Knifemaking/Bladesmithing

[Reyin]

Anyone else dabble in making their own knives? I just started a couple months ago and I'm enjoying it so far. At the moment I don't have a lot of the power tools and other things required to start from a piece of metal and a block of wood, but I'm working on that. I can do all the woodworking stuff just fine, it's the metalworking stuff that is going to require some equipment if I want to do it right.

Eventually I'd like to have my own forge so I can make my own Damascus Steel as well as do more accurate heat treating. As it is now, best I can manage is doing my own grinding and fashioning my own handle scales.

Here are my two current knives. Both just need a few finishing touches to the finish on the handle and a buff on the blade.

The first one is Damascus Steel with Burmese Rosewood handle scales and brass pins in the handle:

http://i40.tinypic.com/fw1v9v.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/qrly0p.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/vd0554.jpg

Unfortunately I don't have a great picture taking setup in my room, poor lighting and the camera doesn't like to focus properly. Doesn't really do justice to the wood in the handle or the pattern on the steel; it's looking pretty good so far though.

The second is Damascus Steel with a piece of darker heartwood from a piece of American Walnut for the handle, also with brass pins.

http://i40.tinypic.com/2ai0u8l.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/21jnbl0.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/otevps.jpg

Here's a picture of the both of them together with a penny to give an idea of the size:

http://i41.tinypic.com/2z6fko7.jpg

Eventually like I said, I'd like to be able to do my own heat treating and a bit of my own forging. I'd also like to be able to make some nice folding knives, so far I haven't tried a folding knife yet.

My goal is to be able to at least make knives of the level of the one I carry with me everyday, a Benchmade 690 Elishewitz.

http://i41.tinypic.com/3477cz6.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/2dqr8s4.jpg

[The Savage]

Nice work man! What do you use to grind the edge?

I made a tanto(sp?) looking thing ages ago out of bordem, Used a couple of bit of scrap steel and some dry wood i had laying around for the handle, heated it in a fire and shaped it with a regular hammer and a plate of 1/2" steel for an anvil then put the edge on it with a bench grinder, file and finally a stone......all in all it's a Piece of Shit :D .

[Mantikore]

im a recreational knifemaker. i do it as a hobby and to test my knowledge of what i learn at university. though i must admit i lack any innate craftsmanship.

heres some photos i took last year
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q30/fartx2/SDC10071.jpgthats the beginning of a throwing knife i made. its been shaped, and the edge has yet to be made. the finished version has parts ground off the handle so the centre of mass is in the middle. thats why i drew the cross on it.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q30/fartx2/SDC10088.jpgyou can see the throwing knife here with the edge made, as well as an incomplete knife with a clip point. Heat treatment follows this stage, then attachment of the guard and handle.

i may post the finished pics when my sister gives me back my camera :mad:

as for tools, i dont have a bench or belt grinder, but i use an angle grinder for shaping. I prefer a file for the edge though. it may be slower, but its more precise. i pretty much use simple trigonometry from school to calculate where i need to grind to get the desired angle on the edge. though for some reason, my calculations state that my angle is too small (about 14 degrees), which seems to be a bit too sharp. but it doesnt seem to look too sharp when i look at it

i also lack a powerful furnace, so heat treatment is difficult, though i have modified an old gas barbeque. that is powerful enough to get it to the required temperature for heat treatment

ive tried a few different handle materials: wood, polymer, nylon cord and rubber (from rubber bands:)). They all have their advantages i guess.


also, i made a crappy, non sharpened balisong from scrap over a weekend last year. it actually flips pretty well, but the blade is kind of loose
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q30/fartx2/SDC10126.jpghttp://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q30/fartx2/SDC10124.jpghttp://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q30/fartx2/SDC10125.jpg

[Reyin]

I have an old 6" bench grinder my grandfather gave me. The only problem I have with most bench grinders is they leave a hollow grind on the metal instead of a flat grind, which is why a good set of files can be really important. I'd like to eventually get a good wet-stone slow speed grinder, the like blade sharpener Makita makes.
http://www.northerntool.com/images/product/images/999621_lg.jpg

[ArmsMerchant]

All I can add is, you guys rock.

I just sell'em--can't even sharpen one, much less fabricate one.

[1983]

Nice blades you got there.

If someone's willing to send these to a place for others to download em or something I can pass em over msn... I'd do it myself But my motherboard blew on my good comp and I'm stuck on my POS backup so I only have the files on my external that I can send... basically anything more than msn or the net and my comp freezes.:mad:

Anyways I have the following:
The Tactical Folding Knife-Bob Terzuola
Absolute Cheapskate Way to Start Making Knives - Scott Jones
Basic Blacksmithing - Local materials
Don Paul - Everbodys Knife Bible
Experiments on Knife Sharpening - John Verhoeven
How_To_Build_A_Knife
Knife Sharpening
KnifeMaking101text
Making Folding Knives By Harold Hoffman (Action Book Publishers)
Metallurgy of Steel for Bladesmiths & Others who Heat Treat and Forge Steel - By John D. Verhoeven (2005)
Step-by-Step Knifemaking- David Boye
THE ADVANCE KNIFE MAKERS MANUAL - Harold Hoffman
The Complete Bladesmith-Forging Your Way to Perfection-Jim Hrisoulas-PDF
The Modern Blacksmith - Alexander G. Weygers

And a few others kicking around besides that... gotta look em up.
All together you're looking at around 400MB of PDF's.

PM me, Then once you do what you gotta do post the link here for others.

Al

[Groundhog whacka]

Are you interested in selling the first one. It looks like it would make a nice gutting/skinning knife. I have been kicking around the idea of getting a fixed blade hunting knife, and thats about the profile and size I would want.

[Reyin]

Yea I linked someone to the cheapskate way to make a knife in another thread, also I see you're from Kingston. I dated a girl that went to Queen's Uni for a while. Interesting city.

[1983]

It's got it's ups and downs like any place but the queens homecoming... It's a good time to be around is all I can say. :D

Al