Thread: Making knives

Hi Shelley, I’m super interested in how you made the belt grinder. I’m young and I just started knife making with the same bench file jig you have. I’ve watched lots of vids on YouTube but they all look like they cost lots of $ and require a lot of tools to make. Also would lov any tips if you still do knife making.

Originally Posted by Jakeo03

Hi Shelley, I’m super interested in how you made the belt grinder. I’m young and I just started knife making with the same bench file jig you have. I’ve watched lots of vids on YouTube but they all look like they cost lots of $ and require a lot of tools to make. Also would lov any tips if you still do knife making.

Yeah, I still make them, the jig is a good way to go, it gives you a lot more control than a belt sander unless you also use a jig for the sander, but the belt sander is way faster.
I made mine after watching a few vids, it’s not that hard, but I will say that probably the most important and cost effective equipment is a drill press and a angle grinder.

Nice start @Shelley

Last night I actually posted some clips on the knife forum made by Neels Pretorius.
Its not the whole DVD but it covers minimum tools, blade design, sharpening, guard construction, sheath work and one or two others.

You can find it here

Yeah @Jakeo03 get cracking with the file jig. Takes a bit of time but you can get some excellent results. 1075 and 1084 steel are your friends if you plan to heat treat yourself. I do mine in a cheap brick forge. Works sweet.

Keep designs simple and practical early on, with a focus on getting a good finish. Sanding the finish is the single most time consuming part.

Also as above, a drill press is pretty damn handy

Thanks for the advice, I’m using 1075 and my mum has an old friend who does lots of his own metal work so he’s happy to show/do the heat treating. Yep I’ve brought lots of wet and dry sand paper because I noticed I will need a lot. Looking to either get a cheap drill press from trademe or get one from mitre10 when I get a job, for the first 2 I’ve already used the hand drill( turned out ok ish)

Originally Posted by Jakeo03

Thanks for the advice, I’m using 1075 and my mum has an old friend who does lots of his own metal work so he’s happy to show/do the heat treating. Yep I’ve brought lots of wet and dry sand paper because I noticed I will need a lot. Looking to either get a cheap drill press from trademe or get one from mitre10 when I get a job, for the first 2 I’ve already used the hand drill( turned out ok ish)

Cool man. Make sure you post up your finished work. Always keen to see people getting stuck in.

I use an el cheapo 1x30 now. It's a bit faster than the file jig but is pretty easy to stuff up a knife. I'll invest in a grinder at some point