Thinking of starting a knife

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fla556guy

Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
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I've never made a knife, and have always wanted to. My desire has always been trumped by my total lack of knowledge of the subject. Now that I have been reading your posts and such, my main question is this:

Where do you get your steel?
Is local better, and if so how would I find such a place.
If you use the internet, do you have a preferred source?

I'm looking for D2, sounds like a good place to start.
 
Thank you. This board seems like a very tight-knit and experienced venue to persue answers and knowledge. Am most glad to have found it.:thumbup:

Another probably amateurish question, but one that I must ask.

What is the difference, if any, between "precision ground" and "hot rolled" tool steel?
 
Hey Fla556guy!

I don't have a lot of wisdom for you but I thought I might share something that really helped me with my first real knife.
I took a class last year at Montgomery Community College in Troy, NC. I was realy impressed with their program and am going back this spring for another class. It was a really good way to get hands on experience with some professional supervision. It probably saved me a load of $ by letting me see how to do things properly and a whole lot of info on how NOT to do things. I would have wasted a lot of time and materials if I hadn't taken the time for the proper instruction, AND I still have all 10 fingers and toes as a bonus! I highly recommend it. Here's the link to the sticky post with the class info. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=387154

Welcome to knifemaking!
_____________________________
Curt Wommack
Stone Mountain, GA
 
"Thinking of starting a knife"... now, this guy is taking the right approach. Treat it like an ongoing project. Something that's going to keep you occupied for a while.
Like starting a novel.
Like starting an addition on your house.
Not like making, for example, a cake. When you make a cake, you do the process to the ingredients, and you've got a cake in a couple hours.
When you "make" a knife, you've got so many processes- long processes- to do to your ingredients that you can't possibly know when you're going to have a knife. Especially not on your first try. Thinking of starting a knife, that's good.
 
Well, maybe not quite into knifemaking yet. I've always searched for the "perfect" blade, and have found many examples of beautiful knifes, but none that really "did" it for me. Not saying that I haven't seen many that blew me away from a great artistic and craftsmanship standpoint. The only thing that I can really do at this point (financial and spatial concerns) is obtain the material and shape the blade. I don't see being able to heat treat it properly (and from what I have read, this is just as important, if not more important than any other procedure in knifemaking). I don't want to muck up a beautifully shaped blade by attempting something that I know is out of my abilities. Small steps I have found, work much better when you are attempting to do something of this nature. After I get the blade shaping part down, I'll move on to heat treating. I'll be using the good old file and screw to workbench method for the first one, (thanks for posting that "how-to" BTW) and probably the second and third (until I can't take it anymore, or I acquire a better paying job).

Thanks in advance. I'd dearly love to take a class (and I'm really not trying to blow off your suggestion, which is a wise one BTW). My 60 hour a week, 6 day a week work schedule precludes me from traveling that far and staying the required period of time to complete such a class (I can't afford to take that much time off of work). I will look for one around me that's at night or on weekends, but the one that was posted in the "hammer-in" sounds like a better deal than I would probably find here.
 
Steel from the factory comes with a "bark" on it that has to be removed. There is frequently pitting and such that must be ground away.

Precision ground means it has been specially surfaced, looks beautiful and pit-free, and looks machined. It is essentially flat and the precision is for toolmakers. Do yourself a favor and start out with that.

You'll understand why when you see your first piece of mill stock cold rolled.
 
Blinker: I looked at your knives, and I just say: Nice work
Fitzo: Thanks for the help, I appriciate the candid answer.


I know my questions sound dumb, but sometimes asking a dumb question is smarter than not asking at all.
 
We all started out "dumb". Your questions are fine. Keep asking. :thumbup: Other people may need the answer, too!
 
HEY EVERYBODY

i AM ROBIN, NEW TO THIS FORUM THOUGH, I WOULD REQUEST YOU ALL TO TELL ME HOW TO MAKE A STEEL KNIFE.

a GOOD QUALITY STEEL KNIFE.......IS THE BLADE AND THE HANDLE MADE SEPERATELY

# IS IT MADE BY SHEET PRESSING.

# IS IT MADE BY DIE CASTING

# wHAT IS THE EXACT PROCESS TO MAKE IT.

PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS AS IT CAN MAKE MY LIFE.

REGARDS TO ALL
 
Good thought process.....gather all you can information-wise before you start. Print out tutorials and get your steps down right. Theres alot you can learn by doing things wrong, but they usually result in lots of hours wasted at the beginning. Depending on what your plans are, you may want to go carbon steel to begin with...that way once you get comfortable with the grinding process, you could then turn to HT and learn to do that yourself as well and use the same stock.

Everyone here has had good advice so far....get some precision ground 1/8" stock and make a small knife. Theres nothing mysterious or hidden about the process. Its all here.....
 
Hey Thanks Schott

I Am Actually Looking The Ways To Make Knives Like Table Knives For Cutlery Or Flatware....

Can Anybody Tell Me How They R Made

This Would Be Very Helpful

Can U Tell Me Schott
 
:) My response was actually to the thread starter. You should really start your own thread rather than jumping into Fla556guy's.....

I would first, however, read the sticky at the top of the shop talk forum. Many of your questions can be directly answered there before getting into the specifics of any one process. Those links have hundreds of pages of information, all of which would be required to sucessfully and fully answer your questions.
 
Thanks again for all the great help. I got lucky today and found a 1/4" thick, 2" wide, 14" long piece of precision ground O-1. Paid 5$. Please don't kill me. The way I see it, even having something to base my thoughts on (a rectangular hunk of steel) helps. I'm not really good at abstract thinking....I went and spend a bunch of time cutting out paper ideas, and I think that I have a pattern that I like, at least for the handle. I'm not so sure about the blade though.
 
fla556guy said:
Thanks again for all the great help. I got lucky today and found a 1/4" thick, 2" wide, 14" long piece of precision ground O-1. Paid 5$. Please don't kill me. The way I see it, even having something to base my thoughts on (a rectangular hunk of steel) helps. I'm not really good at abstract thinking....I went and spend a bunch of time cutting out paper ideas, and I think that I have a pattern that I like, at least for the handle. I'm not so sure about the blade though.
Click to expand...

Kill you? Heck, I want to know where you buy your steel! :) Another thing you may want to consider if you're playing around with patterns to find "the one" might be to get a small piece of masonite or 1/4" MDF or something and cut some of your pattern ideas out. It will help to give you a bit of a "feel" for the pattern rather than just looking at it. You also get some practice with a bandsaw/hacksaw/coping saw, etc.

-d
 
deker said:
Kill you? Heck, I want to know where you buy your steel! :) Another thing you may want to consider if you're playing around with patterns to find "the one" might be to get a small piece of masonite or 1/4" MDF or something and cut some of your pattern ideas out. It will help to give you a bit of a "feel" for the pattern rather than just looking at it. You also get some practice with a bandsaw/hacksaw/coping saw, etc.

-d
Click to expand...

I contacted a local metal seller who sells custom lengths of steel. The piece I bought was a piece of scrap O-1 that they had left over from a different purchase. They put it on a scale and said Five bucks. I promptly said I'll take it and at the same time I think I had a "wow" look on my face.
 
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