Ok, I want to learn to make knives!

peacefuljeffrey

peacefuljeffrey

Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
1,308
The more I look at knives on BladeForums, the more I realize I won't be fulfilled just buying knives that others have made. I want to make them myself. Partly, it's to get a knife that doesn't miss any of the things I want in a knife, and doesn't include things I do *not* want in a knife. I often have very specific preferences or hangups about certain designs and features. Often the best I can do is buy a production knife that is *close* to exactly what I want, but not *exactly*. I also have a great predilection for carrying and using things that I have produced myself. There's tremendous satisfaction in that.

So, HOW DO I START? I have absolutely no idea what background is needed to become a knifemaker. I don't know just how much of a metallurgist one needs to be. I don't know what tools I will need. I don't know where supplies (metal for blades, materials for handles, screws, nuts, etc.) are obtained. I have no idea how one gets the raw shape of a knife made, nor the parts of a knife handle. I pretty much know nothing about knife-making. Can someone put me on the road to at least being a novice?

email is welcome at clearbluepeace@peoplepc.com
Thanks!

---Jeffrey
 
Well you have taken the first step you have decided to do it.

As far as background goes you don't need one. I was lucky enough to help out at 2 novice knife making course that ran over 3 days. We started with a lump of steel and at the end of 3 days all students had made a knife and had the basic skills. Now they just just need to improve with practice.

There were people from all backgrounds an american business man over here on a holiday, some top bank oficial a mantanance man, an engineer 2 swerage mantanace men, 50 y/old woman that had allways stayed at home, and a 70 y/o farmer. That was the first course.
They were all people some had better hand skill, but all hand forged and completed at least 1 knife over the 3 day. I would imagine there are similar events near you.

You don't need a course or a forge. You can start with a couple of files and some sand paper and a vice.

Plenty of videos and books around as well. I was lucky to have a mate who pulled me in from the basics.

Good luck. Only advice I personally would start on a smallish knife.
4 or 5 inches in the blade. A big knife to start with can be a lot of effort for a novice. Improve your skills on the quiker small knives then work on the larger ones.

I started on a 10 inch bowie I nearly gave it up. That is just me I am a tadd lazy.
 
Making usable knives isn't hard. Its making good knives that more than a mother could love thats hard ;)

You can buy some annealed steel (O1 is nice to work with, ATS34 is ok and so is 440C although they take more work to finish) and a few files and a hacksaw and go to work. Heat treat can be done with a propane torch and fire bricks, fish cooker, forge etc. Then temper in a kitchen oven (thats for O1 and 440C only, and I would recommend leaving your first try at heat treating to O1) ATS34 has to be sent to someone with better equipment (www.texasknife.com is great, or Paul Bos, he's the best in the business but kind of expensive for small batches)

I'd recomment getting a kit knife or two under your belt first. You miss out on the experience of grinding the blade and all the heat treat and everything, but you get experience in the majority of the work done making a knife. It gives you a chance to finish a knife wihtout facing too many hangups on the way, and pretty much garauntees that everything will fit together and you'll end up with a good knife.
There are hundreds of things you can do to a kit knife to make it unique from other knives from the same kit. The possibilites are almost as endless as starting from scratch if your willing to put some time and elbow grease into it.
You can find different kits at www.kitknives.com (these are pretty high quality compared to some, definitely look at the gallery before you get the idea that all kit knives turn out the same!) www.texasknife.com , or www.jantzsupply.com , or www.kovalknives.com
 
Jeffrey

Reg and Matt are right on.

Search back through this forum for beginner and getting started threads. A lot of your questions have probably been answered, often in many ways. You will also see stuff that you will need later on. There are also some good tutorials residing on people's web sites.

Ask on this forum if there are any knifemakers near you. Set up a time, convienent for them, to visit. A picture is worth a thousand words but seeing it done, in person, is probably a thousand times better still. You will get a lot of good advice and encouragement.

Go to your local library and see what they have. You may be pleasantly surprised. When I was in a small town in New Zealand, they had a copy of Ed Fowler's "Knife Talk" as well as Bob Terquola's book.

If you want to make your own blade from scratch, get a piece of steel from your local knifemaker, so that you have a reason to visit. Cut it with a hacksaw. Shape it with files and sandpaper. It really does not take that long and most of us could use the exercise. Do make sure your files are sharp. You will probably need them if you continue with knifemaking. Get a file card to clean the files. Rub chalk on the files to prevent them from clogging up so much. Find out how to do "draw filing". A metal working book in a library ought to help. Progress will be slower than with a grinder but mistakes will happen slower too, giving you a chance to limit any damage. I had been making my knives during my lunch hours at work since there was a workshop there. If the knifemaker does his own heat treating, he can help you with that too (you may have to pay him). This will save you from having to gather togther yet more equipment and possibly save you a lot of heartache. One certainly should learn from one's mistakes but it is much more satisfying and encouraging if one's first effort at knifemaking produces a decent, usable product.

Best of luck! Enjoy the fellowship here. Post a picture when you are done. I don't think that I am alone in getting a kick out of watching everyone progress.

Phil
 
Another thing is to read as much as you can on the subject. I would recommend
"How To Make Knives" by Richard W. Barney, and Robert W. Loveless. It is available at www.amazon.com , as well as most knifemakers supply houses.
It will give you a foundation in many aspects of knifemaking, so you are not struggling to figure out common terminology. It also goes into sheathmaking.
Study photos of knives as much as you can. The Knives Annuals are great for that, also available at the above named. They have a new one every year, starting in 1981. So if you can find back issues at a reasonable price, you might consider getting them.

In the back of every Knives Annual is a list of all the knifemakers that want to be found. You will see many are in Florida. You might make contact with one near you, and see if you can pay them a visit to see how things are done. That will take some of the mystery out of it. Attending knife shows is another good practice.

And of course, ask questions here. BTW, welcome, enjoy!:D
 
The book Mike just mentioned is excellent. I also would recommend Step by Step Knifemaking by David Boye (I believe I have that correct). I have no background in knives or metal. I was a bartender before becoming a maker. All you need is the desire, Tess calls it stubborn, to make them and improve each one. Between David's book, the one Mike mentioned, Blade Mag. and trial and error is how I learned. We're all now fortunate enough to have a forum like this where we can all exchange ideas and methods and learn constantly. I'd suggest getting one or two books, reading up a little and maybe giving a couple folks a shout for more info. I know anyone here would be happy to help out, myself included.
 
I agree that the book "How to Make Knives" is a necessity. Buy this book and read it. It has a great section on making a knife with hand tools only. It also talks about steel, leather work, forgeing, etc. If you want to make knives this is "The Book". Good Luck.

Tom Krein
 
Everyone,
Thank you very much for the start-up information. I'm gonna go slowly (I do have a bunch of other stuff going on as well) but now that I have a basic idea of, if not how to *make* a knife, how to *find out* how to make a knife, I feel a sense of optimism about it. I'll be checking out some of the books mentioned as soon as I can. I may sit and let that stew in my mind for a bit before actually embarking on a knife project, sort of building up the gumption to get going. But good ideas came from all of you, and I feel like I'm walking in on a very friendly bunch and the acceptance is awe-inspiring.

I'll surely let you all know when I've started up and what I'm trying. Thanks again.

---Jeffrey
 
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