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.
 
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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