Aside from just making knives for fun, I have one particular pocket knife that I really like and would like to make a copy of.

Anyways, how hard is it to make a knife using the stock removal method? I have a belt grinder, small belt sander, bench grinder, drill press. My biggest concerns are:

1. tempering issues (would this be moot if using something like Cobalt or Dendretic?)
2. how to hold a uniform angle for the bevel and sharpening (I talked to a local knife maker once and he mentioned something about a device he has the holds the blade at a fixed angle while he grinds)

I have a couple of knives made from saw mill blades from a local guy. they are great for sharpness. He said that because of the way this steel is it doesn't have to be tempered after shaping, does that sound right? should I try that out?

Thanks guys.

Red

Your biggest hurdle will be holding a consistant angle of your plunge cut (the actual hollow grind cut) from one side to the other. That will take practice, and will produce a lot of heartache and sweat. I would very much suggest hooking up with an established knifemaker in your area and begging for a little one on one instruction. Knifemakers, including me) DO NOT like to work and carry on conversations with others, or have folks hanging around like buzzards. This is not because we hate company, but because all our machinery has the potential to injure us, or bystanders, or screw up a piece we have a ton of time in, IF we are not concentrating 100% on the task at hand. Nothing personal. So if you decide to ask, be sure allow him to do his work with a minimum of distraction.

Tempering issues, saw mill blades. I think you would be headed in the right direction to learn with the carbon steel as opposed to stainless. Less $, easier to heat treat and temper. Heat treat usually involves heating in a furnace or with a torch to "non-magnetic" and quenching in one of many types of oil. There is a science to this and you need to read up on it and observe it being done...too much to answer in one reply.
One trick: practice with sticks of wood before you move to steel on your grinders. no kidding. Cut em out to the shape of your blade and then practice your plunge cuts, check for symmatry, etc. When you screw the wood blade up, and you will, then you have not lost anything. It will enable you to see how the process flows and will let you make your mistakes and learn from them.

Best of luck

Once you are done with wood, go to O1, cheap -grinds easy. As for sawmill blades, usually L6 sometimes 15N20 though the latter is more often bandsaw blades. I use it in my damascus with 1084 or 1095 for pattern contrast. Both do require heat treat and temper upon finishing your blade. Both to a lesser extent than D2 (a very popular and fantastic blade steel) harden from grinding heat and cooling to one extent or another depending on how how you get the blade with the grinder, many I know gring with thin gloves or no gloves to feel the heat in the blade and cool it often to avoid this. I am not a blade guide fan, I find as do many other that eventually you look at them as a hinderance, sounds great and they do work on small blades. A hollow grind is a fine slicer grind, I have found for a GP knife a flat grind is tougher and cuts a finely as a man could want when properly executed. Particularly with damascus the flar grind is prone to much less warpage during differential heat treating- hardened edge soft spine. It's an awful lot of fun, well after the frustration of ruining a few is past

If you can manage not to get the steel so hot that it looses it's temper, and you never take off more than you planned on, it's pretty easy.

Personally I've found the biggest problem with beginners (self included) in any stock removal form is going too slow on the first 95% of the removal, getting frustrated, and using the speed removal that should have been used early on and ending up at 105%.

Just rememember removing a high spot is easy, it's the low spots that take all the work

Red

If I could make a suggestion, invest in the video entitled "The Loveless Legend, How to make Custom Knives" by R. W. Loveless and Jim Merritt.

I have watched that video countless times and everytime I watch it I learn something knew. it really is a complete course on the stock removal method of knifemaking.

Good point the finer the belt the more heat generated during grinding. You may as well learn to grind this way as even if you forge, you'll still need to grind. It is also very important to use a sharp belt to put the edge grind in. A worn belt will allow you to "wallow" along the grind line flat or hollow. Worn belt are great for profile grinding, rough handle shaping and such. Don't be so miserly with new belts you ruin blades trying to save a buck or two.

As for heat treat, there are many different ways to do it and it depends on what steel you are using. Oil quench steels are the easiest to self treat O1, 1095, 1084 for example. Stainless steels require solution treating at high temp for extended periods, thus an oven or commercial heat treat. Here again O1 is where to start. Here again you will ruin a few.

I bought a couple of belts for my grinder, not with making knives in mind but for sharpening things, my axes were what I was thinking. I got some 400 grit belts that have a pyramid shaped form to them that are SUPPOSED to break off into more pyramids as they are used, staying sharper longer. anybody ever give these a try?

thanks for all the advice and the video tip. I'll put it on my list (for my wife) of things I would like to get for gifts. if she doesn't get it for me soon I'll just order it myself!

thanks again guys

Red

Hey Dago,

The Loveless tape, while good, is not how conventional stock removal guys grind their blades....weird to say the least, but his name is Loveless and mine is not. ie: I won't ever be any greater than a pimple on his butt.

I would get an assortment of grits in the belts. I hog off the blade with 60 grit, down to 120 grit. On to 220, 400 and then 600..then polish. Yep, the finer the grit, the more likelyhood you will burn the steel. By the time you get down to 220, you are "polishing" as opposed to removing metal anyway, so take it easy on the blade once you get to 220 grit.

Dago, check out this tutorial over at ar15.


http://ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=6&f=4

Helped me out alot!

I have made several large bowie style knifes from wood chipper blades. By this method not that hard but time comsuming. I would say 15 to 20 hrs each to get a decent shape and blade.

The biggest trick is to make sure you do not over heat the blade when grinding.

If one has the time one hand to do it. It can be fun and you can end up with a nice knife out of it.

Personaly with the hourly wage I am making now I can buy some of best knifes out there for half the time it takes me to make one.

Even at 10 dollars a hr one can buy a heck of knife for 150 to 200 dollars. If one could work the over time ar time and a half you can buy very nice knifes and have money left over.

Always remember that you can ALWAYS take material more off but you can't put it back on.