Self Made Knives
Well-Known Member
Well, I've been a part of this hobby now for exactly one year. I first became interested in making a knife back in 1996 when I heard about a local knife making club. I went to one of the club meetings to check it out, but it wasn't a hands on kind of meeting, just in a room at a community building. Ran right out and bought a stick of O1. I did get very interested, but had just got married, had just bought my first house, had just started a new job, etc. The internet wasn't so great back then either, nothing like the info available today, so it just never happened.
Fast forward to 2014. I built a new shop in 2013 and was still unpacking, sorting, and came across that stick of O1 in a box. I realized I had been toting that stick around for close to twenty years. Time to follow through. Hopped on the now 20 yr older internet and got really fired up and in January built a filing jig.
Filed the bevels and profile of my first knife all by hand and was very proud of it (doesn't look so great to me now). Found an old pottery kiln to heat treat it with and tried my hand at home brew Parkerizing.
February through April, decided I didn't like filing bevels, contacted Wayne Coe before I ever heard of this forum, found him through Youtube. Got his plans and built a 2x72 which turned out pretty nice.
April through May, finished grinder and started on knife #2, which I gave to my daughter for her 10th birthday. It was a little better than the first one.
May to June, decided to go back and remake the first knife again, now with the 2x72. In this pic, the one with the handle wrapped was #1 and the naked one was #3. Being new, not paying attention, I accidentally ground a huge gouge in the top edge of the knife while trying to flatten the handle area, hence, the swedge and clipped point.
When I first became interested in knife making back in 1996, it was because I wanted to make my own pocket knife. That was still high on my list, so I tackled that with knife #4 in June to July. Came out pretty good, getting better on grinding too. Also about the time I joined this forum.
August to September, hunting season was coming soon, so I needed to build a hunting knife. I wanted to try stainless, filework, more interesting handle material, etc. Sit down and drew out my design, went to work. Result, my best work so far, by a long shot. This was the first knife I made that I don't see any real flaws in, very happy!
October through December, started using Facebook and selling my Lancer paracord survival knives. I've sold several of them and have orders for about 20 more pending.
Hopefully, 2015 will just get better. I'm getting a lot of requests for hunting knifes. I have a guy who has a knife shop asking about selling my stuff. Another guy who makes hunting videos for Youtube has approached me about a project. I'm not in it for money, I just think this a very rewarding hobby that allows you to recoup your costs by selling your product.
Thanks for all the help guys, it wouldn't be the same without you. Looking forward to this year!
Fast forward to 2014. I built a new shop in 2013 and was still unpacking, sorting, and came across that stick of O1 in a box. I realized I had been toting that stick around for close to twenty years. Time to follow through. Hopped on the now 20 yr older internet and got really fired up and in January built a filing jig.
Filed the bevels and profile of my first knife all by hand and was very proud of it (doesn't look so great to me now). Found an old pottery kiln to heat treat it with and tried my hand at home brew Parkerizing.
February through April, decided I didn't like filing bevels, contacted Wayne Coe before I ever heard of this forum, found him through Youtube. Got his plans and built a 2x72 which turned out pretty nice.
April through May, finished grinder and started on knife #2, which I gave to my daughter for her 10th birthday. It was a little better than the first one.
May to June, decided to go back and remake the first knife again, now with the 2x72. In this pic, the one with the handle wrapped was #1 and the naked one was #3. Being new, not paying attention, I accidentally ground a huge gouge in the top edge of the knife while trying to flatten the handle area, hence, the swedge and clipped point.
When I first became interested in knife making back in 1996, it was because I wanted to make my own pocket knife. That was still high on my list, so I tackled that with knife #4 in June to July. Came out pretty good, getting better on grinding too. Also about the time I joined this forum.
August to September, hunting season was coming soon, so I needed to build a hunting knife. I wanted to try stainless, filework, more interesting handle material, etc. Sit down and drew out my design, went to work. Result, my best work so far, by a long shot. This was the first knife I made that I don't see any real flaws in, very happy!
October through December, started using Facebook and selling my Lancer paracord survival knives. I've sold several of them and have orders for about 20 more pending.
Hopefully, 2015 will just get better. I'm getting a lot of requests for hunting knifes. I have a guy who has a knife shop asking about selling my stuff. Another guy who makes hunting videos for Youtube has approached me about a project. I'm not in it for money, I just think this a very rewarding hobby that allows you to recoup your costs by selling your product.
Thanks for all the help guys, it wouldn't be the same without you. Looking forward to this year!
