- Joined
- Jul 9, 1999
- Messages
- 3,316
There is a real fascination about knifemaking that draws folks to it. I suppose it's the idea of one being able to construct the most important of the basic tools/weapons that draws people in. People always perk up when I tell them the knife on my hip they're asking about is one I made all by my little lonesome. 
They nearly always ask about how it's done and as I explain the process you can see they are trying to commit it to memory. It's a downright handy skill to have and even non-knife people are very interested in the 'how-to' aspect of it.
So, it comes as no surprise that more people are giving this trade a try on the hobby level.
One issue I see coming up more often now that we have lots of folks giving knifemaking a try is the safety aspect of our endeavour. Things that established knifemakers have learned thru experience or from others are relatively unknown to the new knifemaker. We all know that in knifemaking the adage 'Ignorance is bliss' is oh so wrong. Ignorance is painful and sometimes crippling in this trade. And at times it can be fatal.
So, I'd like to address some of the safety concerns the new maker needs to be aware of and should not have to learn the hard way. I'd like to invite the established makers to please weigh in with their own precautions so this can be a complete safety manual of sorts for the new makers.
First is the Buffer. This innocent looking machine has caused more pain to knifemakers than all the other equipment we use combined. At any time it can grab the piece your working on, rip it out of your gorilla grip and send it bouncing off walls, the floor or into your body. This machine demands the highest respect and rightly so. Be careful when buffing around a knife's guard, ricasso or any sharply angled or tight area of the piece your working on. Also NEVER point the blade's edge or tip into the spinning buffer.
Be especially careful as you approach the blade's tip because the closer you get to the tip the more likely the buffer is gonna get hold of the blade and rip it out of your grasp.
Respirators. This is a 'must have' item. Anytime you grind or sand dust gets put into the air around you. ALL dust is bad news to your lungs. Most of the things we grind or sand produce dust that is toxic in one way or another. Most of the exotic woods we use and love contain chemical compounds that can put a serious hurt on you. These compounds are produced by the tree as a defense mechanism against things that would eat the tree. Breathing the dust introduces those chemical compounds into your body's interior where it can do bad things to you. Some wood dust can even irritate your skin and give you a good case of hives.
Eye protection. Another 'must have' item. Your sight is the most precious of your senses. Grinding steel is a violent activity and particles of hot steel get thrown every which way. Mom's admonition of "your gonna put an eye out!" is a stark reality in the knife shop. Any time your taking material off of an item to shape it, pieces of the material your abrading get kicked off at a good rate of speed. As fate would have it, often times it seems to go straight toward one's eyes. Eyes only come one pair per person. Protect yours jealously lest they get put out. Get into the habit of using safety glasses and/or a full face shield and keep that habit.
Chemicals. Men seem to have the disconcerting habit of jumping right into things without reading the instructions of 'how to' first. We work with dangerous chemicals all to often in the knife shop. It is very important to thoroughly read and understand the labels of chemicals we use there. If you read the labels it might surprise you at just how much trouble a chemical can cause you if your not careful with it. Many chemicals are carcinogens. Meaning they have been shown to be the cause of cancers. Also, many can cause other problems such as burns, irritations and lung damage. If you've ever had a chemical burn, I guarantee you'll treat the offending chemical a lot differently in the future if you use it at all. That kind of damage is very painful, slow to heal and extremely prone to serious infections. And it can change your life in an adverse and permanent way.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS READ AND THOROUGHLY UNDERSTAND WHAT A GIVEN CHEMICAL DOES, WHAT IT CAN DO TO YOU AND HOW TO USE IT SAFELY. I cannot possibly stress this enough. It's that important.
Grinders. No knife shop should be without at least one of these machines. They make the knifemaker's life a good and productive one. But, they are a dangerous piece of machinary too. They warrant the upmost respect right behind the buffer. Always spend the money and buy quality belts for your grinder. You get what you pay for in the area of grinding/sanding belts. Like many of the other makers here, I've jumped on what I thought was a good deal on some cheap belts. They were cheap because they were defective and not suited for knifemaking. The belts would break in a most violent manner sounding like someone just shot a .38 next to your head. The broken belt can and does slap you half a dozen times before you can react. The abrasive on the belt is highly effective at removing the flesh from you causing a somewhat nasty and very painful abrasion wound.
The tool rest is very helpful at times but be careful of that gap between the rest and the belt. Your work can get sucked into that gap and ruin what you were working on. Your fingers can get pinched there and you'll get first hand knowledge on what it's like to be a piece of grinding fodder. What gets ground off is not likely to grow back so be extremely careful when using the tool rest on your grinder.
Band saws and other power saws. Never, ever get careless and let your fingers get close to these saws. Use a push stick when things start getting close to that saw blade. You will be utterly amazed at how fast you can lose one or more fingers in this equipment. Never try to free something that is binding in the saw while the equipment is running. If a problem develops while using the saw, the very first thing is to do is get the power turned off to the equipment so you can address the problem without endangering your digits.
Drill Press: Another innocent looking beast that bites. Anytime you are drilling or doing some light milling it's always a great idea to make sure you've got that item anchored securely with clamps, or a drill vise or something along that line. It's imperative that the item you are drilling or milling be secured because it's really easy for that rapidly spinning bit to seize your project and turn it into a whirling helicopter blade. This is NO FUN! You've just turned your knife into a lawn mower blade spinning at whatever RPM your working with. GET THE POWER TURNED OFF RIGHT AWAY. Preferably at the breaker box cuz you'll want to get away from the immediate area fast. Sooner or later, usually sooner, (ask me how I know this :footinmou ) that drill bit is gonna break or the blade is going to come loose and there's no predicting which direction it's going to fly in.
The very act of drilling metal sends metal peelings and pieces flying off the work area so if you are gonna drill something, make sure you wear eye protection. The drill bit catches and often spins these off and they are nearly always extremely sharp and gnarly.
Also, sometimes a drill bit will fail somewhat catastrophically if you put too much pressure on that feed arm while drilling hard material. This sends very hot shards of shattered drill bit flying every which way at a high enough velocity to cause shrapnel wounds. Wear safety glasses or a full face shield and this will help keep those shards from imbedding in your face or those precious eyes. Believe me, it sucks digging shards of drill bit outta your mug with a pair of tweezers and a razor blade. :grumpy:
Ventilation Keeping the air moving thru your shop helps to take out airborne particles of waste material and it's always a good idea to bring fresh air into your shop anyway. A closed up shop traps those nasty little particles and everytime you go into your shop YOUR lungs are filtering them out of the atmosphere in your shop. Not a good scenario considering the stuff we use.
Dust collection system After you decide this is something you want to do on a more permanent basis, this is another of those 'must have' items. Aside from taking the airborne pollution out of your shop it cuts down on another subject we haven't yet discussed, and that is fire. A grinder that sees duty grinding steel and wood tends to collect the dust thrown off of it in every little nook and cranny. This will build up until one day you'll be happily grinding steel and you begin to smell smoke. Looking up, you'll notice a blue haze in the shop and only then will you realize that the grinder is on fire. Usually it's just a slow smolder but it can easily flare up into full fledged flames. A piece of hot steel has found it's way to a pile of built up dust and has ignited it. I can't begin to tell you how much it sucks to have to put this out while your eyes are burning from the toxic smoke in the air. And it gets really interesting if it happens to start on the floor. I've danced the firefighter's jig a number of times before deciding I need to deal with this matter by keeping things a bit tidier around the grinder. :footinmou
I hope this helps and I also hope the established makers chime in because I'm sure there is plenty of info I haven't included here.
All the best,
Mike U.
They nearly always ask about how it's done and as I explain the process you can see they are trying to commit it to memory. It's a downright handy skill to have and even non-knife people are very interested in the 'how-to' aspect of it.So, it comes as no surprise that more people are giving this trade a try on the hobby level.
One issue I see coming up more often now that we have lots of folks giving knifemaking a try is the safety aspect of our endeavour. Things that established knifemakers have learned thru experience or from others are relatively unknown to the new knifemaker. We all know that in knifemaking the adage 'Ignorance is bliss' is oh so wrong. Ignorance is painful and sometimes crippling in this trade. And at times it can be fatal.
So, I'd like to address some of the safety concerns the new maker needs to be aware of and should not have to learn the hard way. I'd like to invite the established makers to please weigh in with their own precautions so this can be a complete safety manual of sorts for the new makers.
First is the Buffer. This innocent looking machine has caused more pain to knifemakers than all the other equipment we use combined. At any time it can grab the piece your working on, rip it out of your gorilla grip and send it bouncing off walls, the floor or into your body. This machine demands the highest respect and rightly so. Be careful when buffing around a knife's guard, ricasso or any sharply angled or tight area of the piece your working on. Also NEVER point the blade's edge or tip into the spinning buffer.
Be especially careful as you approach the blade's tip because the closer you get to the tip the more likely the buffer is gonna get hold of the blade and rip it out of your grasp.Respirators. This is a 'must have' item. Anytime you grind or sand dust gets put into the air around you. ALL dust is bad news to your lungs. Most of the things we grind or sand produce dust that is toxic in one way or another. Most of the exotic woods we use and love contain chemical compounds that can put a serious hurt on you. These compounds are produced by the tree as a defense mechanism against things that would eat the tree. Breathing the dust introduces those chemical compounds into your body's interior where it can do bad things to you. Some wood dust can even irritate your skin and give you a good case of hives.
Eye protection. Another 'must have' item. Your sight is the most precious of your senses. Grinding steel is a violent activity and particles of hot steel get thrown every which way. Mom's admonition of "your gonna put an eye out!" is a stark reality in the knife shop. Any time your taking material off of an item to shape it, pieces of the material your abrading get kicked off at a good rate of speed. As fate would have it, often times it seems to go straight toward one's eyes. Eyes only come one pair per person. Protect yours jealously lest they get put out. Get into the habit of using safety glasses and/or a full face shield and keep that habit.
Chemicals. Men seem to have the disconcerting habit of jumping right into things without reading the instructions of 'how to' first. We work with dangerous chemicals all to often in the knife shop. It is very important to thoroughly read and understand the labels of chemicals we use there. If you read the labels it might surprise you at just how much trouble a chemical can cause you if your not careful with it. Many chemicals are carcinogens. Meaning they have been shown to be the cause of cancers. Also, many can cause other problems such as burns, irritations and lung damage. If you've ever had a chemical burn, I guarantee you'll treat the offending chemical a lot differently in the future if you use it at all. That kind of damage is very painful, slow to heal and extremely prone to serious infections. And it can change your life in an adverse and permanent way.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS READ AND THOROUGHLY UNDERSTAND WHAT A GIVEN CHEMICAL DOES, WHAT IT CAN DO TO YOU AND HOW TO USE IT SAFELY. I cannot possibly stress this enough. It's that important.
Grinders. No knife shop should be without at least one of these machines. They make the knifemaker's life a good and productive one. But, they are a dangerous piece of machinary too. They warrant the upmost respect right behind the buffer. Always spend the money and buy quality belts for your grinder. You get what you pay for in the area of grinding/sanding belts. Like many of the other makers here, I've jumped on what I thought was a good deal on some cheap belts. They were cheap because they were defective and not suited for knifemaking. The belts would break in a most violent manner sounding like someone just shot a .38 next to your head. The broken belt can and does slap you half a dozen times before you can react. The abrasive on the belt is highly effective at removing the flesh from you causing a somewhat nasty and very painful abrasion wound.
The tool rest is very helpful at times but be careful of that gap between the rest and the belt. Your work can get sucked into that gap and ruin what you were working on. Your fingers can get pinched there and you'll get first hand knowledge on what it's like to be a piece of grinding fodder. What gets ground off is not likely to grow back so be extremely careful when using the tool rest on your grinder.
Band saws and other power saws. Never, ever get careless and let your fingers get close to these saws. Use a push stick when things start getting close to that saw blade. You will be utterly amazed at how fast you can lose one or more fingers in this equipment. Never try to free something that is binding in the saw while the equipment is running. If a problem develops while using the saw, the very first thing is to do is get the power turned off to the equipment so you can address the problem without endangering your digits.
Drill Press: Another innocent looking beast that bites. Anytime you are drilling or doing some light milling it's always a great idea to make sure you've got that item anchored securely with clamps, or a drill vise or something along that line. It's imperative that the item you are drilling or milling be secured because it's really easy for that rapidly spinning bit to seize your project and turn it into a whirling helicopter blade. This is NO FUN! You've just turned your knife into a lawn mower blade spinning at whatever RPM your working with. GET THE POWER TURNED OFF RIGHT AWAY. Preferably at the breaker box cuz you'll want to get away from the immediate area fast. Sooner or later, usually sooner, (ask me how I know this :footinmou ) that drill bit is gonna break or the blade is going to come loose and there's no predicting which direction it's going to fly in.
The very act of drilling metal sends metal peelings and pieces flying off the work area so if you are gonna drill something, make sure you wear eye protection. The drill bit catches and often spins these off and they are nearly always extremely sharp and gnarly.
Also, sometimes a drill bit will fail somewhat catastrophically if you put too much pressure on that feed arm while drilling hard material. This sends very hot shards of shattered drill bit flying every which way at a high enough velocity to cause shrapnel wounds. Wear safety glasses or a full face shield and this will help keep those shards from imbedding in your face or those precious eyes. Believe me, it sucks digging shards of drill bit outta your mug with a pair of tweezers and a razor blade. :grumpy:
Ventilation Keeping the air moving thru your shop helps to take out airborne particles of waste material and it's always a good idea to bring fresh air into your shop anyway. A closed up shop traps those nasty little particles and everytime you go into your shop YOUR lungs are filtering them out of the atmosphere in your shop. Not a good scenario considering the stuff we use.
Dust collection system After you decide this is something you want to do on a more permanent basis, this is another of those 'must have' items. Aside from taking the airborne pollution out of your shop it cuts down on another subject we haven't yet discussed, and that is fire. A grinder that sees duty grinding steel and wood tends to collect the dust thrown off of it in every little nook and cranny. This will build up until one day you'll be happily grinding steel and you begin to smell smoke. Looking up, you'll notice a blue haze in the shop and only then will you realize that the grinder is on fire.
Usually it's just a slow smolder but it can easily flare up into full fledged flames. A piece of hot steel has found it's way to a pile of built up dust and has ignited it. I can't begin to tell you how much it sucks to have to put this out while your eyes are burning from the toxic smoke in the air. And it gets really interesting if it happens to start on the floor. I've danced the firefighter's jig a number of times before deciding I need to deal with this matter by keeping things a bit tidier around the grinder. :footinmou I hope this helps and I also hope the established makers chime in because I'm sure there is plenty of info I haven't included here.
All the best,
Mike U.
Thanks Fred!