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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 10-21-2009, 09:38 AM
maganinooo maganinooo is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 5
NewB! need help starting

hey guys
i am new to knife making, have been checking books and some videos
the thing is after seeing so many ways iam more confused than before!
like for example to to cut out the shape of a blade i can use a band saw or drill holes with drill press outlining the shape and cut through, which is relatively better?

i can spend $500 upto $1000 tho not very likely to go that high as a start, i wont do any forging, will just buy ready made steel and shape it, and no worries about handle either. so all i want to know mainly are the things i need to make the blade

space is bit of issue of now but not long lasting one

so any advise on what i should start with? including the steel type


PS: the specs are very important since i am new and i dont live in the US so i will looking by properties not makes for example (ie , Horse pwer , 1 or 3 phase, etc.)

thanks
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  #2  
Old 10-21-2009, 03:41 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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It would help if we knew what country you were located in. There's a world of difference between the UK and Bangladesh. You don't need high priced power tools to get started. You can rough out your knife blank with an angle grinder and refine the contours with hand files. You can also grind your bevels with files. The principles are the same as using a belt grinder just the tools are different. You will deffinantly build up some arm and shoulder musles doing it that way but many a knife maker has started out that way. Depending on where you are at, you might even find a service that will cut your blanks for you for a reasonable fee. A hand power drill can cut your tang holes for you, and with care, it can drill tang holes in a block of wood to take a stick tang.

You don't even need a forge for heat treating. Unless you want to make some really large blades, you can heat the blades to non-magnetic (austinize) with a propane or acetalyne torch. Of course, some of the more complex steels may require a heat treater until you can get a temperature controled oven. With the simpler steels you can temper in a kitchen or toaster oven. Quench tanks can be easy to build or a ready made product, like a deep kettle, can be used.

Doug Lester


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  #3  
Old 10-21-2009, 05:47 PM
Ed Tipton Ed Tipton is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 352
Maganinooo,
Welcome to the group. Your statement that you have 500-1000 suggests that you are serious about making knives. As has already been said, you can start with a bare minimum of equipment, but such an approach will likely result in a less than acceptable attempt, and could ultimately cause you to quit a great hobby before you even get started. My suggestion is to start by purchasing several pieces of some good high carbon steel (1080) so that you KNOW what you're working with, and then some good choices for power tools would be a 1" x 42" belt grinder, a 4 1/2" angle grinder, and several belts and discs for both tools. As assortment of files can help with the finer details. If you are not going to forge, then you might want to consider a bandsaw or maybe a reciprocating type of jig saw or sabre saw to help you cut out the basic shape. Heat treating of simple high carbon steel is as easy as it gets, but for a beginner, even that can be challenging, and even more so if you are using "mystery metal" which is why I suggest buying a known steel. Paying someone else to heat treat your work can be expensive, and if you research enough, it is something you can do for yourself. Your money can be spent very quickly, but by being careful and knowing what you need, you can help yourself. Resist the temptation to buy things that you really do not need, and spend your money getting those things that will help you be more successful. You can add to your tool inventory as your bankroll permits, and your needs become obvious. Experience will tell you where you need to spend your cash.
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  #4  
Old 10-21-2009, 06:35 PM
maganinooo maganinooo is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 5
@ Doug
thanks, i live in Egypt, we do have power and hand tools here, but making knives in workshops isnt that common, specially with current political state just talking casually about making knives gets me all sorts of weird looks!

also here when i first started asking metals and bits i needed, they basicly ask, is it "iron" or "steel" and thats it! which doesnt give me much info, altho there is a place specially for metal supply i have yet to venture there.

i started out in my apartment lightly, got damascus billets, got cheap drill and grinder, but of course as newbie i ruined the drill bit, did about 3 holes and it got blunt( i know now i need to cool it to stop the steel from hardening, but how ? stop and poor oil ?)

anyway, i can use the option that some workshop shapes the blade for me at first, but thats big part of the fun and could cause useless trouble u know ?
i already have bunch of files, the drill and grinder as main tools, but it wasnt "efficient" i mean using the stone grinder to shape the blade and specially create the edge isnt easy att alll, i can go at it for hours if it would get done, eventually i ruined the billet too so now looking for cheaper types of steel to practice on

as for the heat treatment i think i can get someone to do it for me as a start, until i get a special place for that

@Ed
yup i am very serious, i have been in love with edged weapons since i was 4!
started buying knives which i very much loved, then trading on small scale which i loved even more, and i think the ultimate level is creating my own which is the final step
i asked knife manufacturer i deal with in pakistan, and the equpemnt i need to open a great workshop even commercial level in my country would require around $2000 machines, and setting up, and so on. but i dont want that just yet i wanna start bit slower.

so about the hand or power tools, any speifications ? like for example for the motor (here there is know read made belt sander as far as i know, it is custom made, or motor with some addictions) one told me i would need a max of 2HP and it should be 3 phase, so for the other tools any specific requirements beside the ones u already told me ?

yeah i am worried about the steel thing since here they arent that specific as far as i know also, i am still gradually sinking in this as a serious start but will keep u updated

and yeah Ed thats exactly what i need, the bare bone requirements, dont wanna get something i dont NEED at first, and dont wanna leave behind ones that need either!

i guess whats left now is deciding to get the power or hand tools, based on space and finances.
any thing else i should know?

man i talk alot... just when it comes to knives and swords i get BIT excited :P

thanks again
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  #5  
Old 10-22-2009, 08:32 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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First of all, don't get hung up on power. Almost any power tool in my shop has a 1 hp or lower motor. More power generally means that whatever job that tool does just gets done faster. For manufacturing knives you need lots of power, for knife making - even full time as I do it - power isn't everything.

And forget 3-phase unless your house/apartment/shop is already wired for it. If you have access to 3-phase variable speed controllers and motors then fine but if not your motors should be able to run on whatever power is commonly found in Egypt. If you asked all of the 3,000+ knife makers in the USA if they owned even one piece of 3-phase equipment probably 90% or more would have to say 'no'.

Grinding on stone wheels is a dead end. I've only known one guy who had any serious luck with that. Find out what size sanding belts you can get, preferably something 2" wide, and buy or build a grinder to fit them.

It will be difficult to use scrap steel like truck springs if you don't have a heat source. When you can build a small forge you can anneal such steel and make it possible to cut and grind it into blades. If you can buy steel, that's always better, but you probably won't be able to get the steels we use very easily. You'll probably need to buy Japanese or European blade steels. You can find sources for them on the foreign knife forums like Brittish Blades.

You may want to buy some of your other tools like drill bits from those sources as well. Sounds like the drills you have now may not be very good ones ....


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  #6  
Old 10-22-2009, 09:25 PM
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Andrew Garrett Andrew Garrett is offline
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I do the bulk of my cut out with a 4 1/2" angle grinder fitted with a cheap cut-off wheel. Then I just grind off what's left with a 60 grit belt.

Bandsaw blades are too expensive and delicate for me, and hand sawing is just for the birds (though I will do a bit if I need to).


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