What style of knife should I make?

duffy99

duffy99

Joined
Apr 2, 2011
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I have 3/32 x2" cpm 154 about 18" long . I bought it with my first order of steel not realizing how thin it is and will have it professionally heat treated . So my question is what style of knife should I make with this? I've made 3 knives by hand with just files and sandpaper with not the greatest results with thicker steel. I still am on the low end of the learning curve and I consider my first knives junk but now have I a craftsman 2x42 . So what would be good to make for a beginner ?

On a side note how did others get their platen level horizontally , mine is pretty off and I just added a pyroceram platen onto the steel. I've done all the basic mods but still haven't ground a thing yet ( hopefully tonight :) ) . I have a whack of wood stir sticks I'm going to start with before I hit some steel.
 
Seems with a 2 inch wide piece you can do a variety of things... 3/32 would be good for a decently sized chef's knife. I'm going to be making neckers out of my 3/32, but mine is only 1 inch wide. If you have a good way of cutting up the steel (even drilling/hacksaw would work) you can get a lot of knives out of a 2 x 18" piece
 
Chef knife, but it sounds as though you are not quite ready. I'll buy that steel from you if you want to go with something else.

EA
 
Having a similar dilemma right now. The obvious answer is a chef's knife, but I don't have the experience for it either. It was suggested to me that I start with paring and streak knives and work my way up into the bigger blades in the set.
 
Maybe try a few knives. Something thin and tall, maybe a santoku and a couple of kiridashis or smaller knives, you could cut the smaller piece down the middle.
 
I say try what you're inspired to make. Try something hard if you want. I haven't used a 2"x42", but, I hear the high speed is hard to overcome. Maybe try using a higher grit belt that's not as aggressive to slow down the metal removal?
Santoku sounds fun.
 
Maybe some small, simple chisel ground blades?
 
How about some capers to go with your hunters. Make a set of both.

Some filet knives would work also.
 
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I make a sharp finger style out of 3/32",also a bird and trout,small chefs,three finger caper,the posibilities are endless.
Stan
 
that screams chef knife to me, so I would set it aside and grab some different stuff. that is the perfect stuff for kitchen knives.
 
You might have room for a chef and petty or paring, 8" small outdoors knives, filet knives, bird and trout, Nakiri, scandi's . Let us know what you decide.
 
I have 5 hunter's to make for various friends but I have a variety of thicker steels for those . I downloaded a bunch of pics of santoku knives last night . What grind is it , basically how the hell do you make one . I've only done full tang knives so far , 3 ugly pieces of metal. I have pretty much every knife book out there either digitally or hardcover so I guess I should just get reading. I also got the sub-hilt fighter dvd and the Loveless dvd this week. I've been so busy setting up my workspace I haven't had a chance to watch them . Could I just grind them half way up and make a few small hunters or some neckers and try different edge styles . I don't want to waste it getting over my head / skill level . On the other hand I like cooking and making a santoku for my kitchen would be pretty cool too.
 
I was in a similar situation myself, not long ago.
First I'll say that this isn't really a lot of $'s worth of material, so don't worry too much about it.
I'd hack-saw it into at least 3 pieces, and use each one for something a bit different. Granted, you're dealing with a limited set of choices, but Scandi's or kitchen knives come to mind, due to the small stock size.
Also .... IMHO, I wouldn't get too carried away with spending a fortune on books and DVD's when you have a gold mine's worth of information right here, and on similar sites. Years back I bought a couple books, and I found I would have been better off using the $ for other things.
It does take more time reading, due to info not all being categorized as in a book.
I've spent untold hours researching and studying, and I'm always amazed at the amount of valuable information these experienced makers have to offer.

Steve
 
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