Setting up shop

What kind of shop? A forge or a regular ol' grind away at it 'til it looka lika knife shop?

Did you have a budget in mind btw?

Just curious

Syn
 
I am interested in knife making via the stock removal method. I have alot to learn and any felp would be great.
 
give us the amt you are willing to spend and we will speck out your shop :)
R u good with tools ? R u willing to make some things yourselves, to save money ?
 
300-500 at first, then more as needed. I guess what I need to know is how to set up a decent ( and workable ) shop as in-expensively as possible.
 
A good set of files, drill press, hack saw and sand paper is all you need. Grinder, mill, band saw heat treat oven can come later. Learn the basics on good known steel (O-1, 1084, W2, etc.). Buy precision ground flat stock. Start a little thick to give yourself some wiggle room on the steel (say 3/16" (.187")) x 1 1/4" for a larger knife. I started and jumped right in to grinding. I wish I would have started off with files to to some of my first. I've improved greatly, but go with the basics first.
 
Get a copy of,"The $50 Knife Shop" by Wayne Goddard. The pricing on his shop setup is obviously out of date, but he shows how to make a starter setup on the cheap.

For stock removal you will need :
Something to remove the stock - This starts out as simple as a set of good files, and progresses to a KMG or similar grinder. Somewhere in there are the HF 1" and 2" belt sanders. They are cheap and will get you started. A disc sander is also a good starter unit. Forget about two wheel bench grinders.

Something to make the blade shiny - This starts with sandpaper (use wet-or-dry silicon carbide paper) and elbow grease, and goes to BIG buffers. A small 6" buffer will do nicely, again HF has them.

Something to drill holes with - A hand drill to a free standing drill press. A bench unit works well for most makers.

Something to saw steel. - A hacksaw to a hydraulic band saw. The HF smaller units will do a good job. A good high tension hand hacksaw costs about $20-25 to get you started.

$300-400 will get your feet wet, but plan to spend a good bit more by the time you get into it.

I did not go into the equipment needed to do the heat treating. That is a whole other thing, and more money. To start with ,send them out ,or go visit a smith near you.

Your first investment should be in about three good knife making books.
Stacy
 
I'm sort of in the same boat as smitty, well, maybe on a bit tighter budget. My plan for the moment was to get an inexpensive drill press, a work table, a small vise and some files, but I've had a bit of trouble trying to figure out what kinds of files (type, size, shape, etc.) I should get. The problem is that every time I put 'files' into google, even if I also add more specific stuff like 'hand tools' I get swamped with results about different kinds of computer file types. I just don't know enough about them to narrow the scope of the search and find some decent information.

Even Wayne Goddard's $50 knife shop seems to assume that you are a generally handy person and know something about which files to get. Sadly, I was raised in a household where there none were present, so this assumption doesn't hold in my case.

If anyone can elaborate as to what sizes, shapes, and types of files are most useful to a beginning knifemaker it would be a real help.

Thanks,
Geoff
 
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/prod...0931331000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Files+&+Rasps
Sears item #00931331000

This set of Craftsman files should cover anything you would need to do with a file, short of fine file work. Like on the spine of a blade. If you want to get into that too, a set of Craftsman needle files would be good. The nice thing about buying Craftsman files from Sears is that they will replace broken of worn files no matter what. So buy them once and that's it, never again. That is the set I recently bought and the seem to be working great.
 
The Harbor Freight bandsaws are on sale right now for $159 (got the flyer today). It would be a good time to invest. That with a good bimetal blade and a good drill press and some good files and good sandpaper will get you started. Notice I kept emphasizing good in front of everything. Believe me things like cheap files & sandpaper will end up costing you in the long run. Get the best you can afford.
 
All very good advice above. Rather have less of better quality than lot of rubbish. Files wise I would say that for getting the base shape of your knife, a flat, a half round and a full round file, about 10mm in diameter. I would go with 2nd cut grade for all and then get one or two bastard files for major stock removal. Lots of sandpaper and elbow grease. Also a set of needle files will be handy for filing notches and choils.

Good luck

Lang
 
What you need is just a good metal hacksaw, some good files, some glass or hardwood blocks and sandpaper.
And a LOT of patience.
If you want to use just carbon steel, a small homemade single brick gas forge will help in heat treating.
A grinder is of real great help, though.
 
You're gonna need a vise for your workbench.

Hint - bigger and older are better

Syn
 
Yes. Don't set for some flimsy bench vise or a chinese knockoff. Buy the best forged vise your money can buy, and buy it BIG. Nothing less than 20 pounds is worth the buy.

Old ones were well made, so it's pretty safe to buy one after you've inspected the screw for damage and the jaws.
Damaged jaws can be repaired, but a damaged screw means the vise is ruined. No much sense in buying it.
A new one is safer (but more expensive) to buy if you don't know exactly what to watch for in a used one.
Stay away from el cheapo chinese ones.
A vise is something you buy once in a lifetime: better to buy the best you can afford.
It should have screw on jaws. Easily replaced and can easily mount nylon anti-scratch jaws.
 
The only things I can add to this is that if you decide to get a HF belt sander or disc sander, consider just buying a disc and motor separately. A 9" aluminum disc from HF is about 10 bucks and in the $30-$50 range you'll be able to buy a surplus motor that's better than anything their sanders come with. Match the shaft size and you'll be able to directly mount it. Or use pulley's and you'll be able to control your speed for cheap.

Also, unless you're making a folder I don't think precision ground steel is a necessity.
 
That workbench I mentioned, the one you screw your dandy 30 lb. machinist's vise to, has to be pretty solid also. You don't want it walking away from you when you bear down. Wayne Goddard says, in The $50 Knife Shop, to stick in a corner, so it's stuck in place. Good idea that one.

Up above people have mentioned getting a drill press. Versatile tool if you buy the right stuff to go with it. Drills can be a world unto themselves there are so many different kinds, 118, 130, 135 degrees all cut different. HSS (high speed steel) bits cut different then cobalt and carbide and need to be sharpened much more often of course they cost less. Good, SHARP drills are a pleasure to use..............dull ones will drive you crazy. There was a recent thread about on here about drilling ( I should really say BORING to be precise) correctly sized, ROUND holes that stunned me. My point is not to chintz out on drill bits and other tooling for that drill press or YOU WILL BE SORRY.

I think that a trip to the library to dig up ALL THE KNIFEMAKING BOOKS THEY CAN FIND is a good idea too. Cheap for you and reading them will save you a lot more money down the road. Some of the out of print ones are outrageously expensive now but your library can find them somewhere for you.

Syn
 
If I were starting out again, I think I would spend a couple of days praying that a very rich and no doubt unknown relative would leave me 20 thousand dollars so I could purchase the equipment I have struggled to aquire over the last eight years. :D
This statement is not meant to dampen your enthusiasm, just to point out the obvious. There is no end to the equipment that you will want to purchase for your shop.
Where to start, is up to you. Each of us has skills in certain areas. Lean towards those skills. Take advantage of what you already know and build on that.
I truly think that half, the joy, of knife making is in the learning, both about the equipment and the techniques involved in making a good knife.
Start with the books and enjoy every moment of your journey.:thumbup:

Fred
 
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