Any Knife makers lurking??

[stevenaa]

I've wanted to make knives since I was a boy. Now my 14 year old wants to make one, so I'm gathering supplies. About to order a forge for easier heat treating. Anyone into the hobby, I'd love to hear about it.

 

[Boone]

I am interested in it and have done some light web reading about it, but that's as far as I've gone. My Dad left us 3 full-sized anvils when he passed away that his stepfather originally used. I don't have the space or equipment for it right now. I would love to hear how it goes. I've watched more than a few episodes of 'Forged in Fire' and it's a fascinating hobby.

 

[stevenaa]

Good anvils are crazy expensive. I got my first one completed. Learned a ton during the process. Made the knife and the sheath. First time ever working with leather, which was quite fun. The handle is Iron Wood. Bought a turning blank from woodcraft. The blade started life as a bar of steel 12x1-1-1/2x3/16

The perspective is a bit off with the life tilted. the blade is proportionaly longer then it appears.




Edit to add better picture.

 

[Elephant]

I have 2 custom made knives forger by my cousin's father (cousin by marriage). Nice job!

 

[Boone]

Good Lord @stevenaa, you MADE that? That is a beautiful knife - unbelievable you did that on your first attempt. I am very interested in knife making. I watch quite a bit of 'Forged in Fire' but have no idea where to begin. Every hobby I've ever had I have been self-taught, stumbling and bumbling my way to semi-competency. But when it comes to knife making, I wouldn't even know where to start.

I'd be curious to know what your basic steps were in terms of making that beautiful blade?

 

[stevenaa]

Hey Boone. It's as fun as you think it is. Here's the basics. Did a lot of You tube researching and then went at it. I'm happy to go into more depth if you want and have a call if you decide to go for it. I can probably save you some of my mistakes. The next one will go much faster and be more refined.

First I printed out a template I liked from http://dcknives.blogspot.com/p/knife-profiles.html . He's got 6 pages of downloadable templates. Cool guy. Then I stuck it to a piece of 1/4" ply and cut it out. Sanded it to the template. Used that to then mark the shape on the steel. I cut out the blank using an angle grinder with a cut off wheel. Make for very rough work. Then i sanded with belt sander around the edge to bring it up to the layout line from the template. Once I did that I ground the bevels on a belt sander leaving about 1/16" thickness along the blade. Heat treating can damage a very thin edge. I sanded the blade to 400 grit and then heat treated it in a little forge I made. Uses Propane and a a MAPs gas torch. After hardening, I did two cycles in the oven at 420 degrees. One hour. Cool to about 100 degrees, then a second hour. This takes a little hardness out so it isn't brittle. Then I finished sanding the blade to 1000 grit. Sounds like a lot, but its a satiny finish. You can see 1000 grit sand lines, so it's not a real fine finish. Had a heck of a time figuring out how to sharpen. Since I beveled the top edge, done to cover one of those mistakes , I couldn't hold it in any type of jig. I nearly ruined it before finding a youtube video on how to freehand sharpen it. Now it is razor sharp, along with all the other knives in my possession. The handle is cut out oversized and pinned on then sanded to shape with a Danish oil finish.

 

[Chris]

That is beautiful, stevenaa!

I have three custom handmade cooking knives that I commissioned with Bloodroot Blades. Two well respected knife makers in Georgia. Below is a picture of two of them, the blades were formed from old VW torsion springs.