Working my first piece of steel.

[maclean]

My first steel order arrived from Admiral yesterday - two pieces of 154 CM in 3/16" x 2" x 18". I laid out my designs this morning and started cutting them out. I figured small drill holes would speed things up (cutting hole to hole) since I don't have a bandsaw.... 5 hacksaw blades and two broken bits later I have one of three pieces cut out. There's GOT to be an easier way. I know I need a bandsaw but it's not in the budget this month.

Any reason a jigsaw wouldn't work for the basic cut-out - AND be easier on the hands? These first few knives are definitely going to be educational... if they don't kill me first . Thanks for any advice.

Jack

[SVanderkolff]

Welcome to the wonderful world of knife making. I started the same way and no a jigsaw really doesn't work either. If you have a dremel you can use those little so called heavy duty cut off wheels. I eventually ended up getting a 1/4 horse electric motor and putting it on a stand, then attaching one of those 3 1/2" cutoff wheels to it. I could not get exectly on tht lines but I ended up getting much closer. YOu might be able to do the same thing with a bench grinder but I haven't tried that. I got my motors at an auction sale. A pail full of 5 motors for $5. I used that cutoff wheel fo a number of years until I finally got smart and got a metal bandsaw, by the way you will probably see a bunch of threads on metal bandsaws if you use the search button, they are actually far less expensive than you would expect. Enough of my rambling.
Have fun.
Steve

[Fsawyer]

Originally posted by maclean
My first steel order arrived from Admiral yesterday - two pieces of 154 CM in 3/16" x 2" x 18". I laid out my designs this morning and started cutting them out. I figured small drill holes would speed things up (cutting hole to hole) since I don't have a bandsaw.... 5 hacksaw blades and two broken bits later I have one of three pieces cut out. There's GOT to be an easier way. I know I need a bandsaw but it's not in the budget this month.

Any reason a jigsaw wouldn't work for the basic cut-out - AND be easier on the hands? These first few knives are definitely going to be educational... if they don't kill me first . Thanks for any advice.

Jack

I use a bench grinder.. it works great to profile.. no problems.. Just mark out the profile on the steel.. with a scribe.. and then use the bench grinder to grind away everything.. up to the scribe lines.. it takes a little practice to do all the angles.. but it's not that hard.

OH...yes... I use a cutoff saw with a fiber cuttoff blade to cut the steel down to a useable length.

[Osprey Guy]

If your budget is really tight, you can go the way I did before I finally got my 64 1/2" horizontal/vertical bandsaw...I went through the same thing myself...As Steve says, the Dremel is possible but man does it ever take a long time!

At the time, I thoroughly checked out all the possibilities and the cheapest, easiest way I found was the following: For around $25 bucks you can pick up a cheap 4" angle grinder from a place like Home Depot or Sears. That'll cut through the steel pretty quick with the right wheel.

A somewhat more expensive way is either a reciprocating saw (like a Sawzall), or much better still, a portable bandsaw (many guys still use these, prefering their compact size and portability to the bandsaw and it's sizeable footprint). If you keep an eye on the store sales, you can get a pretty good price...sometimes under $100.

I opted for the angle grinder, and when I was ready, sprung for the $170 and got the bandsaw (for that price at most of the on-line catalog stores...They're virtually all selling their version of the same exact bandsaw, but Harbor Freight puts in the most powerful motor at 1 HP).
FYI- Looking back, I should have gone for the bandsaw right away...but I had to find out in my own time...in my own way.

Good luck!


Dennis Greenbaum

Yeah Baby!

[maclean]

Thanks for the replies guys, maybe next month I'll look harder at bandsaws. I saw a couple bench models at HF and Grizzly that look to be in my price range.

Dennis, do you have a link to the portable bandsaws? I've never heard of them before but I really like that idea as space is at a premium too.

I'm getting two knives out of my first bar with about 4" left over for a future folder. That's a little better than I expected - when I scrap these at least I'll still have that second bar to work with.

Once I load up on coffee this morning I'll hit Home Depot and see what they've got in the way of grinding wheels (and resupply my hacksaw blades). I remember seeing a steel dremel slitter blade the other day, anybody try those yet? Seems like they "should" last long than those fiberglass wheels. Guess I'll stock up on everything and see what works best.

Next month was suppose to be my main grinder purchase (cheapy) but unless I find a better way to do cut-outs it looks like that'll get put off in favor of a bandsaw.

Thanks again for all your help guys. At the very least I'm finding out what doesn't work and if I ever get these first knives done they'll mean alot more to me than I thought.

Jack

[SVanderkolff]

Jack
I put off for years getting the 64 1/2" metal bandsaw and after I finally got one I was kicking myself. Probably the most time and cost saving piece of equipment I have, I don't have a good 72" grinder yet.
Steve

[maclean]

Well I got the cuts done... FINALLY! I ended up getting a basic Black and Decker rotary tool (10,000 to 30,000 rpms and a more ergonomic grip than the higher priced Dremel). That'll work for me until I can spring for a bandsaw. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Next problem: I'm considering a distal taper for the blade. How prone is this technique to deformation/warping during HT?

My other option is to grind in a false edge along the forward portion of the spine. At this point I'm still debating which method to use. FWIW, the knife in question is roughly a 4" blade, 9" OAL Wharncliff made with that 3/16" 154CM. If all goes well ( ) this will be my fishing knife so I'm looking to make a good slicer - high impact isn't really a concern. HT will be sent out to one of the professionals, more than likely TKS.

Any suggestions as to which approach would be less problematic will be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys,

Jack

[SVanderkolff]

Jack
Trying to do a distal taper and a wharncliffe for your first blade is really ambitious. Sounds like you like a challenge. I would strongly suggest you get yourself a couple of pieces of wood that you can cut to the same profile as your knife. Practice grinding them first, this will save you a lot of grustration and show you how to do the grinds without wasting all the effort you put into cutting your steel.
Steve

[maclean]

Thanks Stephen, I actually hadn't thought of that. Sounds like a great idea, I'll do that and probably just go with the false edge to reduce frustration until I've got more experience. I'm dealing with enough design difficulty as is - this also has an integral ring guard. It's actually starting to look like a knife at this point so I can at least keep myself motivated.

I think the only problem I DIDN'T design into this was a fully fileworked spine (sorry Dennis). Overall, I'm pleased with the progress I'm making although it's slow just because of the limited time I have to work on it.

Jack