Taking the dive into knife making

M

Mob

Joined
Sep 25, 2009
Messages
152
Hey guys,

I recently decided to finally give a go at knife making, after wanting to pursue it for a while. Over the past few months I've been slowly buying tools and piecing things together. Although not the most ideal location, the only space available is my backyard under a 10'x10' canopy.

At the moment these are the tools in my possession:
HF 1x30 belt grinder with various Norton Norax belts
Milwaukee 6232 Portaband
Swag Offroad Portaband table
Bandsaw for wood
Angle grinder
Drill press

I've also got a few common tools that may or may not help me with the knife making.

Along with the above mentioned tools, I have been learning blacksmithing at home- using a Chile Forge Habanero. Which will hopefully be a good way to heat treat the blades as well.

Are there any other specific tools that you guys would recommend?

A KMG grinder with 10'' contact wheel and flat platen will be my next purchase, once they are back in stock. I have also ordered various belts for it.


Thanks!
 
Mob , buy several cobalt drill bits in 3/16, 1/8, 5/32/ 3/16, 7/32, and 1/4 inch and also buy some bits that are a few thousandths larger than those bits like a number 21 and a number 30 . Go online and print a chart of drill sizes in fractional, metric, and numbered so you can compare the actual sizes to your pins and rod stock. Also get a digital caliper from harbor freight. I have about 6 or seven of them lying around in my shop and I buy them on sale for 10 to 15 bucks and I throw them away or use them to scribe lines when the batteries go. Nxt get a hardwood block about 1 1/2 inch by 2 inch by 10 inch and buy some rare earth magnets and embed them in the block to hold your blades for grinding them flat. Buy some steel and rent or buy sme knifemaking videos by Bob Loveless, Steve Johnson, and Johnny Stout and study them. Go slow and ask questions...oh and have fun too. Just my opinion. Larry
 
Files. My most used file is a 10" single cut but, I use various round and half round files frequently as well. Don't buy cheap files! Get Nicholson and be done with it. I also recommend a good collection of clamps. C-clamps, vise-grip clamps, spring clamps and kant-twist clamps. I use them all pretty much every day. An automatic center punch is almost mandatory and a regular center punch to re-enforce the mark. A set of 1-2-3 blocks is also really handy.

Bob
 
RangerBobTX said:
Files. My most used file is a 10" single cut but, I use various round and half round files frequently as well. Don't buy cheap files! Get Nicholson and be done with it. I also recommend a good collection of clamps. C-clamps, vise-grip clamps, spring clamps and kant-twist clamps. I use them all pretty much every day. An automatic center punch is almost mandatory and a regular center punch to re-enforce the mark. A set of 1-2-3 blocks is also really handy.

Bob
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Thanks!

I've got a few files, but could always use more. Also have a bunch of C Clamps and twists. Center punches are covered as well, got about 5. A set of 1-2-3 Blocks I do not have, I will look into those. What are there main uses? I always thought it was just a piece of metal with a bunch of holes in it.
LARRYZ10 said:
Mob , buy several cobalt drill bits in 3/16, 1/8, 5/32/ 3/16, 7/32, and 1/4 inch and also buy some bits that are a few thousandths larger than those bits like a number 21 and a number 30 . Go online and print a chart of drill sizes in fractional, metric, and numbered so you can compare the actual sizes to your pins and rod stock. Also get a digital caliper from harbor freight. I have about 6 or seven of them lying around in my shop and I buy them on sale for 10 to 15 bucks and I throw them away or use them to scribe lines when the batteries go. Nxt get a hardwood block about 1 1/2 inch by 2 inch by 10 inch and buy some rare earth magnets and embed them in the block to hold your blades for grinding them flat. Buy some steel and rent or buy sme knifemaking videos by Bob Loveless, Steve Johnson, and Johnny Stout and study them. Go slow and ask questions...oh and have fun too. Just my opinion. Larry
Click to expand...
Thanks Larry,

I've got a cobalt set from Milwaukee that has a good range of sizes. Drill chart is a great idea, I will do that. I have a few digital calipers as well. Hardwood block is a great idea, would have never thought of that.

The videos will be the most helpful, I will look into those for sure. Thank you!
 
files Flat and coars and a small single cut triangular file to draw file with.
Also a chain saw file for the plunges
 
My belts came in today from Trugrit.


Also got some parts in from Beaumont. Subplate, Workrest, 2'' Contact wheel, Small Wheel Attachment, 3/4'' wheel for SWA, and pulleys. Although to my surprise, Rob forgot the hardware for the subplate, so I can't mount up the motor to it.

Hengelo_77 said:
files Flat and coars and a small single cut triangular file to draw file with.
Also a chain saw file for the plunges
Click to expand...
Thanks, I will pick them up.
 
Today's work:
Decided I wanted to beef up the vertical support, so I doubled up on 2x4's, glued and clamped.


Also stopped by HF for some Pipe Clamps, these are awesome! Only heard of them just 2 weeks ago, this would have come in handy so many times in the past. Picked up C clamps, quick clamps- then zoomed over to lowes for the Paint and rollers.


Painted what I could with the little energy I had left. Now I remember why I hate painting anything.




Grinder came in today- which I am stoked about. However they didn't send me tracking- had I not been home the box would have been left there. Not thrilled about it, but luckily I was home. My last order with them, bolts were forgotten. This one now has an aluminum tooling arm, even though I specifically requested a steel one several times via email and mentioned at least 3 times by phone. Beaumont makes a great product from what I have seen so far, but their service is sub par from my experience with them.


 
Mob, I understand that you are disappointed in the tool arm being aluminum but I used steel arms (7 of them) for over a year and I sold them all to get aluminum tool arms. It saves 10 ibs on each attachment and they work just as well. You are going to love working with a KMG...they are great grinders.
 
LARRYZ10 said:
Mob, I understand that you are disappointed in the tool arm being aluminum but I used steel arms (7 of them) for over a year and I sold them all to get aluminum tool arms. It saves 10 ibs on each attachment and they work just as well. You are going to love working with a KMG...they are great grinders.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I'm alright with using aluminum, however I still prefer steel because I feel more confident with it. My complaint really, was just in getting an aluminum arm- after stressing several times wanting steel.

Either way, I can't wait to get this thing going. Current mission is getting everything painted up- as it will be in the backyard (my only option) under a canopy and covered by a tarp after use. Quite a bummer, I haven't even had the time to take her out of the box yet. Been scrambling to finish painting the work bench for it, before it rains here for the next 3 days.
 
I'm wondering if your workbench might be too tall for your grinder. Most find that the ideal grinding height is about even with your elbows when your arms hang at your sides. I placed the center of my wheel at that height, based on others recommendations, and it really does feel right.

Bob
 
Shawn Hatcher said:
Congrats on the KMG! Have fun and show us your work as you progress. :thumbup:
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Thanks! I will keep this thread updated for sure. Hoping to grind out some knives next week.
RangerBobTX said:
I'm wondering if your workbench might be too tall for your grinder. Most find that the ideal grinding height is about even with your elbows when your arms hang at your sides. I placed the center of my wheel at that height, based on others recommendations, and it really does feel right.

Bob
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I hope not Bob,

Took me a while to paint. lol
Bench is 34.5'' tall, I am 5' 5'' tall. I measured my arm height horizontal around 42.5'', when first building the bench- I didn't have the grinder. So I wasn't sure that the center height of the kmg was. A friend told me 8'', so I based it off of that. If anything I will saw the bottom legs down, or build a small platform to work from. The grinder hasn't been mounted on the bench yet- since it's still drying. This would be an ideal time to shorten the legs, but I won't know until having the grinder on it.
 
Wow man, you've got some heavy duty hardware going on. Congrats!

I too love the clamp section at HF. I make a point of grabbing at least two (of whatever kind) every time I stop in which is often.

About those 1-2-3 blocks... Did you ever figure out what they are used for? I'm still at the "block of steel with a bunch of holes" stage. :D
 
I use 1-2-3 blocks for a lot of different things.
- squaring my work rest to the flat platen
- clamping two parts square to each other for welding or drilling
- riser on the drill press when drilling small holes
- clamped perpendicular to the work rest of the grinder, it will give you a square surface to hold your blades against to produce a square grind on the spine
- paper weight

They are one of those tools that, once you have them, you keep finding more uses for them. In most shops, a cheap pair is as good as a high dollar pair. Not saying you need them, just saying that they can be really useful.

Bob
 
If you don't have one already, I'd recommend one of these. It makes flat grinding accurate, repeatable and fun. :)

DSC02044.JPG
 
RangerBobTX said:
I use 1-2-3 blocks for a lot of different things.
- squaring my work rest to the flat platen
- clamping two parts square to each other for welding or drilling
- riser on the drill press when drilling small holes
- clamped perpendicular to the work rest of the grinder, it will give you a square surface to hold your blades against to produce a square grind on the spine
- paper weight

They are one of those tools that, once you have them, you keep finding more uses for them. In most shops, a cheap pair is as good as a high dollar pair. Not saying you need them, just saying that they can be really useful.

Bob
Click to expand...
Thanks Bob,

I got a set off amazon. They look very useful indeed, the ones I got from amazon came drenched in some kind of shipping. Got to give it a good cleaning first.
Fred.Rowe said:
If you don't have one already, I'd recommend one of these. It makes flat grinding accurate, repeatable and fun. :)

DSC02044.JPG
Click to expand...
Thanks Fred,

A few people have recommended the jig. I'm on the fence about getting one. Might grind out a few knives first and go from there.

What material is the wedge made out of?
 
Mob said:
Thanks Bob,

I got a set off amazon. They look very useful indeed, the ones I got from amazon came drenched in some kind of shipping. Got to give it a good cleaning first.

Thanks Fred,

A few people have recommended the jig. I'm on the fence about getting one. Might grind out a few knives first and go from there.

What material is the wedge made out of?
Click to expand...

We use composite balusters for the wedges Its the cheapest material available that does not absorb water. We here for the long run so anytime we can help, let us know.

Fred
 
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