Question about knife making kits

M

mabev67

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May 6, 2014
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Anyone have any experience / thoughts on those knife making kits you see for sale from various knife supply shops? After a lifetime of collecting I think I would like to try my hand at making a traditional style folder. I know these kits are simply "putting together" as opposed to actually making but it seems like it may be a simple way to get started and have something to carry that has a bit of a personal stamp feel to it.
 
I have never assembled a kit knife but, I know of several "world-class" knifemakers who started out putting together kits. I think it is a good way to test your interest before investing in a lot of tools. Just be honest about what they are if you sell any.

Bob
 
RangerBobTX said:
I have never assembled a kit knife but, I know of several "world-class" knifemakers who started out putting together kits. I think it is a good way to test your interest before investing in a lot of tools. Just be honest about what they are if you sell any.

Bob
Click to expand...

Yeah I would primarily just like to have the joy of having a decent quality and good-looking (hopefully) pocketknife to carry that I have at least had a small hand in creating.
 
I highly recommend Knifekits.com. They have excellent kits and also supply scales for many of them. The ones that use screws instead of pins are by far the best.
 
I am nowhere near ready to progress to folders yet, but when I am, I would certainly consider a kit knife as a first step... I think a physical model would give me a much better insight on construction, fit, critical tolerances etc than simply reading and looking at pictures and videos.
 
I assembles a couple of kits from knifekits, they are real good and fun, be sure to do a auto conversion just for the fun of it.
 
With some skills and a few additional supplies ( all available from knifekits) you can convert several of their models into automatics ( AKA - autos or switchblades). The DDR3 BL SS2.0 and SS3.0 all convert easily.

You will need:
A torx driver set
A 3/642" carbide drill and the ability to use it to drill a hole in a hardened blade
A coil spring of the correct size and tension
Knowing how to assemble it.


knifekits sells a video that shows the conversions.


Here is a search that shows all their button locks and the video:
http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/advan...in_description=1&keywords=button+lock&x=0&y=0


A few kits that assemble well and are really solid knives:
GX6
GPC
DDR3-TS ( and all the other DDR kits)
The above mentioned button lock models also make great non-auto knives.
 
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USAKnifeMaker sells "blank kits" from Great Lakes Waterjet, which were basically just the profiles of the main blade, backspring, and liners, with holes spotted just under a 1/16th of an inch on the main blade and back spring. This gives you a little bit of a head start on having a usable pattern. You still need to put in a nail nick, grind the blade, drill your final holes, source and finish scales, heat treat, etc...

I believe they also have some frame lock and/or liner lock kits that are basically the profiled, un-heat treated parts with spotted holes where necessary.

You'd basically be building the entire knife essentially from scratch, it just takes some of the guesswork out of the more crucial dimensions, and gives you most of the parts you need to get started.
 
First and foremost I have no experience with any kits but if I were to want to try my hand at folders I'd probably buy a kit or two to start out to get myself familiar with the parts and mechanics of folders before doing a complete folder from scratch.

Jay
 
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