tips on making first knife

[GuinnessSynd]

well i have decided to make my first knife. i was wondering if anyone had any tips or some good tutorials that i could look at. i dont have alot of tools so it will have to be primitive if ya know what i mean i was thinking mostly hand tools i thought i found a good tutorial on a website before but i cant find it anymore. also i dont have a whole lot of money so if i could get the materials for not a whole lotta money that would be amazing.. i know that this is a pain but i really appreciate it

 

[brets-ftw]

Go to the knifemakers subforum, then shop talk I believe or around the grinder, whichever is specifically about knives. And there are many a tutorial posted. Also the search function helps quite a bit.

As to sites, knifekits is pretty popular, there are also many local ones like for texas, lonestar knifemakers supply is a really nice one. Bought some lignum vitae and gaboon ebony from them

 

[DanCo]

First fill out your profile. The makers will want to know about you and where you are at (location). You may have a maker around the corner (that's what happened to me). Then go here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/741-Shop-Talk-BladeSmith-Questions-and-Answers

Read through the stickies at the top, and try to post specific questions.
Daniel Combs

 

[Noctis3880]

I'm in the same boat as you. I only have the pitiful space of a college dorm room, and the only kind of knife I'm interested in making right now involves a flat zero edge grind with a microbevel, so that limits my choices a lot.

I figure this would be the closest we'll be able to do without $20,000 in funds:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/907667-How-to-Make-a-Knife-From-a-File

 

[eccvets]

start with good steel, cut it out with whatever you got (anything from bandsaws to hacksaws will work fine), rough sharpen it, send it out for heat treat and save yourself the headache, money, and time doing it yourself, and then do the final polish with a grinder with a polishing wheel and sharpening yourself with your fav system. attach your choice of handle or not. fin, not very complicated.

 

[Noctis3880]

start with good steel, cut it out with whatever you got (anything from bandsaws to hacksaws will work fine), rough sharpen it, send it out for heat treat and save yourself the headache, money, and time doing it yourself, and then do the final polish with a grinder with a polishing wheel and sharpening yourself with your fav system. attach your choice of handle or not. fin, not very complicated.

Glossing over a few things aren't you? What I'm referring to is of course designing the knife itself. I'd recommend some graph paper, a ruler, sharpie, pencil, and compass drawing tool. I also think there would be some complication with putting the blade grind on with a grinder, as that might cause a sort of hollow grind shape, whereas traditional hollow grinds are supposed to be put on with two wheels spinning towards each other side by side as someone draws the knife across them. And I believe the actual cutting out of the blade shape will go a lot smoother with a drill to cut a few holes here and there for the shape.

Heat treat is indeed a very complicated part of the equation, though I suspect sending the blades out for heat treatment would be questionable in its gains if one ever plans to actually sell the knives, as shipping and return shipping costs alone would add up. A batch treatment would be required to make the most of it(I think 4+ is the standard). Then you have to make sure the edge is thick enough prior to heat treatment or else warping will occur. As well as the optimum hardness for your steel choice to compliment the blade grind and intended use.

P.S.
I'm thinking a dremel tool could expedite matters quite a bit and may even be able to replace a hacksaw and drill. Cost is a bit high, but it would speed things up considerably for multiple knives.

 

[Bo T]

I started with a knife kit from Jantz. It will cost you less than buying a bar of steel, cutting and shaping the blade, sending it out for heat treat, then putting everything together. It will also take you about a third of the time.