Shop Equipment - Which?!

D

Dagr

Joined
Jan 25, 2006
Messages
76
Ok, here's the situation - I'm interested in making knives. The only space available to do so is in my basement, in the same room as the furnace. So anything producing noxious fumes, or very fine particulates is out. With that in mind I planned to hand form my knives using files, and sand paper, but I was planning to use drill press, mini mill, bandsaw and the like to speed up the peripheral tasks.

So which machine should I purchase first? I have about $500 canadian, prefer to buy from north american sources. I think I have a line on a cheap drill press, and I'm having trouble with the mill (non chinese source...) so I was thinking about the bandsaw. Suggestions? One bandsaw for metal, one for wood/micarta?

I'd love to hear your opinions on the subject. And any help with canadian machinery suppliers (I only know of Busy Bee, and KBG) would be appreciated.

~ Dagr
 
A metal bandsaw is gonna cost alot of money. I bought a porta-band and do my metal bandsawing by hand. ($350.00). I bought a sears craftsman bandsaw to do my handle materials. It works really well. Think I paid about $150.00 for it.

How about hooking a shop vac up to a small belt sander? Craftsman, Grizzly, etc. Doing it all by hand is gonna be ALOT of work.
 
The problem I have with harbour freight and the like is that I really would prefer not to support china. I know, simple politics, but it matters to me.

~ Dagr
 
Dagr said:
The problem I have with harbour freight and the like is that I really would prefer not to support china. I know, simple politics, but it matters to me.

~ Dagr
Click to expand...

It's not China where they are made, it is Taiwan. We're pals! :D

If it's China you don't wanna support, stay out of Wal-mart, they are China's second largest trading partner, no kidding.

Craig
 
Hello fellow Canuck! Get a belt grinder first. I bought a 1x30" on sale from Canadian Tire for ~$65. I have used it now for everything from grinding out blanks, to shaping handle slabs, to grinding bevels. If you have a Lee Valley Tools nearby, get some blue zirconia belts in 1x30. They work well and last a long time. My grinder has a exhaust port for a dust suction system. I just hook up a small Shop Vac. Lee Valley also has a Veritas sharpening system, which is basically a small version of a wheel grinder. See it here:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=44884&cat=1,43072
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=48040&cat=1,43072

It needs a motor, but they are easy to come by.

I should note I am a newbie, but this stuff has REALLY helped me and didn't cost a lot.

Edit: Canadian Tire and Princess Auto are great for intro stuff. I picked a drill press for $50. So far it has worked great for drilling handle holes etc.
 
Hi Dagr,

Browse through here http://busybeetools.ca .I buy endmills and that type of stuff from them.

They have a verticle/horizontal metal bandsaw listed for 245.00 that looks like it would do the trick until you have more of a budget.

Ya, it's offshore stuff but with a budget of 500.00 you aren't going to find US or Canadian made quality tools unless you happen to find someone that is selling a used one and doesn't know the value of it. As far as a US or Canadian made mill you are talking numerous thousands of dollars for a new one. That busybee site has import mills and just look at the price of some of them. :eek: I have a offshore mill/drill that I bought in the US for around 600.00. Its sloppy and fairly poorly made but for the things I do with it, it works alright.

If I was you, the first tool I would be looking for is a stationary belt grinder. I think that is probably the most useful tool to a bladesmith. You can always hack out a blade blank with a drill and hacksaw if you have to, but trying to shape a blade with files and sandpaper is alot more work.

Good luck with your search. :cool:
 
Dagr said:
The problem I have with harbour freight and the like is that I really would prefer not to support china. I know, simple politics, but it matters to me.

~ Dagr
Click to expand...

Trust me, Friend, we all recognize the need to support North American products. The trouble is one of drawing down from the world macro to a smaller problem in which we need to get ourselves making knives and not spending huge sums of cash on sweet equipment. If you are just starting out, you will soon realize that equipment is only a small fraction of what you will be spending your money on. That said, I would love to have a nice little Kalamazoo, or Wells, but they start at around $4000 new and go up from there. Resellers know this, and their prices are pretty steep too. If you can even find one for less, its probably more beat-up than IG's colon. :foot:
 
jhiggins said:
Trust me, Friend, we all recognize the need to support North American products. The trouble is one of drawing down from the world macro to a smaller problem in which we need to get ourselves making knives and not spending huge sums of cash on sweet equipment. If you are just starting out, you will soon realize that equipment is only a small fraction of what you will be spending your money on. That said, I would love to have a nice little Kalamazoo, or Wells, but they start at around $4000 new and go up from there. Resellers know this, and their prices are pretty steep too. If you can even find one for less, its probably more beat-up than IG's colon. :foot:
Click to expand...
HEY!!!!!:grumpy: :jerkit: ;) :D
 
I'm pretty sure that at work last week in the latest kbc flyer i saw a kalamzoo belt grinder for 444 canadian(or44something) kbc does have their flyer online and they have several store locations across canada . I dont have the link right now but you can do a search easy enough .
heres the link to kbchttp://www.kbctools.com/can/main.cfm
go to page 39 on their flyer 1/2 hp, 2" x 48" belt grinder ...441 canadian
 
KBC is also a great source for precision flat ground O-1 steel, an excellent starter steel. It comes annealed and ready to go. They don't have a minimum order. A knifemaker I know buys all his O-1 flat stock there.
 
Thanks guys... that was pretty much what I didn't want to hear, but who am I to argue with reality.

The reason I wanted to stay away from the belt grinder, is all the fine steel dust being blown around right next to the furnace / ventilation. I haven't figured out how to use a grinder in such an enclosed space safely yet.

~ Dagr
 
You are gonna get dust...lots of it. I mainly use files for my work and there's still dust all over my shop. It's amazing how much dust you can make by hand sanding. One thing I do is run a couple of those cheap 20" box fans with a good 20" furnace filter over the draw side. It cleans the air pretty well, but not good enough. I'm going to have to invest in a vacuum system I think.

If you are going to use a grinder you may want to box off a section of your workspace to help manage the dust.
 
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