- Joined
- May 15, 2019
- Messages
- 10
Hello again folks!
I am just posting up a few pics of the first couple of knives I made, starting around the 1st of December 2020.
Although I have been working full time, I have certainly been spending a lot more time at home since the start of all of this madness. In the beginning of the "shutdown" I encouraged my younger son (16) to use his surplus time wisely, by learning a skill or otherwise doing something productive. He had just started learning to play the guitar and taking my advice to heart, took the opportunity to really geek out on it and now he has since purchased several new guitars, completely rebuilt my old fender acoustic and is already ripping some serious licks to the tune of Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Grateful Dead and the like! Not to brag or anything
So eventually I decided to take my own advice; I bought a 1x30 belt grinder from Rockler Hardware and ordered some 1084 and micarta from Jantz to make my first knives over my vacation at the end of the year.
Below are knives 1, 2 & 3. These were essentially completed together in a batch. They all hardened up nicely (at least to the point where I could no longer drill through them and good file skating action) and took a good edge. We'll see how they hold up over time, if they ever really get used. I gave the skinner looking one to my brother and the mini cleaver to a good buddy. Kept the bottom one as it was the first one I ground. These knives were obviously very simple and there is definitely a little asymmetry going on and I know nothing about how to finish steel but I sure had a good time making them.
After finishing the first batch, I made the next batch of four knives. This first of this batch was an attempt at a petty knife for my wife, which ultimately broke after temper as I tried to straighten a slight warp. the grain was like fine sand I suppose. Not sure what it is supposed to look like yet though
The second is a kind of cleaver shaped neck knife. I don't have a pic of this one yet but might post as a follow up.
Knives 6 and 7 made it to completion (or at least as complete as I was going to make them). A hunter/skinner with a curly maple handle and a fighter (I suppose) with SS bolsters, full copper liners and green micarta handle. While I was relatively happy with the way the hunter turned out (although I have re-ground and re-finished it since), I was really stoked on the fighter. I put a hell of a lot of effort into this thing. I had a copper pipe that I had flattened out to make the liners with a hammer and the mini anvil on my bench vise. Something I'll never do again. I was able to get it relatively flat but it was far from perfect and on top of that was not the same thickness all the way around. Also, I wanted to remove most of the hidden material but doing so proved to be very difficult due to the softness of it. The thick slabs of copper got ridiculously hot after just moments on the grinder making profiling the handle a serious challenge to say the least.
Obviously my finishing skills leave a lot to be desired
I followed this batch up with a single. A 6" "Santoku" style chefs knife redemption. This time using 01 I bought from a local supplier. At this point I was trying to stretch the life of my belts (which wear out ridiculously fast on a 1x30) and grinding this thing took FOR-E-VER. It was still too thick...lol. Other than that it has been working out as the new workhorse in the kitchen without issue (aside the need to constantly look out for the finish). Looking at the picture sure shows its faults in detail :/ Before now I had only look at them with my deteriorating eyes and on my phone
Knife #8: The Gentleman's Fighter V2. I was tinkering around the garage and wanted to use up the remainder of the 3/16" 1084 I had on hand so I decided to remake the fighter. Basically all the same materials except I purchased a much thinner and perfectly flat piece of copper for the liner which made a world of difference. I think I did much better this time around although there are many things I would like to improve.
(Not perfectly symmetrical, but what you gonna do. When I make one for sale, I will make it more better)
(profile)
(in comparison with the original)
And finally the most recently "completed" knife. A 4" hunter from O1. I've been wanting to try a hollow grind since the beginning. a 1x30 grinder is not ideal although there is awkward access to a small (although domed) wheel at the top of the machine. So I figured I would try to grind just the swage hollow. I'll be honest; this knife looks little like it was originally intended
. Lots of "Doh!"s and whoopsies. But I just kept on grinding until it looked pretty good from arms length or so (farther).
Not completely dissatisfied with the results and have been carrying this one around (as it fits in an old sheath I had laying around). Pretty sweet functional knife made even sweeter by the fact that I made it from scratch.
So thats it for now. I am currently working on a 12" chefs knife (an adventure on a 1x30), a 6" meat cleaver, another hunter (new design) and an EDC sized modern angular tanto looking thing.
I cant wait to get a 2x72...and a heat treat oven...and a surface grinder (definitely need one of those)>..Oh and a milling machine, sand blaster, welding machine, anvil, power hammer, metal cutting band saw, planer, liquid nitrogen tank, hardness tester, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc
Are you still here?
I am just posting up a few pics of the first couple of knives I made, starting around the 1st of December 2020.
Although I have been working full time, I have certainly been spending a lot more time at home since the start of all of this madness. In the beginning of the "shutdown" I encouraged my younger son (16) to use his surplus time wisely, by learning a skill or otherwise doing something productive. He had just started learning to play the guitar and taking my advice to heart, took the opportunity to really geek out on it and now he has since purchased several new guitars, completely rebuilt my old fender acoustic and is already ripping some serious licks to the tune of Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Grateful Dead and the like! Not to brag or anything
So eventually I decided to take my own advice; I bought a 1x30 belt grinder from Rockler Hardware and ordered some 1084 and micarta from Jantz to make my first knives over my vacation at the end of the year.
Below are knives 1, 2 & 3. These were essentially completed together in a batch. They all hardened up nicely (at least to the point where I could no longer drill through them and good file skating action) and took a good edge. We'll see how they hold up over time, if they ever really get used. I gave the skinner looking one to my brother and the mini cleaver to a good buddy. Kept the bottom one as it was the first one I ground. These knives were obviously very simple and there is definitely a little asymmetry going on and I know nothing about how to finish steel but I sure had a good time making them.
After finishing the first batch, I made the next batch of four knives. This first of this batch was an attempt at a petty knife for my wife, which ultimately broke after temper as I tried to straighten a slight warp. the grain was like fine sand I suppose. Not sure what it is supposed to look like yet though
The second is a kind of cleaver shaped neck knife. I don't have a pic of this one yet but might post as a follow up.Knives 6 and 7 made it to completion (or at least as complete as I was going to make them). A hunter/skinner with a curly maple handle and a fighter (I suppose) with SS bolsters, full copper liners and green micarta handle. While I was relatively happy with the way the hunter turned out (although I have re-ground and re-finished it since), I was really stoked on the fighter. I put a hell of a lot of effort into this thing. I had a copper pipe that I had flattened out to make the liners with a hammer and the mini anvil on my bench vise. Something I'll never do again. I was able to get it relatively flat but it was far from perfect and on top of that was not the same thickness all the way around. Also, I wanted to remove most of the hidden material but doing so proved to be very difficult due to the softness of it. The thick slabs of copper got ridiculously hot after just moments on the grinder making profiling the handle a serious challenge to say the least.
Obviously my finishing skills leave a lot to be desired
I followed this batch up with a single. A 6" "Santoku" style chefs knife redemption. This time using 01 I bought from a local supplier. At this point I was trying to stretch the life of my belts (which wear out ridiculously fast on a 1x30) and grinding this thing took FOR-E-VER. It was still too thick...lol. Other than that it has been working out as the new workhorse in the kitchen without issue (aside the need to constantly look out for the finish). Looking at the picture sure shows its faults in detail :/ Before now I had only look at them with my deteriorating eyes and on my phone
Knife #8: The Gentleman's Fighter V2. I was tinkering around the garage and wanted to use up the remainder of the 3/16" 1084 I had on hand so I decided to remake the fighter. Basically all the same materials except I purchased a much thinner and perfectly flat piece of copper for the liner which made a world of difference. I think I did much better this time around although there are many things I would like to improve.
(Not perfectly symmetrical, but what you gonna do. When I make one for sale, I will make it more better)
(profile)
(in comparison with the original)
And finally the most recently "completed" knife. A 4" hunter from O1. I've been wanting to try a hollow grind since the beginning. a 1x30 grinder is not ideal although there is awkward access to a small (although domed) wheel at the top of the machine. So I figured I would try to grind just the swage hollow. I'll be honest; this knife looks little like it was originally intended
. Lots of "Doh!"s and whoopsies. But I just kept on grinding until it looked pretty good from arms length or so (farther).
Not completely dissatisfied with the results and have been carrying this one around (as it fits in an old sheath I had laying around). Pretty sweet functional knife made even sweeter by the fact that I made it from scratch.
So thats it for now. I am currently working on a 12" chefs knife (an adventure on a 1x30), a 6" meat cleaver, another hunter (new design) and an EDC sized modern angular tanto looking thing.
I cant wait to get a 2x72...and a heat treat oven...and a surface grinder (definitely need one of those)>..Oh and a milling machine, sand blaster, welding machine, anvil, power hammer, metal cutting band saw, planer, liquid nitrogen tank, hardness tester, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc
Are you still here?
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