Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Tried my hand at knife making.

I'm planning on fully retiring later this year after working two days a week for the last five years. I guess my wife thought I needed another hobby and she enrolled me in a beginner knife making class at the local Vo-Tech. I went to the first class and seen it was nothing but putting a handle on a blade they furnished and I did not go back after the 1st night.

It did get my interest though and I watched some Youtube videos and made these in my shop. The bottom is my version of a bird and trout, the middle a small hunter and the top a large hunter. Maybe I should of stayed in the class because putting on the scales has been my biggest problem.

Cool!

What'd you use for blade steel?

I used 80 CRV2 and 1084.

Good work man. I started playing around with it last winter but due to life getting in the way I had stopped for a while. Now that I have some time I’m finishing up some blades I had ground out last year. Gives me some garage time away from the kids!

How thin did you get the edge before sharpening? Most leave them too thick to start off. If you can get it down to .010 before sharpening. If you need help you can call.

Looks like a good start to me. I've seen a lot of first knives that weren't nearly that good.

Mike,

I didn't check thickness behind the edge but I took it down fairly thin. I was comparing it to my other knives with eyeballing it. I know that not very accurate but they were fairly easy to sharpen with a Lansky System.

I built a small forge but if I decide to do more I may be calling for a small forge recommendation. I did buy 16 feet of steel.

Ptarmigan,
I think it could get addictive, but it is time consuming.

Mathsr
Thanks for the kind words. They were not my 1st to build. The 1st one it started out as a 3.5 inch hunter but I kept burning the tip off till it was to short and I turned it into a shorter knife I keep in my tackle room to cut line and such.

A couple of rules about knife making,,,You don't have to tell everything and never let anyone look in your trash/discard can. It's nobody's business what you were willing to try that didn't work out exactly as you planned. Many small knives, especially daggers, start out as bigger knives.

Knife making is very habit forming and there are many people that are more than willing to see that you get hooked. Ask questions! There are some good makers that are hanging out on this forum, but if you want to know, you have to ask the question. Private messages work good too if you want more detailed responses. Go for it, you won't be sorry!

It is time consuming, but I like it because I can head to the garage and mess with it for a couple of hours every night. I have no schedule or deadline to meet, so there’s no pressure to get anything done. I find grinding the blade to be the most relaxing part. Mask and hearing protection on, it’s like I’m in another world for a bit. Kinda therapeutic really. When your done you have something that you can use. Don’t get hung up on the minor details at first, there’s a learning curve (which I’m on) and it’s fun to learn a new skill.

I agree but in my case I hate the grinding. The forging is the highlight for me.

Maybe hate is too strong a word, but certainly not my favorite part of the process.

I enjoy the grinding but don't enjoy shaping the scales as much. I guess that is why I have five more blades ground waiting for handles. It is time consuming but I have enjoyed working on them for the last couple of weeks.

Attaching and shaping the scales is the biggest PIA for me. I like cutting out, shaping, heat treating, and grinding. Sanding the blades can be a real chore when you have some scratches that just won’t go away. Tomorrow is handle shaping for me. I don’t like it but it’s nice to see a knife take shape.

Mike,
I dug out my micrometer and checked the other blades I had not sharpened yet and they measured 0.014 to 0.020 . Guess I need to start checking them before I sharpen. Thanks for that info.

Ron that is good but the bad ass boys like that thinner than thou ones.

My wife wanted me to make her a knife for the kitchen. I showed her some patterns and she picked out this one and then ordered the scales she wanted off Amazon. I thought it turned out pretty good and she was happy. I do need to start measuring where I put the pins instead of just eyeballing it.

RNF there is nothing wrong with that one

Pretty sweet knives.
I think this would make a fun hobby.