What is needed to set up a shop?

sogflash

sogflash

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Aug 28, 2011
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What machines, supplies and tools are needed to set up a small knife making shop? It is for making handles for fixed blades.

You need the blades and the materials the handle will be made from. Sandpaper will always be used, and perhaps oil or something to treat the handles.

As for machines and tools I'm not quite sure. Here are some of my thoughts.

-Belt grinder. (And another type, but the name escapes me. It uses circular pieces of sandpaper.)
-Vice.
-An assortment of small files.
-Dremmel or similar tool.
-Drill press. It's not needed, but very useful.
-Band saw. Same as above.

Can you help me figure out what else would be useful and what would be necessary?
 
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Obviously there are lots of little things you will need to make knives, but I will focus my comment on power equipment. When I got started making knives last year, there were 3 power tools I felt I NEEDED to have in order to get started.

Bandsaw
Drill Press
2x72 Belt Grinder

Everything else (disk sander, surface grinder, mill, heat treat oven, etc) is just icing on the cake, but with the three tools I mentioned above, you CAN produce quality knives in a timely fashion. Good luck.
 
I'd get the drill press, skip the dremel and get a granite surface plate. The surface plate is for checking flatness and to use as a base for sandpaper to sand things flat.

You can use a high tension hacksaw in place of the bandsaw, in conjunction with the vise it will work very well.

Get a good full face respirator, I like the 3M 6000 series.

Good luck with all!
 
What's the budget? 2x72 belt grinder would be the first thing. Drill press next. This is going off things I'm like "man I would sell a kidney for a ...." when using hand tools.
 
If all you're doing is handle work using wood, Mr. Fairly's mention of a REALLY GOOD respirator bears repeating. The dust of many exotic hardwoods is dangerous to breath and may cause skin irritation/problems as well. Tracking it into the house will cause problems of a LOUDER sort if you're married. Carbon Fiber, micartas and G10 handle materials would be even more problematical. The best eye protection you can afford, no matter how expensive WILL seem cheap compared to what modern emergency eye/retina care costs (eye emergencies are IMMEDIATE, not tomorrow..................... this instant).

So some sort of dust collection, if only a shop vacuum, is probably a good idea too preferably with HEPA filters.

No one has mentioned that Craigslist is your friend on tools like drill presses, bandsaws, vises (not vices btw) and many other shop needs.

I might consider an oscillating spindle sander for working on handles too. Rigid makes one that can be had very reasonably. I got mine on eBay for $75.

Not having a drill press will keep you up at night. A small, benchtop 1/2 hp model would do what you need on handles. When you start working on blades you might want something more precise and powerful.

A router and table might come in handy too for wood.

Corey "synthesist" Gimbel
 
Yeah, it appears he's going to be using blade blanks or kits instead of making knives.
 
tryppyr said:
Yeah, it appears he's going to be using blade blanks or kits instead of making knives.
Click to expand...


I'll buy full tang and hidden tang blades and make handles for them. The handles, including the bolsters, will mainly be made from wood, but also micarta, horn, stag, bones, metals, G10 etc.

I've used the dremel to sand finger grooves and to polish bolsters, so it's a usefull tool to me.


I'm glad you reminded me about the vacuum cleaner, I'll need one of those.
 
A nice 1x42 is great for handle shaping. It was my first belt grinder when I started out doing the blank way. Still is an important tool in the shop, I have two, even with my baderIII. If you an find an old rockwell combo 1x42/disc sander, it is one of the best but pricey and hard to find. There are very similar models with Jet or Delta name on them. ( my understanding is they all were under the rockwell umbrella at some point)
 
I would say that an established knifemaker and/or bladesmith would be your most valuable resource. Trade some property work or materials if you have to, but spend some time watching a local maker! It will save you countless hours of hair-pulling, and he will know what machines work and what is crap, because he started out just like you at some point.
My absolutely most valuable tool has been YouTube. The tutorials from Gavko, Nick Wheeler, 3 River Blades, Aaron Gough, and Trollsky just to name a few are absolutely indispensable to a newbie.

Also, blade blanks...where to start. My first piece of advice, DO NOT buy any 440c blade blanks with the bolsters pre-attached!!!! With Usaknifemaker, Premium Knife Supply, kitknives etc, if you order any of their 440c blade blanks with bolster pre-attached, you will regret it, more often than not. They are made in China, and quality control sucks. The bolsters are ground unevenly, and you will spend hours cleaning the bolster lines up or outright grinding them off. Not on all of them, but about two-thirds in my experience. Also, the bevel grind heights are different on each side of these blades, almost always, and the cutting edge bevel is usually uneven, especially in curved areas like the tip. I have also noticed that many of the tangs on the 440c blanks grind way too easily to be properly hardened. The blade spine skates a file, but the file will easily bite into the tangs, which leaves doubt in my mind about the heat treatment.

If you do decide to go ahead with blade blanks, get some of jantz supply's made in house blanks in 1095 or d2 or 440c. I have only ordered two of their Pattern 23 blanks so far, but they are light years ahead of the generic 440c blanks as far as materials and craftsmanship, and are very comparable in price. Another option for blanks is Darrin Sanders, here on the forums. His most recent page is here. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1165785-Custom-Blade-Blanks I have not personally used him, but he is a Service Provider member with great feedback. Another blank supplier I have been extremely pleased with is Alabama Damascus Steel. You will need to sharpen them, but otherwise they are a great value in random pattern damascus, and they don't weld mild steel tangs to their damascus like cheapo companies do.

Sorry to be so long-winded, but these have been my personal experiences so far, and I have wasted enough money for both of us on crappy made in china 440c blanks. I would also like to note that you CANNOT make blades from scratch any more economically than you can buy a good blank from a reputable maker. They may be more expensive, but will save you a ton of time and money.
 
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