I know this has been briefly covered in the passed but I was wondering how many people have made their own knife? I have recently been watching videos and started to tackle one today. I would love to see pictures of your work. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wow. I am definitely not on your level yet. This one is still a work in progress. I milled out some black walnut the other day so I might use that for the scales. How do you get your full flat grind? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Here are some knives I have made in the past for forum members.. These are all hand filed from files. Are you using a grinder? Are you annealing the files first or trying to do a cool grind?
I did my best at annealing the file and used the magnet test. Has been fairly easy to grind considering. I have been using an angle grinder for most of the work but it's been tedious trying to keep the steel cool. I am thinking about picking up a small 1 inch x whatever grinder from harbor freight tomorrow. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I would suggest looking at your local Craigslist first and see if you can find an older 1"x42" belt sander. Craftsman and Delta both made them for years with decent motors on them. The newer ones are junk. I usually see them selling for about the same price as the Harbor Freight 1"x30" or up to twice the price depending on which model you find.. These are way better built for the few extra bucks you will spend and will serve you for fine work long after you move into a 2"x42" or 2"x48" sander (assuming you get serious about this). Obviously I can't guarantee you will find one in your area, but it's worth looking first. This is the type I am talking about.. I just remove the larger disk sander from the sander to get it out of the way.. (Google Pic, will take a pic of mine sanders tomorrow to show you what I have. )
To be clear, quite a few very nice blades have been ground on a 1x30 harbor freight grinder, but it won't hurt to start off with a nicer grinder/sander if you can find one..
I've only managed forming a blank from stock so far: I used the Harbor Freight 1x 30, although I wish I had a little more horsepower and a much better work table. Well done on that little clip point!
looking good! I know what you mean about the work table. I will tell you that I have found that the other than profiling the blank, I find the work table on mine to be more of a hinderance. I remove it when I start grinding the blade. I have found for me it is easier to free hand it without using the rest.
Well, mine's less of a beast but one thing I can tell - I do a lot of work on the disk, not the belt, using the table for support sometimes, freehanding otherwise... personal preference, I must clocked many hours on a face grinder with wood before ever trying to work steel. Face grinder, it even sounds metal!
Here's a few of mine I've posted in the forum before but invade you haven't seen them. I make all of mine out of 1095 bar stock. I rough cut the blanks with an angle grinder, then clean it up on a 1x30 and set the bevels by hand with a file (would love a 2x72 grinder for that part). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I happened to have a machinist's square to let me square it to the platen, or I'm not sure if I would have used it at all. I may well find I need to freehand as well, but first I'm going to try to make a jig to help me grind the bevels at a consistent angle.
MTFatboy, I have considered making a jig, and have watched many videos on the subject. I have decided to wait on that. I may make one later, but so far I am enjoying learning to feel the process / angle as I grind.
