

[etp777]

Next step would be as to whether you plan on taking care of a knife.

well, that didn't come out quite right.

I prefer a carbon tool steel for knives like that, but as they are not stainless, they take some more work(ie, cleaning/oiling). These would be steels like A2, D2(though that's jsut about stainless), the 10xx(1095, 1075, etc) series steels, 5160, 52100 or my favorite, O1. They take somre more maintenance work, but I'm old fashoined(and when you read that you're supposed to ignore fact I make my own micarta ).

WIth a smalle r knife like that though, there is absolutely no reason not to get a knife made from a stainless steel. 440C of course is the standbye, and there's nothing wrong with this, though other newer alloys can outperform it, such as S30V or 440V.

What I would suggest is one of two things. One would be to start with a semi-custom, particularly thinking of Bob Dozier's work here. THey aren't technically custom(though my understanding is that he will customize a blade for you if you have something in particular you want), but they are made by hand aand are extremely nice knives. Plus he's jsut a very nice guy, said hi to him at Tulsa gun show last October.

The other idea would be if you want a "real" or full custom, is to look around at various sites such as bladeart.com, or the Gallery here, and find a maker who's style/designs you like. Then contact them, and tell him(or her) what kind of knife you want, what your intended uses are for it, and an idea of what yo'ure willing to spend(as long as it's in their normal price range), and eveyr maker I've talked to woudl be more than willing to give you advice on what steel they think would be best for that application. They know what steels work in their designs, and with their heat treatments(or they should), and can give you better advice on this than any random person sitting on other side of comptuer screen. Every knifemaker I've talked to has been great, and easy to deal with. I've collected a huge amount of things over the years, and the knifemaking/collecting community is the best of the bunch, least from my experience.

Anyways, done babbling now, hopefully some of that might have been helpful.

 

[FJF6122]

The cleaning/oiling does not bother me. I have always taken care of my equipment. I just want a knife that will perform and will hold an edge. I have always been leary about stainless blades because they are to soft. But as I stated in the subject line, I am new and knife blades have come a long way. I just need to be pointed in the right direction and get some names of knife makers that are legitimate and friendly.

 

[Larry S.]

.....I certainly claim no firsthand knifemaking experience (the only one I ever made, as I can recall, was carved from an old wooden roofing shingle at the approx. age of 8) but I've exposed myself to a huge amount of info in the past 1 year+ both on the Internet as well as through extensive reading and just felt compelled to remark on your sound, reasonable approach to FJF6122's request.

Larry S.

 

[etp777]

THanks Larry.

Whether or not I consider myself a knifemaker depends on my mood. Sine I have one on bench right now that I screwed up when I was just going for a final polish(it's fixable, but rpobably not before campout this weekend where I hoped I might sell it), my attitude right now is taht I'm NOT a knifemaker, but that'll change again. _

And I hope that that advice might be of some limited help. Limited in that by end I basically said we can give some guidance, but going to particular maker is where he'll get ifnal advice.

 

[Roadrunner]

There is a thread in the General forum listing reasonably priced knifemakers. Also, BladeArt.com has a fair number of reasonably priced knives. www.agrussell.com has a chart listing different steels and their intended uses. For your intended use, as a blade to actually use and not just hide in a safe; get one from Bob Dozier. I saw his work at the Blade show and it was outstanding. Hang around here on the forums for a while and you'll pick up a lot of information too, this is where I come to learn. Also, welcome to the forums!