Thread: Making knives

So a few of you may have noticed I am pretty keen on knives, I think on this forum I am not alone there, anyways after buying and selling a few over the years I have noticed that I have not managed to find a knife that quite ticks all the boxes, so I started to visit a few custom makers sites, even had a few made, again I was getting close but still not quite there, the fact is there are a lot of designs that I wanted to try out but quickly realised that I was going to need another mortgage to get what I wanted.

Custom knives are expensive, and rightly so, even if the material for a knife is reasonable the amount of time one outs into getting the result that you are happy with is phenomenal, at least it takes me a long time, mind you I am just an beginner.

So I decided to have a go at making my own knife, armed with more enthusiasm than skill or tools I set to work: first I make a paper drawing, if that seems ok, I make a wooden version to see how it feels in the hand, I play with that until it feels right then I get a piece of steel and trace the design onto that:

Attachment 59879

Next I chop out the design, a metal bandsaw would be good, a hacksaw proved way too hard, so I opted for an angle grinder:

Attachment 59880

Then I file it to shape and put an edge on it - this takes (me ) days, next I sand it, I start at about 150 grit and go to 1200 grit to get a mirror polish and remove any blemishes:



Well all this takes time and I figured there had to be a quicker way, turns out there is, you can either get a forge, or a 2 x 72 inch belt sander, the forge was too pricey and so was the sander, they are not made in New Zealand and they are heavy so while one day I may get one shipped at the moment that was out of the question...so, being a kiwi lad, I built one:



Now it aint perfect, not even close, its cobbled to gather from some wood, a few metal rods and bearings and an old (very old) motor I got on trade me, but it works and it was a game changer, while it still takes a long time to grind out a shape (being careful to keep the steel cool), it now takes hours not days to get and edge on a blade, still take a lot of work to finish a knife but this makes it a lot faster.

Anyway I got to test a few shapes myself, which was the goal really, then a mate asked if I could make him a kitchen knife, then another one did, and a sheath knife and before I knew it I was making knives, some of which the members here have bought, some of which a few of you have been nice enough to test for me, and a few of you who are knife makers have given me advice, which I am very grateful for.

Now I need a some more equipment, next on my list is a drill press and an arbor press, because as well as making knives I make leather sheaths (not as nice as HGD), and have just decided to give kydex a go as well. I have found a drill press I want to buy but if anyone has an old arbor press lying around that they want to sell or trade for a knife or a sheath please let me know.

On the making point I am happy to make knives for people if they want: I am not fast and I am limited in what I do: at the moment I only use O1 tool steel, I only do full tang, I use wood and micarta, G10 liners and vulcanised rubber for handles, I use stainless and brass (sometimes copper) pins, and I get my heat treatment done off site at a place that uses a vacuum furnace (this is not cheap but they are very good), and once done my knives come out a 59 C rockwell (although I can get this changed if needed) because I feel this is the best blend of edge holding combined with the ability to field sharpen.
My handle material is untreated wood, so it will move with humidity and needs to be oiled for longevity, of course micarta is impervious to everything.
Finally if you get one of my knives and are not happy with it then, as long as you have not abused it, then you can return the knife for a full refund.

I also have a few of my early knives for sale:



This one is a small (16.5 cm overall length, 8 cm handle) three fingered utility knife but it has a deep choil to let you grip it properly in a choked up grip if needed, it is made from 4 mm tool steel and I have left the heat treatment marks on the blade, but not on the edge, as it protects it from rust, this is easy removed with some 1200 grit sandpaper though if you do not like the look, it has a deep scandi grind that is monobeveled and comes sharp!
It has a brass corby bolt and a stainless wrist thong tube and is dressed in kwila scales (unlined). I am selling it cheap for a couple of reasons: it was used a shop knife for a while to cut rope and leather, and to test kwila as a handle material, during this it was dropped a few times and the handle has cracks in it, I have epoxied these up, and reworked the handle to make it smoother; also it has been tested by another user, it has now been cleaned up and is good to go.
It is supplied with a natural tan leather sheath and paracord ties.
$40 plus postage.




This one is very similar to the first, 4 mm tool steel, same size and shape except this has blue liners, a highly sculptured rimu handle, all brass furniture, and a polished blade, the grind is a high saber grind with a small micro bevel, it also comes sharp and has a black leather sheath with paracord ties.
This is an unused blade.
$60 plus postage.




This one is once more 4mm O1 tool steel, but is an American style skinner with an upswept or trailing point design (good for removing the anus) in a bird and trout size (21 cm overall with the blade being just over 10 cm and the handle being just under 11 cm), but will do deer just as well. It has stainless loveless bolts on an ash handle with black vulcanised rubber liners.
The back of the blade is partially sharpened to enable jointing without blunting your main blade, it has jumping on the back for thumb placement and a deep choil at the front to place your front finger to give you extra control, it has a saber grind with a secondary micro bevel, and is also sharp.
This has been tested and came back with the comment that the handle was a little chunky, since then I have thinned and smoothed this down a little, it also has slight black ring around one of the bolts, this is purely cosmetic and does not affect the performance at all.
It comes in a green and black leather sheath.
$100 plus postage.

I have more knives that I am making at the moment and more steel for making knives if anyone has a knife they want made, your design or mine.

Shelley

Well done mate, at least youve 'dipped your toe in' so to speak....ive thought about it but im too busy.....

good job don't forget it doesn't matter if the steel gets hot before heat treat its only after its a problem
cheers john

what is an arbor press? what is it used for? nice knives, well done.

Big progress.

I lost your courier bag. PM me your address.

Ta

An arbor press is machine (non powered) that lets you apply leverage pressure straight down, they usually start at half ton and go up from there, I want to get one to set rivets in kydex and leather sheaths, they are not super pricey, just thought if someone had got one and did not use it anymore then I would be happy to snag it!

just use a hammer mirror polish the face

Looks like a job well done.K

Fruit knife

OK I do not have an arbor press but I do have a spare brake/clutch rivit machine here, it is foot operated but does not have tooling for rivits, if you want it you can have it. It is in Taupo and you will need to pick it up.
Greg

Hey Greg, that may be perfect, or it may be overkill, just how big is it? Do you have a picture, it would need to fit into the back of my station wagon?
Shelley 021727546 if you could send me a cell pic?

Cheers

just sent a pm

why do you need an arbor press for making knives/sheaths?

ever checked out atlantacutlery.com for blanks and parts ?

Originally Posted by scoped

why do you need an arbor press for making knives/sheaths?

When you make kydex sheath you need something to hold the kydex together once it's shaped, usually you place a minimum of six rivets (or eyelets as we call them) in, this allows the kydex to stay tight for knife retention as well as to give you something to tie the sheath onto a pack or attach a belt hanger, like a tec-loc to it.
You can put the eyelets in by banging them with a hammer, but if you bugger one up you then have to get them out without mucking up the sheath, which is tricky, an arbor press lets you hold everything nice and steady and just apply steady pressure to fold the eyelets into place, I have heard you can also use a vice, but this can damage the dies you use to fold the eyelets.