Taking the dive into knife making

Steven Long said:
Designing gets easier with each knife finished. One of my favorite parts about knife making now.
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I look forward to it Steven. Thanks for all the advice and help you've given me so far.

Here are the cutouts I did a few minutes ago. V2 looked promising, but wasn't as comfortable as V1. I will try it anyway for comparison when the field testing starts.

I also did two others with different thickness pommel ends, that I am hoping can be threaded with a die. Can't weld yet, so this was what I could think of.
IMG_9481.jpg
 
hi, my toosense.
check out the LB1000 from Wilmont Grinders, he has a forum here. probably best bang for the buck, as i already had a motor was able to get complete unit for less than $1000. you might want to look at making your own disc grinder. i made my own for about $250. i went with an 8" and 6" discs. 8" is used by our brothers who do lapidary and metalurgical work. It is a common size and most abrasive makers make psa discs in that size. again, JMHO
other things i would get
a selection of files
small table saw
basic router and router table
dremel or black/decker rotary tool
wet dry vacuum
as far as steel, if you go to the steel reference in the knife dog forum, you will find a good list of suppliers.
I do a quick search of the auction site that starts with Eba daily looking at tool steel, metals, and lab furnaces. that is how i found some O2.

take a step back and look at what you need to do. if i need to shape a handle, a 7x69 belt sander may be what "WeMakablade" uses, but a 3x21 belt sander with a decent belt will do the same job once you figure out your technique.
if you are using 1084, you can get an acceptable blade heat treating with a charcoal fire, a magnet, and a few gallons of canola oil and tempering in a toaster oven.

You are entering a profession/hobby that has no box or boundaries. From what I have seen, all that matters is the finished product. if the finished product works and looks ok, nobody cares whether you used a name brand KMG & name brand knife heat treat oven or whether you used a file, sandpaper, a charcoal fire, and a lot of sweat.
 
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scott.livesey said:
hi, my toosense.
check out the LB1000 from Wilmont Grinders, he has a forum here. probably best bang for the buck, as i already had a motor was able to get complete unit for less than $1000. you might want to look at making your own disc grinder. i made my own for about $250. i went with an 8" and 6" discs. 8" is used by our brothers who do lapidary and metalurgical work. It is a common size and most abrasive makers make psa discs in that size. again, JMHO
other things i would get
a selection of files
small table saw
basic router and router table
dremel or black/decker rotary tool
wet dry vacuum
as far as steel, if you go to the steel reference in the knife dog forum, you will find a good list of suppliers.
I do a quick search of the auction site that starts with Eba daily looking at tool steel, metals, and lab furnaces. that is how i found some O2.

take a step back and look at what you need to do. if i need to shape a handle, a 7x69 belt sander may be what "WeMakablade" uses, but a 3x21 belt sander with a decent belt will do the same job once you figure out your technique.
if you are using 1084, you can get an acceptable blade heat treating with a charcoal fire, a magnet, and a few gallons of canola oil and tempering in a toaster oven.

You are entering a profession/hobby that has no box or boundaries. From what I have seen, all that matters is the finished product. if the finished product works and looks ok, nobody cares whether you used a name brand KMG & name brand knife heat treat oven or whether you used a file, sandpaper, a charcoal fire, and a lot of sweat.
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Appreciate the advice Scott,

I think if I were to buy another grinder, it would be a dedicated horizontal. Beumont Metal Works makes one I think, but I have yet to see it for sale. My top pick would be the TW90- however it's way out of my price range right now.

As for disk sander, I have settled on one from Wayne Coe- once funds are available at least.

Also working on building up a selection of files, I have a few but not enough variety. I've got a dremel and wet dry vac with an Oneida dust deputy. Looking into a table saw as well.

Thanks again, I'm learning new things every minute it seems. This craft definitely has no boundaries. :biggrin:
 
hi,
for files i would look at sales at your big industrial supply houses like MSC Direct or McMaster/Carr. got a bunch for the office b4 Christmas that were 50% off. table saw and router would be yard sale/thrift store finds. make contact with local machine shop if you have one near by. they may let you dig thru the scrap/drop box where you may find blade steel or metal to build with. again, if you haven't already, check out Wilmont Grinders. you may have to tighten a few nuts and bolts, but good bang for the buck.
 
Got my first blanks roughed out last week from 3/6'' 1084. Hoping to clean them up, drill pin holes, and HT this weekend.
 
Ground out some more blanks today
Top two are a loveless dropoint pattern that I've always admired.


 
Thanks Steven,

My back has been pretty bad lately. Grinding blanks goes by fast, thus why I only have blanks so far, and about the only thing I can get done. haha
I will be out on a fishing trip this week, but hopefully start drilling and beveling these babies when I get back.

I'm sure you guys are getting tired of me updating this thread with knife blanks. :biggrin:
 
Pieced together a small mobile setup for the disk grinder today. Using some scrap wood I had and a shelf mount. I'll piece things together better once I get the chance to swing by home depot.
I purchased the grinder from Wayne Coe, and would like to thank him for the easy transaction. I asked a whole bunch of questions, and he always responded within a few hours.


Short video of the first test run. Please forgive the filthy back ground. It's the only workplace I have until more space is cleared out.
[video=youtube;LsGdc5Pr4b4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsGdc5Pr4b4&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
That's a good looking disc grinder. I need to look into those.

Have you made any progress on those blanks? Would love to see them!
 
LlamaHerder said:
That's a good looking disc grinder. I need to look into those.

Have you made any progress on those blanks? Would love to see them!
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I have not. I seem to pick up too many projects at once. That and I've been having a lot of issues with my back, preventing me from standing too long. Looking to get a shop stool soon.
 
Hey Mud:

My name is Wallace Hammond and I'm about in the same stage of knifemaking as you are. I made a practice knife with an MDF blade but did some real work on the handle. Since that first effort I have been grinding mild steel on my 1 X 30 grinder. I'm wondering about your experience with a 1 X 30. I find it really difficult to control. Even though the belt tracks OK when the machine is on it tends to move around when it is under a little pressure. Also, the motor bogs down with even a little pressure. I'm wondering if I am too heavy handed or if that's just the "nature of the beast". Could you tell me a little about your experiences with it? Looks like I might have to upgrade right away as well. Thanks,

Wallace
 
wmhammond said:
Hey Mud:

My name is Wallace Hammond and I'm about in the same stage of knifemaking as you are. I made a practice knife with an MDF blade but did some real work on the handle. Since that first effort I have been grinding mild steel on my 1 X 30 grinder. I'm wondering about your experience with a 1 X 30. I find it really difficult to control. Even though the belt tracks OK when the machine is on it tends to move around when it is under a little pressure. Also, the motor bogs down with even a little pressure. I'm wondering if I am too heavy handed or if that's just the "nature of the beast". Could you tell me a little about your experiences with it? Looks like I might have to upgrade right away as well. Thanks,

Wallace
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Wallace,

I actually didn't have too many issues with my 1x30. Aside from losing my platen, it wasn't bad. As for moving, I just clamped mines down to the table. Power didn't seem like an issue, it bogged a little but not much. At the time I wasn't grinding out knife blanks though. My biggest issue was usable space.

You don't need a big fancy grinder, I got the KMG just from timing with my tax return and me deciding to give it a real go. Many people out there use a 1x30 and pump out amazing blades, but maybe not as fast as a 2x72. If finances do not permit a bigger grinder, hand tools could be another option. Buy some files and jam a golf ball on the end for a comfy handle.

Maybe post a thread with video footage of your issues, and some of the members here could help?
 
Welp, small update. My back is still in bad shape. On a good note some goodies did come in today.

Disk grinder work rest finally came in: Looks like Beaumont went from Allen bolts to Hex


Also got some 416SS and Brass rods for pins, and 416SS stock for Bolsters/guards
 
wmhammond said:
Hey Mud:

My name is Wallace Hammond and I'm about in the same stage of knifemaking as you are. I made a practice knife with an MDF blade but did some real work on the handle. Since that first effort I have been grinding mild steel on my 1 X 30 grinder. I'm wondering about your experience with a 1 X 30. I find it really difficult to control. Even though the belt tracks OK when the machine is on it tends to move around when it is under a little pressure. Also, the motor bogs down with even a little pressure. I'm wondering if I am too heavy handed or if that's just the "nature of the beast". Could you tell me a little about your experiences with it? Looks like I might have to upgrade right away as well. Thanks,

Wallace
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you could upgrade a little and go to a 4x36 belt sander. the one at sears is usually about $135. tons of belts available, 4x36 is a popular size for lapidary and jewelry work. should help with the moving issue. the one i have will let you know when you are pressing too hard
 
Hello Wallace and welcome to the pack!,
My first and still one of my favorite 2 x 72 belt grinders is two wheel. look at www.cootebeltgrinder.com The king of the two wheel machines. I did have a Sears 2 x 48" and that allowed me to made and sell enough knives to get the coote. A 1 x 30 really isn't big enough to do much except sharpening.
 
Pretty much too hot for me to do anything today. The best I could do was scribe my center lines, hopefully tomorrow is cool enough to get some real work done.
 
Mudman,
Yeah, what's with this heat? We jumped right into late summer weather & temps. You can come by the shop if you like? I've got air conditioning in my shop:biggrin: and pretty ladies walking by and stopping in to talk about a custom Santuko of mine.
From time to time.
 
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