Knife Making

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So recently I've decide to take up a new hobby being as were kinda slow in the cabinetmaking buisness right now. Thought I'd put this out there to get some feedback. I'm going to start making pinecone, micarta, and other different medium knives but this one is bamboo on a 440c 10" fillet blank. Good and bad comments welcome, trying to get a feel for what kind of market there may be for these. The blade was a sample I received to check quality, the etchings were done by the company I got the blank from I'm guessing they were using it as a sample as well.

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Sorry cant figure out how to make them small enough to post all in one.

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and one more look.

[lew]

Very impressive work !!

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Thanks Lew..like I said this is my very first one and I believe it turned out pretty darn good. Getting orders from my fishing buddies already!!

[aplumma]

very nice well done. Don't be afraid to alter the tang of the blade the ability to shape the handle to fit your hand makes the knife worth its weight in gold. I add finger reliefs and thumb indents to make it feel like an extension of your hand.

 

 

 

Art

[Steelheadphycho]

Very nice work!

 

I have several friends that make knives. They sometimes call on me to do some of their machine work.

 

I think it would be a great and lucrative hobby.

[FloatnFly]

nice work on your first one, i like the handle design. your work will only get better with practice

 

 

 

 

very nice well done. Don't be afraid to alter the tang of the blade the ability to shape the handle to fit your hand makes the knife worth its weight in gold. I add finger reliefs and thumb indents to make it feel like an extension of your hand.

 

 

 

Art

 

i disagree with the indents and finger slots, they work if you use the exact same grip all the time, they get annoying if you have to change your grip, from personal experience, the more you use the knife, the more accustomed you are to the feel on the handle

[Handlebarz]

Looks nice

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Thanks all for the kind words and advice. This knife has yet to be polished and completed. I just got excited with how well it turned out. A few turns on the buffer with some beeswax and this little beauty should shine!!

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Here's 2 more I made this week. There both mini capers. One in micarta one we've taken to calling it Nemo.

[aplumma]

Very nice the micarta lam's make for some very nice features in the handles. The silver black is the nicest in MHO the browns and rainbow were flat on one and to loud on the other. Nemo is a nice pleasing pattern wish I had though of it.

 

 

 

Art

[Big Cliff]

So, probably a stupid question but when you are making these knives do you just buy blade blanks? We use to make a lot of our own knives when I was younger but we would get things like a saw blade then design and cut out of that. These look like they are perhaps a pre made blank.

[gaspumper]

By the looks of it he is just making handles and assembling them on pre bought blades.Nice knife either way.

[aplumma]

Cliff you can get them as blade stock or as a preground blade. The blade stock can be as rough as bar stock or as rough cut. Both of then are workable but you need some special machine tools such as a high speed belt grinder and a milling machine to start. Then a polisher and an angle mill to get it to resemble a blade. The heating and tempering of the blade uses a kilm to basic blacksmith tools. All in all unless you are making high end custom knifes not worth the capitol investment. The blade companies have ground/ tempered blades now a days for almost any shape and size. I pull blades from 4 or 5 suppliers that range from $15.00 to $400.00 per blade depending on material, tempering process, shape and size. Most of the time you will have between 3 - 12 hours in a knife depending on the fit and finish you want. Some of the materials used for handles are tricky to work with and are labor intensive to get a nice finished product.

 

 

Art

[Big Cliff]

Thanks Art, that explains a lot. I guess I am really old school. It seemes that it is more about the handle today! For me, it was more about the usability and function of the knife. How well does it hold an edge, is the shape of the blade condusive to the application, too sharp won't stay sharp against bones, too much angle won't slice clean. Interesting how priorities seem to have changed.

[aplumma]

Cliff the science of building knifes is lost on a lot of people and it is tough to show them why a knife is worth more than another knife that looks the same. The right metal on a knife makes the different on what it is worth. Some see a knife stamped 440C and have been told over the years it is the best metal for a knife. Truth is different metals, grinds and spines make one knife excellent for one job and horrible for another. Some of my high end blade makers are using a vg 10 base carbon blade wrapped with either a Titanium wrap or Stainless steel depending on there work enviroment. Once the material and the spine is decided then you can build out the knife to make it fit your hand. Once you have all of that done you then can choose the angle of the edge which depends on what it is going to be use for. A good sharpener is an investment and to do justice to a custom knife you will spend hundreds of dollars on that equipment alone. A decent set of tools and attention to detail are required once you start working with the expensive blades and materials.

 

Some of the nicest blades I have built came from flea markets and garage sales. A few of the beat up and forgotten blades were reground or polished and then stripped. A new handle needs to be formed and pinned. Shaping and finishing is the most time consuming of process with some times only getting 2 or 3 coats of finish a day.

 

 

Art

[Big Cliff]

How does one man hold so much knowledge and expertiese? Art you never fail to amaze me with your vast wealth of knowledge, your generosity, and your ability to answer the most complex questions with such clarity. Thank you!

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I did just buy the blanks and make the handle. Just a hobby for me, those were just my first three. The blades are all 440c, which like aplumma said great for some not for others. Like I said just something I've taken an interest in over the last few weeks.

[aplumma]

I have made many a knife that has put smiles on peoples faces using 440 SS blades. It is not a bad blade it is what 80% of the knifes people use daily are made of. Few people need/can appreciate the precision and the other attributes of the specialty metals blade. In some cases it is like ordering a custom fishing rod to fish for perch. However for the few who want a custom knife that is made for them and fits there hand and style of use it is a joy to own and use. It is hard to explain it in most cases reaches a level of craftsmanship that reaches the level of mechanical artwork.

 

 

Art