Upgraded shop

[Greg Garner]

Well, I have the knifemaking bug again after being out of it for 8 years. I am currently in the process of upgrading my hobby shop. Current shop tools consist of:

1x30 Delta belt sander (used since 1990)
Ohio Forge bechtop drill press (used since 1990)
Delta 4x48 (or 6x48) belt sander (used since 1990)
Hacksaw (used since 1990)
Delta 14" wood cutting bandsaw (added about 6 months ago)

New machines to the shop:

Coote 2x6x72 grinder with 1.5 HP GE heavy duty motor, with variable pulleys
Clarke 64.5 inch variable speed metal cutting bandsaw
HF mini mill and small number of starting accessories

Hopefully the new tools will improve my quality and efficiency. I know nothing about mills so any helpful tips with the mini, or any other machine listed, will be greatly appreciated.

It's nice to be passionate about making knives again.

Greg

 

[john warren]

lol you make me feel bad, all i have is a craftsmen bench grinder some files. assorted airsanders, a dremel . and a craftsmen hand held belt sander. pluss my home made forge and railroad track anvil.
next thing i really need is a benchtop belt sander , think i'll geta 2 x 36, 8"disc sander combo. thats should help some. i have access to tons of cheap belts for it.

 

[Greg Garner]

Well, my first 2 knives were made with files, sandpaper, etc and the only power tool I used was the little drill press to drill the few holes. I bought that little 1x30 belt sander (it's been a great little machine) for about $60 at Home Depot and the little drill press for about the same. For 8 years the hacksaw, files, and these two tools were used to make about 60 knives. Obviously, I did a lot of hand finishing...

I saw a little 1x30 belt sander like my Delta at HF for $40. If there are young people just starting out with a small budget, you can still produce some pretty nice knives with some very inexpensive, yet useful, power tools.

I sold some very nice air rifles (another hobby) to finance the new machinery. I think I should be pretty much set now. I forgot to mention I picked up a Sugar Creek heat treat oven, and that was probably the best tool since I can now HT my own blades whenever I want and work one knife from start to finish without having to worry about making up batches to send out for HT. Before it took me so long to get 10-15 blades ready for the heat treater that by the time I got them back ready to finish I had ideas about other designs that I wanted to work on instead.

Greg