Starting out

[SGerman]

Hi folks,

A short introduction is in order and then a question for you.

My name is Steve and I live in Tennessee. I'm a machinist by trade and a few weeks ago myself and my boss got to talking about knives after I had proudly shown him my brand spanking new Case russlock. He told me how that during th 70's and 80's he had met all the big name makers of the time and had commisioned quite a few knives from each of them. I told him I'd sure like to see them whenever he had the time.

A while later he brought some of them in all neatly wrapped up in chamois cloths and showed them to me. I had absolutely no idea who Loveless and the others were at that time, but I was completely stunned by what I saw. There was gleaming polished steel, lots of big thick preban ivory, mammoth, ram horn, incredible scrimshaw(sp) work, 24k gold filled inlays, everything you can imagine. Needless to say I sure didn't feel the same about my shiney new Case after that.

Like I said before, I was simply freaking blown away. Now I want to try making knives myself. It's not that I ever have a chance in heck of duplicating the quality of what I saw, but I'd sure like to come as close as I personally can. I suppose most of you know already what I'm trying to say here so I'll hush up on that point.

So here's where I am. I've already ordered and recieved some 01 from MSC. I've drawn out on paper and then blanked myself two blades out of part of the stock. Being the Ebay freak I am I went wild and won five sets of scales that caught my eye. I have no clue how suitable they'll be, but that's what newbies do I guess. So far I've got curly and quilted maple, black walnut, redwood burl, spalted tamarin, masure birch and a set of red flame cocobolo. I'm obviously a newbie-novice so have some pity on me in your remarks please, lol.

As far as simple proceedure goes, the Loveless/Barney book is easy to understand and everything I'll need to do seems very managable. I've been reading everything I can from knife maker web sites and also this forum, viewing the finished work of forum members, and also clicking on any links posted in an attempt to absorb what I can. From that I'm assuming that my maple and walnut is going to work out just fine.

My question is concerning some of my wood. The flame red cocobolo I got is apparently heavily dyed wood. When I attempt to mount this and then trim it am I going tobe exposing layers of undyed wood making it useless to use? I sure hope not because like a dumb butt I paid 42 smackers for it. Still I'd like to know if you don't mind. My other question is about the spalted tamarin. It flipped my trigger because of the striking bold lines on the otherwise bone colored base wood. This wood is light as a feather and sorta reminds me of craft basswood. Is it going to be suitable or do you feel it would be too soft to even bother with?

By the way, my normal posts are usually pretty brief on the other internet forums I frequent. This one is not because I felt it would be proper to introduce myself a little before throwing questions around. I apologize if my post has posted in an inappropriate area. Please feel free to move it to a better place with my sincere apologies.

Thanks in advance,
Steve

 

[scottickes]

Steve,
First off, welcome to this group. You're going to learn A LOT as you go forward from the fine knifemakers here.

There is no such thing as a dumb question. Many of the questions you're going to have as you move forward, have already been asked here. Make the search feature your friend. Also, at the beginning of this list of threads is a sticky titled, "For the new maker as well as the seasoned maker", or something to that effect. There is a ton of information there, including tutorials on how to do many of the things we knifemakers do.

As far as your wood questions go, I'm familiar with all them but the spalted tamarin. Somebody else here might be familiar with it. A suggestion that I'd like to make is to get a moisture meter and check the moisture content of your wood before using it. I'd also suggest that you have all of it stabilized before using it, except for the cocobolo. If I'm not mistaken, cocobolo is a fairly oily wood that doesn't take stabilization very well. If your spalted tamarin isn't an oily wood, it will probably take stabilization very well, which would make it a good option for knifehandles. For instance, I use a lot of California Buckeye, which I buy in large slabs. I then cut it up into slightly oversized slabs and scales. It reminds me of a balsa type wood at this stage, but after it has been stabilized, it is much heavier and harder, and makes an excellent handle.

I use WSSI to stabilize my wood. Mike is excellent to deal with. Once stabilized the wood is very resistant to chemicals and water, and will take a nice polish without using sealers, etc.

I'm sure others here will have more to add to what I've offered, but it's a start.

Once again, welcome to our group!

Scott Ickes

 

[David Wesner]

Hi Steve, Welcome to BladeForums :thumbup: You're at the best place you could be as a new maker. Lots to learn !!! I'll second icke's suggestion about using WSSI for your stabilizing needs. They're one of the best.

I'll be seein you around the forums Make sure and post a lot of pics of your work and progression as a maker. We love pics !!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Welcome ,Steve.
You are starting right by reading and planning. Ask all the questions you need.

The cocobola wood darkens with age and exposure to oxygen and light. The dark exterior will turn yellow to orange in color when you sand it down. Don't worry too much about it. The color will darken back fairly fast. As said ,cocobola doesn't require stabilizing, but most other woods benefit from it.Cocobola doesn't glue well, either, so use a strong rivet - like a Corby. I highly recommend Mike at WSSI for stabilization.

As to getting into knives - START SIMPLE
You can eat an elephant much faster by biting off manageable pieces rather than trying to eat the whole critter in one bite. Start with a drop point hunter or similar simple knife. Work slowly, thinking ahead and planning the whole knife before starting. You may be surprised by the quality a first knife can achieve.In the beginning, it may be easier to send out the blade for HT.
Stacy