What Book(s) For Someone Wanting to Make His First Knife??

N

Nalapombu

Joined
Oct 26, 2001
Messages
303
Hey all,

I am looking for a book or video that I can pick up that will take me through the BASICS of making a knife. I would like something that would go from raw piece of steel to finished knife and SHOW and EXPLAIN how they got there. I am not interested in forging at this point so I don't need to know how to do that. When and if I ever get to the point where I am advanced enough to want to make forged knives, then I'll invest in that material.

I bought the book $50 Knife Shop by Wayne Goddard and it doesn't have what I am looking for. It primarily goes into how to outfit your shop and forging. I found it had very little in the way of how to do the actual MAKING of a knife.

If you have something you can recommend I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Nala
 
I'm looking forward to hearing some responses to this one.
Thanks for bringing it up:thumbup:
 
I am going to move this to ShopTalk, a forum of actual knifemakers who have already collected a lot of information on "how to" for new makers. :)
 
Try Blades Guide to Making Knives specifically the chapter by Wayne Goddard entitled Making the Everyday Working Knife. Really good information and basic techniques with a minimum of gear.

The other good book is Custom Knifemaking 10 projects from a master craftsman. By Tim McCreight. It is a little dated in terms of styles of knife being written in 1985 but it takes you through all the basics in a series of indivdual knife projects again giving options and techniques with a minimum of gear.

Good luck
Kevin
 
kevinc said:
Try Blades Guide to Making Knives specifically the chapter by Wayne Goddard entitled Making the Everyday Working Knife. Really good information and basic techniques with a minimum of gear.

The other good book is Custom Knifemaking 10 projects from a master craftsman. By Tim McCreight. It is a little dated in terms of styles of knife being written in 1985 but it takes you through all the basics in a series of indivdual knife projects again giving options and techniques with a minimum of gear.

Good luck
Kevin
Click to expand...


I forget about that one. That is one heck of a book.
Custom Knifemaking 10 projects from a master craftsman.
 
Thanks for the recommendations so far.

Sorry, I can't seem to get the category right these days for my posts.

I just bought $50 Knife Shop and I am returning it. It didn't have anything I am looking for about details on building a knife from scratch. Some of you may find that hard to believe, but I want to see how you take a flat piece of steel and start grinding on it and end up with a blade profile with a sharpened edge. I only seen a very brief talk about this. That wasn't enough for me.

I'll keep on checking.

Nala
 
OK. Draw out the profile design of the knife you want to create on heavy paper. Cut it out. Take a flat piece of steel and glue the cut out onto the steel. Use a metal saw, hack saw, grinder to remove any steel not covered by the template you created. Use a scribe to mark the centers of the edges of the steel. Or a drill bit the same size as the thickness of your metal. Lay the steel and the drill bit down on something very flat. Hold the drill still and run the sides of your steel past the bit, pressed against it and the tip of the drill will give you a center line mark. Clamp a guide on the blank where you want your cutting edge to start and then use a chain saw file to cut your plunge cuts. come to about a nickel thickness on the edge, tapering to near the spine. Now go to your grinder and taper from the plunge cuts to the tip. Use your scribe lines to keep centered. You can use a contact wheel to get it close then a flat platen or a disk to true it up. leave a bit less than a nickel at the tip. Now with the edge up grind at about a 45 to start an edge. keep both sides even and use your scrip lines to keep it even. leave a nickel thickness. After this is done start grinding the sides. Look down from the top and use the gap you created by grinding the 45s as a guide. Work both sides. Use a push stick to hold pressure on the blade. The push stick should have a smallish tip and slide on the blade easily. Hold the stick still and pull the blade past it and the grinder, start at the filed plunge cuts and pull the blade till the tip is at the center of the belt, roll the handle end down and the tip up as you get to the curve to the point. Do both sides evenly. Learn to pull the knife past the belt in an smooth and even manner. One side pulled one way and the other the opposite. To move your flat toward the spine move the push stick down. The height of the push stick will control the flat as you move it towards the spine. When you have moved the grind to near the spine and the 45 you ground on to start is gone you are ready to move to a fine grit. Move to finer belts after ALL the marks from the coarser grits are removed. As you move to the finer grits you should have more flexible backed belts. adjust the grinder so the belt rides over the platen edge and you can true up your plunge cuts. You have to adjust the belt from one side to the other as you switch sides. True up the flats of the handle and raisco by holding them against the platen tip straight up. If you are using oil or water hardening steel you should end up with about a dime edge and be ready for the Heat treat when you finish with the 220 grit belt. If you are using an air hardening steel. go finer on the edge and to say a 400 grit belt. Do several of these with plain old steel until you have got it down. No video or book will replace time or experience on a grinder. Once you have it down use a piece of blade steel. After the heat treat start again with the 220 belt and the same methods until the blade is cleaned up again. Work your way up to 400 or 600 hundred grit and then clamp the handle down so the blade is flat. Wrap sand paper around a piece of flat bar and starting at the plunge pull the sand paper wrapped bar to the tip letting up on the pressure a bit as you near the tip. Do not pull the bar past the tip, but end the pull with the tip in the middle of the bar. Do this forever until each grit has removed the marks from the previous. Move the paper on the bar to have fresh paper as it wears. PRACTICE
 
Last edited:
It's not a book, but I suggest you look at Steve Johnson's video on building a sub-hilt fighter. He takes you from transferring the pattern to the steel to grinding the knife then finishing it.

The book that you got does take you through making a knife, just in a different way. Some folks hammer knives and some folks grind them, something you'll hear a lot is "there's more than one way to skin a cat".
 
+1 for S.R. Johnson's video.

For a book I'd recommend "How to make Knives" By Bob Loveless. All knifemaking books and videos have valuble information on knifemaking but there is alot of overlap in the material covered. IMHO this book covers everything you need to know to begin making knives covering full tang, hidden tang, sheath making and so much more.

Also, don't discount the amount of information that can be found right here at Bladeforums. The ability to search is priceless for a newbie !!! It would be a better investment than a book or video to begin with. Aside from finding threads with explainations on practically any subject of knifemaking you'll learn enough to post reasonable questions right here in Shop Talk that will be answered to your understanding, something a book or video just can't do.

Just my opinions derived from being a newbie myself, Josh
 
Another vote for Custom Knifemaking by Tim McCreight. It is exactly the step by step instructions you are looking for. Takes you through ten projects, each of which teaches you a new skill or two. It spends a little time on tools and steel types but the meat is all well desribed process. You will not be sorry you got this book.

Rob!
 
Last edited:
Nalapombu said:
Thanks for the recommendations so far.

Sorry, I can't seem to get the category right these days for my posts.

I just bought $50 Knife Shop and I am returning it. It didn't have anything I am looking for about details on building a knife from scratch. Some of you may find that hard to believe, but I want to see how you take a flat piece of steel and start grinding on it and end up with a blade profile with a sharpened edge. I only seen a very brief talk about this. That wasn't enough for me.

I'll keep on checking.

Nala
Click to expand...

Nala if you need blade designs. I have few that I will share.
 
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6737052


This thread contains links to some of the books mentioned.

It's funny, some of the responses you got must'nt have read any of your post past the title, cause they recommended exactly the opposite of what you wanted.

step by step and
custom knifemaking seem to fit what you were asking.

the Dr. H books look very good too, although a smithing focus, with some other general info too
 
ib2v4u said:
OK. Draw out the profile design of the knife you want to create on heavy paper. Cut it out. Take a flat piece of steel and glue the cut out onto the steel. Use a metal saw, hack saw, grinder to remove any steel not covered by the template you created. Use a scribe to mark the centers of the edges of the steel. Or a drill bit the same size as the thickness of your metal. Lay the steel and the drill bit down on something very flat. Hold the drill still and run the sides of your steel past the bit, pressed against it and the tip of the drill will give you a center line mark. Clamp a guide on the blank where you want your cutting edge to start and then use a chain saw file to cut your plunge cuts. come to about a nickel thickness on the edge, tapering to near the spine. Now go to your grinder and taper from the plunge cuts to the tip. Use your scribe lines to keep centered. You can use a contact wheel to get it close then a flat platen or a disk to true it up. leave a bit less than a nickel at the tip. Now with the edge up grind at about a 45 to start an edge. keep both sides even and use your scrip lines to keep it even. leave a nickel thickness. After this is done start grinding the sides. Look down from the top and use the gap you created by grinding the 45s as a guide. Work both sides. Use a push stick to hold pressure on the blade. The push stick should have a smallish tip and slide on the blade easily. Hold the stick still and pull the blade past it and the grinder, start at the filed plunge cuts and pull the blade till the tip is at the center of the belt, roll the handle end down and the tip up as you get to the curve to the point. Do both sides evenly. Learn to pull the knife past the belt in an smooth and even manner. One side pulled one way and the other the opposite. To move your flat toward the spine move the push stick down. The height of the push stick will control the flat as you move it towards the spine. When you have moved the grind to near the spine and the 45 you ground on to start is gone you are ready to move to a fine grit. Move to finer belts after ALL the marks from the coarser grits are removed. As you move to the finer grits you should have more flexible backed belts. adjust the grinder so the belt rides over the platen edge and you can true up your plunge cuts. You have to adjust the belt from one side to the other as you switch sides. True up the flats of the handle and raisco by holding them against the platen tip straight up. If you are using oil or water hardening steel you should end up with about a dime edge and be ready for the Heat treat when you finish with the 220 grit belt. If you are using an air hardening steel. go finer on the edge and to say a 400 grit belt. Do several of these with plain old steel until you have got it down. No video or book will replace time or experience on a grinder. Once you have it down use a piece of blade steel. After the heat treat start again with the 220 belt and the same methods until the blade is cleaned up again. Work your way up to 400 or 600 hundred grit and then clamp the handle down so the blade is flat. Wrap sand paper around a piece of flat bar and starting at the plunge pull the sand paper wrapped bar to the tip letting up on the pressure a bit as you near the tip. Do not pull the bar past the tip, but end the pull with the tip in the middle of the bar. Do this forever until each grit has removed the marks from the previous. Move the paper on the bar to have fresh paper as it wears. PRACTICE
Click to expand...

From the perspective of a newb learning the process, it seems like there's a lot of real good information in that single post. :thumbup:
 
Nalapombu said:
Thanks for the recommendations so far.

Sorry, I can't seem to get the category right these days for my posts.

I just bought $50 Knife Shop and I am returning it. It didn't have anything I am looking for about details on building a knife from scratch. Some of you may find that hard to believe, but I want to see how you take a flat piece of steel and start grinding on it and end up with a blade profile with a sharpened edge. I only seen a very brief talk about this. That wasn't enough for me.

I'll keep on checking.

Nala
Click to expand...

No offense, but you must have not really read through the book. That book is the ONLY book I have on knife making, and think it is a great guide. If I have any questions I ask the guys here, or look it up on the web. "$50 Knife Shop" is a great source to getting into knife making. It really gives you ideas on how to get started without a great inital investment.
 
As a fellow neophyte I agree with Nala. $50 Knife Shop is a good outline for equipping a beginner's shop and providing preliminary instruction, but the stock-removal section is a bit lacking in information and is geared more toward wheel grinders. "Practice" and "just don't do it" make great glib replies, but it presumes the reader knows what he or she is supposed to be doing and how it should be done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top