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r00tn00b posted:Knife number 2. Stock removal. I ran out of propane so i couldn't do the heat treat tonight but. Tomorrow I'll go get some propane and scales. How are you doing your bevels?
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Oct 8, 2018 00:57
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10 Beers posted:I'd really like to get into blacksmithing/knifemaking, but I have no idea where to start. Ilve looked online and don't see any classes in my area except for a week long course by Gil Hibben. Any ideas or resources for getting started? Even if it's just where to get a cheap forge and anvil and what YouTube videos to watch? I started with a piece of railroad track and a forge made.from a metal paint can. Forges are not cheap if you want to buy one, and the price of anvils have skyrocketed in the last few years. I suggest starting out with home made things to see if you like it and build on it from there. Propane burners can be made easily from black pipe, or stainless pipe. I watch endless hours of youtube by people like joey van der steeg, mark asprey, alec steele , brian brazeal, and then just give it a try myself.
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Oct 8, 2018 01:55
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Telsa Cola posted:How are you doing your bevels? I made a jig with some angle iron. And i use that as a guide to set them
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Oct 8, 2018 02:53
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r00tn00b posted:I made a jig with some angle iron. And i use that as a guide to set them Rad, thank you.
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Oct 8, 2018 03:04
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mr_selfdestruct posted:I started with a piece of railroad track and a forge made.from a metal paint can. Forges are not cheap if you want to buy one, and the price of anvils have skyrocketed in the last few years. I suggest starting out with home made things to see if you like it and build on it from there. Propane burners can be made easily from black pipe, or stainless pipe. I watch endless hours of youtube by people like joey van der steeg, mark asprey, alec steele , brian brazeal, and then just give it a try myself. Thanks! I've seen propane forges on Etsy and eBay for around $150. Are forges like tattoos, you get what you pay for?
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Oct 8, 2018 22:38
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10 Beers posted:Thanks! I've seen propane forges on Etsy and eBay for around $150. Are forges like tattoos, you get what you pay for? Yeah, to some extent. Although also in the second-hand arena, you are always dealing with the wide disparity of how much people think their crap is worth. To begin with you should evaluate your workspace. If you are working indoors (like in a garage), your forge will need really good forced-air ventilation, and you'll need to obviously clear lots of space of flammables. If you're working outside, you'll want rain/weather cover over your workspace/storage space, or you'll want portable equipment that is easy to move into place and put away. Then you'll have to decide if you're going for a gas or coal/charcoal forge. There's advantages and disadvantages with each. A portable propane forge is probably simplest and cleanest to deal with, but a charcoal/coal forge is probably substantially cheaper and easier to improvise. For pure knifemaking, a very small gas forge can be adequate. The depth of the forge limits how much of your blade you can heat at once: you can work on just part of the metal when hammering out, but for the heat treat you need to be able to bring all of the knife (exclusive of the handle) to an even heat before quenching. But otherwise, constraining the volume, entrance, and (if it's open) back of the forge is good, because smaller = less fuel and time to heat up. Hence the common tiny paint-can gas forge used by a lot of small knife makers. If you think you might want to do some more general blacksmithing, though, a larger forge might be the way to go. I do think classes are highly valuable. You learn so much in a couple hours of instruction... just the very basics of managing the forge, heating steel, handling it, and the basic hammer work of drawing out a piece of metal. You can watch a bunch of videos and get a pretty good idea, but there's nothing quite like having an experienced instructor to instantly notice what you're doing wrong and correct it before you waste time (or worse, hurt yourself). I'd suggest checking the Blaksmithing/Metalworking thread for a lot more about general forgemaking and so forth, even if you're focused on just knifemaking.
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Oct 8, 2018 23:45
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Leperflesh posted:Yeah, to some extent. Although also in the second-hand arena, you are always dealing with the wide disparity of how much people think their crap is worth. I follow that thread, too! The biggest issue I have around here is all classes are 1 weekend/1 week, and expensive. Not weekly/monthly that I could draw out. Thanks for all the help!
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Oct 9, 2018 00:50
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I really like my Atlas mini forge for heat treating
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Oct 9, 2018 05:26
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got a request for a commissioned knife, no idea what t charge. but im working on it anyway. what do you guys charge? 
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Oct 21, 2018 00:27
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r00tn00b posted:got a request for a commissioned knife, no idea what t charge. but im working on it anyway. what do you guys charge? Its about 7" long.  
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Oct 21, 2018 01:45
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I wanna get into knifemaking and am doing a day course in Japan with a samurai bladesmith who's fully certified by the Japanese government. Anyway, I'm a fan of metalworking so I have a feeling I will like doing this. Long question short, what are the absolute minimum requirements for me to make knives at home? I'm thinking belt grinder and drill press for now, I can buy pre-forged blanks if I want to make forge welded composite damascus blades, but really is there much else I'd need beyond those two? I have a decent set of tools already and I think I'd prefer to get the bare minimum for now.
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Oct 21, 2018 03:14
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McSpergin posted:I wanna get into knifemaking and am doing a day course in Japan with a samurai bladesmith who's fully certified by the Japanese government. Anyway, I'm a fan of metalworking so I have a feeling I will like doing this. Hand files, a peen hammer (ball peen for spreading the ends of pins will work). For handle materials work you'll want a small saw like a coping saw, various grades of sandpaper, 2-part epoxy. For heat-treating your steel you need a means to bring the metal to glowing red hot and no longer magnetic, and that pretty much requires a small forge; and you need a quench container of oil for quenching, and then you can temper using an oven and maybe a handheld torch. Sharpening tools like stones or ceramic sharpening pieces or you can do the ultrafine sandpaper on a flat tile or glass method. Clamps, I'd suggest at least one vicegrips plus at least two or three c-clamps and at least a couple woodworker's type clamps so you can hold handle scales in place while epoxy dries without damaging the scales. If you want to work with damascus you'll need an acid bath to etch with. If you are using a drill press you need a vise for it, and if you are drilling by hand, you should clamp your workpiece to an immovable surface while you drill (and also, good luck with that). If you are not going to heat treat then you will have to work with steel that has already been hardened and then be extremely careful during grinding and sanding work not to overheat the edge. I've not done stock removal techniques like that, so maybe someone who has can speak to the problems of working with pre-hardened steel.
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Oct 21, 2018 03:22
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Gough jig. It will be hard work, but it's doable.
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Oct 21, 2018 03:26
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From what i understand the only two difficulties with working with prehardend steel is that its a bitch to work with and you have to keep dousing it to keep it from heating.
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Oct 21, 2018 04:15
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If you are planning on filing the bevel by hand, you can't pre ht. Honestly I wouldn't pre ht the blank before drilling the holes in the tang, and I wouldn't even do it without a real 2x72. What you want to do is grind or file your bevel until the edge is .020 if you're hting yourself, or .010 if you're sending it out. After that, you will have to hand sand the bevel down your final primary bevel thickness. Google Butt fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Oct 21, 2018 |
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Oct 21, 2018 05:15
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Thanks for the feedback! I thought this may have been a lot deeper of a rabbit hole than I thought so I might just spend the money on getting a few courses through then see if I can space/cost share with a local knifemaker here in Sydney. I'd be more than happy to share consumable costs and running costs etc to have access to that gear as the cost of buying property here is insane, and to get a place with the size shed I want anywhere close to where my partner and I want to live is upwards of $1m. Not something we have readily available! Thanks for the heads up.
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Oct 21, 2018 11:16
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Whatever you do get a 3m half mask with p100 filters minimum
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Oct 21, 2018 18:16
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McSpergin posted:Thanks for the feedback! If you're in Sydney you could probably get down to the Canberra area for the day pretty easily. https://tharwavalleyforge.com/courses/our-courses/knifemaking/one-day-one-knife These guys run classes at the Eveleigh train sheds too; https://eveleigh.works/ Also Pask did a video on making a simple forge that could be useful for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po9EKcOj1uc
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Oct 21, 2018 22:26
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MrPete posted:If you're in Sydney you could probably get down to the Canberra area for the day pretty easily. https://tharwavalleyforge.com/courses/our-courses/knifemaking/one-day-one-knife Eveleigh is a good location and he runs it open for people who've been trained but iirc the one day it's normally open for people to use as is is like a Wednesday or something which is when I'm busy at work. I looked at Tharwa Valley as well and he's in a good spot. Wouldn't be a hard trip down post work on a Friday. I did look at a gas forge build as I've got gas fittings for work so it wouldn't be TOO hard to build one
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Oct 22, 2018 04:40
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Gas forges are also pretty loving cheap. I got the refractory bricks for mine at something like $6 a brick.
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Oct 22, 2018 04:52
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Telsa Cola posted:Gas forges are also pretty loving cheap. I got the refractory bricks for mine at something like $6 a brick. I'm sure I could get this or straight refractory cement for a good price
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Oct 23, 2018 04:21
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4th knife finished, used this one as a test mule for new techniques using my new tools. One test was to sharpen it on my grinder, knife attached to my bevel jig, with the belt reversed for edge trailing. I was able to get it shaving sharp in 10 passes and some stropping. Literally a fifth of the time of my hapstone and just as sharp. Decided to just do a quick double cord wrap handle.   
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Oct 29, 2018 17:47
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My Customer was pleased with the knife, it was not a mirror polish and thats what they wanted a rough look. I will post some action pictures when I get some. Started a new project today with some steel i got for my birthday.   
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Dec 2, 2018 04:41
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That’s really cool to see it in progress.
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Dec 2, 2018 22:23
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Had a productive day. Full heat treat on 2 blades and a 3rd mostly formed. https://i.imgur.com/2WxJgJ3.jpg
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Dec 3, 2018 02:54
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Nice going, looking forward to seeing those!
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Dec 3, 2018 03:29
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I hope these updates are welcome. I did the finish on the blade to 400 on the belt grinder then took it up to 1500 by hand and then put an edge on it. Cuts really smooth now to decide what wood will be be.
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Dec 4, 2018 07:21
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Hidden tang knife ready for the handle. I lost the peice of wood a burned the tang through. Back to the wood pile
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Dec 5, 2018 06:24
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The stock removal is done! I really like how it turned out. For my 4th ever knife i'm pretty proud of it. http://imgur.com/gallery/SUjEAYa
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Dec 7, 2018 10:09
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Nice, looks sharp too! One design suggestion I have is try adding a bit of a curve a long the spine. Doesn't need to be a lot, helps add some flow to the profile imo
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Dec 7, 2018 10:15
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I appreciate the knifeposts, please never don't post your knives
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Dec 9, 2018 06:25
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Leperflesh posted:I appreciate the knifeposts, please never don't post your knives Okay! I currently have the Don Dentz bevel jig, but I've been getting some so so results with it and I hate having to unscrew the blade to switch sides. I've also found that I prefer sharpening my knives before the scales go on using a jig/grinder (belt run in reverse for edge trailing), so flipping the knife is not only annoying, it increases the chance of scratching the bevel/ricasso. I stumbled across Adventure Sworn's scandi grinding setup and it clicked with me, it's perfect for sharpening on the grinder. I haven't tried grinding a primary bevel with it though. Scandi grind screw up in the angle aluminum as a mockup:  Sharpened #6 with it tonight, scales going on tomorrow.   I'm also building an etcher from an old train power pack (does both ac/dc!) and a custom carbon wand using a motor brush. I'll be using a Brother P-touch label printer with their "stencil tape", which is made for electro etching! edit: Here's #5 99% finished, just needs an edge:  
Google Butt fucked around with this message at 08:08 on Dec 9, 2018 |
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Dec 9, 2018 08:00
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These are awesome. What would some of these cost if they were for sale?
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Dec 11, 2018 22:41
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It's the opposite of the forging or stock removal approach most of us have to take, but I thought it was a neat overview of CNC-based manufacturing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxAH6TGgNSA
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Dec 14, 2018 21:53
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Couldn't sleep so i did what any normal person would do. I made a small knife. Bandsaw blade stock. I'm waiting on the apoxy to cure too finish the handle. Gallery: http://imgur.com/gallery/CGhQmGO
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Dec 18, 2018 13:24
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Finished the insomnia blade today
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Dec 19, 2018 02:46
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I post a lot but I guess that means im doing things! Here is my first run at a chef style knife, I have always wanted a Kiritsuke so imma make one! 
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Dec 23, 2018 19:09
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Quick sneak peak at #6, which is going to be an xmas gift for my brother. Need to clean up a couple scratches on the ricasso and put the finish coat on the sheath, but it's otherwise done. This one took a long time and fought me the whole way, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'll take some better photos when the sheath's done. Speaking of the sheath, I actually bought it stitched up and raw from Jantz, dyed it myself.  
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Dec 23, 2018 23:50
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Don't know if this was posted already, but a guy made the handle of a knife from his leg bone. https://www.reddit.com/r/knives/comments/a6mqa2/this_guy_almost_lost_his_leg_in_a_motorcycle/
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Dec 24, 2018 00:02
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Google Butt posted:Quick sneak peak at #6, which is going to be an xmas gift for my brother. Need to clean up a couple scratches on the ricasso and put the finish coat on the sheath, but it's otherwise done. This one took a long time and fought me the whole way, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'll take some better photos when the sheath's done. Speaking of the sheath, I actually bought it stitched up and raw from Jantz, dyed it myself. That blade looks real nice man, awesome work, and I love that handle shape!
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Dec 24, 2018 19:25
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