What basic tools and steel should I get?

F

fourcornersrocks

Joined
May 16, 2008
Messages
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I've been lurking here for a while, this is a great forum! I have plenty of experience working with stone but none with steel and want to make some knives to put some stone handles on. I bought a kit to put together but I want to make something from scratch.

What kind of steel should I get? I probably want something easy to work with since I don't have many tools yet.

Is the harbout freight 30x1 sander something I can use to shape my blade after I cut it out?

How about a cheapie chop saw to remove stock and chop steel or should I save up for a bandsaw?

I have a bench grinder, a bunch of cheap big files and some decent jewelry files, jewelry saw, other silversmithing and lapidary stuff that I know might help, lapidary units, rock saws (do they cut steel?), acetylene torch, foredom.

Can I buy some steel, cut it with my hacksaw, grind it with my bench grinder, bevel the blade with the harbour freight sander, polish it with my buffer, etc...

BTW I plan on sending my steel off for treatment after I shape it.

Thanks!
 
I heard the 1X30 will die quickly and wear out belts like it is its job. Go with the craftsman 2X42 with a ceramic platen from darren ellis. I love it
 
The 1" belts will go pretty quick, you could start some small knives, If you did get it do alot or work using a file for stock removal and then finish with the grinder. The larger belts will last alot longer.

As far as steel goes something like 1084 is easy to heat treat and work and cheap.

To get started I make knives out of wood just to get the basic geometry and grinding down, homedepot sells 1/4" thick wood which is great, then make some out of cheap steel. Once again homedepot sells some 1/8 bar stock pretty cheap, but really good grinding practice. Now grap the piece of 1084 and make a knife. BTW you can get 1084 from McMaster Carr or alot of other places.

You can also use a harbor freight 4" grinder to cut blanks and shape. They are pretty cheap and work well.

Good luck

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Patrickknives,
Thanks for the advice! I was actually at homedepot today looking at the steel stock and wondering. I like the wood knife idea, I cut stone, that is why I got into this, I figured grinding stone couldn't be too different than metal. Maybe I'll bust out the bench and angle grinder with a fiber metal blade...
 
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