Q&A :How do you make your knives ???

m. wohlwend

m. wohlwend

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Here is a place to post questions about how I make knives. I will answer the best I can! :)

As a member of the American Bladesmithing Society, I do my best to reflect their mission: educating people about the forged blade. I have the opinion that ABS mastersmiths are some of the best knife makers in the world.
Those that I have been privileged to meet have always answered every question I have asked. In the spirit of the ABS, I have no hidden "privileged" information.


The opinions that I express are my own.
 
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Pitdog, I enjoy forging the most. There is something special about being able to move the hot steel with a hammer. I started knife making with a very basic belt sander or "grinder" as we knifmakers refer to them, and it did not remove metal very well, so forging a knife close to shape was important. The down side to forging is if you do not control your hammer correctly, then you end up with deep dents in your project and the blank can also become warped or twisted. You also have to be concerned with the state of the steel as you can overheat or burn the steel up. I have done this in a coal fired forge before. It very upsetting to spend time on a blank and then overheat it and pull out a blank with the tip melted off and sending off sparks like fireworks! The blank also has to be thermal cycled to after the forging is complete. The reason for this is to evenly distribute the carbides in the blank and to set it up later for the heat treat.

Forging Is how I started but I have learned to value stock removal. It is alot easier to start off with flat stock and keep things straight and precise. And of course at some point, a belt sander is invovled to remove stock from forged blades! After watching Ray Laconico and MS Mike Vagnino use stock removal on some of their projects, I am much more inclined to use stock removal on my thinner and smaller blades.

I think the choice for me in forging or stock removal depends alot on the project and the steel I am starting out with. If it's a thin, 4 inch blade, most of the time that blade will be a stock removal project. If its a large 8 inch blade and I am starting out with .250 stock then, most of the time that will be a forged blade. I have taken lessons on making damascus and hope to have a forging press together by this fall. Damascus steel is another reason to forge.

Hope this gives you some ideas on my thinking when it comes to stock removal and forging.
 
what is your preferred grind on a blade, lets say for all around use?

(i.e scandi, saber, full flat, full convex...etc.)
 
I think I am just a flat grinder at heart! :) It is a very versatile grind. Typically I prefer a full flat or high flat grind, with my second favorite grind being the scandi grind. I make my scandi as a low flat grind. The convex grind shines when it comes to chopping and there are many knife lovers who prefer it on smaller blades. Pretty rare to see a convex come out of my shop, unless requested....
 
Mark,
Is there a specific angle in which you try to grind your edges or what angle do you feel is best for a general EDC knife?
 
Bowdenknxvll@comcast said:
Mark,
Is there a specific angle in which you try to grind your edges or what angle do you feel is best for a general EDC knife?
Click to expand...

I sharpen freehand. I start on the belt machine and hold the blade aprox. 12 degrees away from the belt to put an edge on the knife. I then move to an inda type stone to finish the edge. I find this edge for me as the best. Thinner than this and the edge seems to want to roll, thicker than this and its hard to use on thin material....
 
Good deal, thanks. I was wondering because I suck at freehand sharpening and want to get the angle right on my EdgePro.
 
Wait, I had a brain fart. You grind on a 12 degree angle, but the finished edge is different.
 
m. wohlwend said:
I sharpen freehand. I start on the belt machine and hold the blade aprox. 12 degrees away from the belt to put an edge on the knife. I then move to an inda type stone to finish the edge. I find this edge for me as the best. Thinner than this and the edge seems to want to roll, thicker than this and its hard to use on thin material....
Click to expand...


When I was in the service back in the early 80's, I used to spend weekends at knife makers shop. It was a lot of fun to watch him and learn.

I remember when he would put the final edge on a blade, he used a wore out belt and like you put that edge on it at around 12 degrees. He said take it until you feel that slight rolled burr all along the edge and that is as sharp as you will get that knife. Then he took the blade edge to a buffing wheel and used a super super fine green polishing compound and in a couple passes on each side to buff the burr off and it was scary sharp.

He said he used to hand sharpen them, but this way is so quick and so perfect, it's pointless to do it by hand.

I myself have never tried it, I just watched.
 
MrPan said:
When I was in the service back in the early 80's, I used to spend weekends at knife makers shop. It was a lot of fun to watch him and learn.

I remember when he would put the final edge on a blade, he used a wore out belt and like you put that edge on it at around 12 degrees. He said take it until you feel that slight rolled burr all along the edge and that is as sharp as you will get that knife. Then he took the blade edge to a buffing wheel and used a super super fine green polishing compound and in a couple passes on each side to buff the burr off and it was scary sharp.

He said he used to hand sharpen them, but this way is so quick and so perfect, it's pointless to do it by hand.

I myself have never tried it, I just watched.
Click to expand...

This is a very good way to put an edge on a knife. The buffing wheel gives you the option of a polished edge. The slight rolled burr is called the "wire edge" and I like to take it off with a stone for a slightly "toothy" edge....

I try to sharpen the final edge of my knives at 12 degrees....
 
With the quality oven that you have, I'm sure that you have good control over the final Rockwell hardness of your blades.

What do you shoot for with the different steel you use? I'm sure it depends on the knife's ultimate purpose, but what hardness do you like for small blades and larger blades?
 
Pvt.snoballz said:
hey mark, i was curious as to how you do your makers mark, do you use a laser?
Click to expand...


I use a machine that etches the blade through an electrical process. I order screens from IMG. This screen is taped to the blade. Then a piece of felt is placed over the screen. Chemical is placed on the felt. An electric wire is clipped to the blade. The etcher is turned on and an elctrode placed over the felt. The metal in the blade is etched away through the screen.
 
I have a weird question about your bushcraft knives and how you make them.

They have a scandi grind right? Do you HT your steel and then grind the scandi or do you shape the grind, HT, and then sharpen?
 
You can grind after HT on about any thickness of steel. I learned this first hand from two different mastersmiths. If you choose to do this on a thick blade, make sure you have lots of sharp belts. The advantage to grinding before HT is the material is much softer. If you remove too much material and the blade warps, then you have to straighten it somehow. If there is material left then you can grind them straight. And blades will warp at times. I woudnt want to grind a pre hardened blade thicker than 3/16.
 
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