Setting up shop

There is a ton of good, and some questionable, advice in the archives here. Digging it out and trying it out is a blast (sometimes literally).......... There are a bunch of unique skills and talents (precision metalworking, woodworking, design, machine tool troubleshooting/maintainance, welding/soldering/heat treating, first aid, etc to name just a few) that you will acquire in the process and you will never be the same.

I admit that the skills I am trying to bring to knifemaking coincide with those that are, frequently, required to do projects that my wife prioritizes more highly then my metalworking hobby, be careful of that one. For example: she really, really likes having a set of scary sharp kitchen knives and we all know that sharp knives are safer knives right? She also has discovered that a variable speed belt grinder makes short work of sharpening garden tools and we all know that SHARP garden tools are SAFE garden tools right? The time involved in these little sharpening chores can ad up in a hurry, especially when she volunteers my efforts to her friends who also have no concept of the value of my time or that it might cost some $$$$ to fix their stuff up right..

You are gonna have a ball..........................

Syn
 
Visit some makers too. Try to see if Dale Warther has some time. Offer to compensate him for his time and pick his brain. He is a custom maker in your area (Dover, Ohio). His family are the Warthers of Warther Museum in Dover. They make mostly kitchen knives in the factory at the Museum site, but Dale is a custom maker in his own right.

Dover is almost walking distance from your town, and thus is a short 15 minute drive or so away.

Ickie (from Massillon, Ohio home of the "other" Tigers)
 
synthesist said:
There is a ton of good, and some questionable, advice in the archives here. Digging it out and trying it out is a blast (sometimes literally).......... There are a bunch of unique skills and talents (precision metalworking, woodworking, design, machine tool troubleshooting/maintainance, welding/soldering/heat treating, first aid, etc to name just a few) that you will acquire in the process and you will never be the same.

I admit that the skills I am trying to bring to knifemaking coincide with those that are, frequently, required to do projects that my wife prioritizes more highly then my metalworking hobby, be careful of that one. For example: she really, really likes having a set of scary sharp kitchen knives and we all know that sharp knives are safer knives right? She also has discovered that a variable speed belt grinder makes short work of sharpening garden tools and we all know that SHARP garden tools are SAFE garden tools right? These little sharpening chores can ad up in a hurry, especially when she volunteers my efforts to her friends.

You are gonna have a ball..........................

Syn
Click to expand...

Also be prepared for her friends to not understand the value of your time and skills. My wife recently relayed to me that her good friend would be happy to pay me all of $20 for a custom made Santoku kitchen knife :eek:
 
Smitty,

You are welcome to visit my forge. I am only a couple of hours away from you.
I will be back at work the first of September.
PM me and we can set something up.

Fred
 
That would be awesome. I would love to. I'll be sure and keep in contact with you. Thanks alot, I really appreciate all the help.
 
my first set up cost me around probaly 500 or so i bought a craftsmen belt sander for flat grinding for about 160 a ryobi drill press for about 150 wayne goddards 50 knife shop, how to make knives by -loveless/barney i also have a cut off wheel i use in my disc grinder to cut out blades rather than a metal cutting bandsaw the biggest thing that has helped me is lots and lots of reading on these forums and books
 
I just ordered Wayne Goddards $50 knife shop from amazon.com. I hope it gets me a little farther along, as far as direction goes. I'm still working on my game plan. I'm sure that visiting Freds shop, as he so kindly offered to let me do will go a long way as far as clearing things up for me go. I also ordered "The wonder of knifemaking" by Wayne Goddard also. Who is Wayne Goddard anyway? Am I on the right track by buying his books?
 
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