Knife Making

[Gwion]

Lots of pics of progress today but the camera ran out of batteries as I was cutting them for editing.

Here is where the knives are up to taken on my phone. Will load other pics later.

These ones just need more coats of finish and and edge grind.

Carving knife. Blackwood shims to tidy up the fit.

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Brisket knife with Blackwood handle cut from an old fence dropper.

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[Mongrel]

Your one talented man

Love your work...

[Gwion]

Thanks mate. You're too kind.

[tom604]

like the incorporated bolster in the second knife, that would off given you some grey hairs to shape and the pale skinner could do double duty as a heavy duty fillet knife she's a big one by the looks of it

[Oldbloke]

Veery nice G, very nice indeed

[Gwion]

Thanks OB!

So, it's apparent that i cant take a photo to save myself at the moment, but the following will give some idea of the process I follow for fitting scales.

First thing i did for the day was fit some blackwood shims to fix the dodgy fit between maple scales and the baulsters on this carving knife.

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While the glue set, i went on fitting the blackwood scales to the brisket knife.

Marking out the black wood billet that is cut from an old fence dropper. Tasmania, the land where premium timber is used to fence in sheep.....

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And this is why i need a band saw. Cutting blackwood for scales is slow by hand but i have also wasted quite a few pieces of antler trying to cut it by hand. Luckily i am friendly with the local deer farmers, so antlers aren't hard to come by.

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Then the front of the scales are shaped as close to finished as possible and the pins are drilled for fit. This is why i need a drill press or mill, because things can and do go annoyingly wrong when doing this bit by hand.

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[Gwion]

con't...

Then the scales are roughed out to a basic outline...

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and glued and pinned.

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while glue (5min epoxy lightly clamped & left in side next to wood stove for post heat) set on the blackwood scales, i finished the maple handle by hand down to 220 grit and gave it a light coat of finish.

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After peining the pins, scales are ground down to fit the handle. Careful not to get too hot & burn the timber or effect the epoxy. Brass heats up very quickly!

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Then the scales are shaped using a combination of belt, disk and hand tools down to 220grit.

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And finally, the scales get their initial 'egg shell' coat of finish... they will probably get about 5 coats before i call it done.

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When both knives are propery completed and edge ground, i will put some proper pretty pics up. You saw the basic idea above.

The weather is again not conducive to swinging a chainsaw for 6hrs, so i will get back in the shed and start fitting baulsters and scales to the remaining two near completed blades.

[tom604]

what do you use to quench? i just use old sump oil i know some use canola oil (new! )

im trying to make a railway spike knife at the moment ive made it a few inches longer but she's still got a fair bit off thickness,like 1/2 an inch!!
so i will have to spend a bit of time on the hammer just to get her close might end up as a short sword

[Gwion]

Been using either peanut oil or water; depending on steel and thickness/size of blade.

Those spikes would take a fair bit of work with the hammer. Just started forging a farriers' rasp, I think it may end up a beast!

[Diesel]

what do you use to quench? i just use old sump oil i know some use canola oil (new! )

im trying to make a railway spike knife at the moment ive made it a few inches longer but she's still got a fair bit off thickness,like 1/2 an inch!!
so i will have to spend a bit of time on the hammer just to get her close might end up as a short sword

Usually very good steel, over the years I have made plenty of cold chisels, knives etc out of them. Hammering out old case hardened timco outer bearing races is a better bet, if you can get big ones. But if all you can do is cold grind then truck springs are your friend.

Proper tempering and hardening is always necessary.

[darwindingo]

Beautiful work Gwion and Tom, Really impressive stuff..



Jeff

[Gwion]

So, I finally got around to taking a better pic. The carving knife has already gone to it's new home.

Over a few beers, whiskys and a lot of bulls@*t, a mate and i drew up what we thought would make a pair of good knives for home meat processing for sheep, pigs, cattle. This is the result.

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And below makes the trio. This one is for skinning and fleshing large hides. I made this one entirely by hand... no machinery... then i bought a belt grinder!

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[Gwion]

And here are a couple of pics of the first knife i ever completed. Made about the same time as the big flayer... also completely hand made: forged, anealed, draw filed and polished on wet & dry paper and water stones.

Tested on a couple of sheep before being finished... held a good edge so i thought it deserved a propper handle and a polish...

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This is how i gave it to a mate who has lent a hand more than a few times around the property... he is also a keen cook and producer of home grown meats.

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[Gwion]

Whipped this one up this arvo out of a failed chopper. Re-ground, heat treated and finished off.

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[Gwion]

All done.

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Balance points.

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[Releb]

I'll update as progress continues on these knives.

All looking awesome mate.

[Gwion]

Thanks Releb...

I'll be doing some simple test blades to offer to willing testers on here soon. I want to be sure that heat treating etc stands up to field use for a range of uses; not just for myself.

[darwindingo]

Gee two days and I'm the first "WillingTester" to volunteer... "Tough Crowd lol"......

I myself would consider myself privileged to test a custom blade Gwion... But that's just me... ? why you have not already been overwhelmed with offers eludes me..?...

Cheers

Jeff

[Gwion]

Dunno mate but I'll PM you when I have some ready. They will be pretty basic, I'm just after feedback on functionality: sharpness, toughness, edge retention, etc.

[Gamerancher]

Okay, if no-one else wants to, I'll volunteer as a tester too. If bush-butchering for myself and dog meat might be the style of testing you were after.

[bigfellascott]

Lovely job on them G, they came up beautifully mate, one day I'd like to have a crack at making a few, looks like great fun to me. What sort of $$ does it cost to get the equipment needed to make them?

[Gwion]

Lovely job on them G, they came up beautifully mate, one day I'd like to have a crack at making a few, looks like great fun to me. What sort of $$ does it cost to get the equipment needed to make them?

Cheers, BigFella.

Re: cost, i made the first couple with just files and wet/drypaper; although i had made my own little forge and had an anvil that the old man bought me years ago.

Here's where i got the info to make the forge, it cost me around $500 to put mine together with all the odds and ends included: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR4jAT ... No5qv8IewQ

An anvil is hard to come by (a good one anyway). A basic one like mine will set you back $250 or so and a good old one will cost many times more. Plus hammers, etc.

The grinder and linnisher combo set cost me $900+, plus belts.....

I also bought a wet stone grinder for grinding edges, which was another $250 odd.....

I figure, if i can make myself a good set of reliable and quality knives, the gear has paid for itself; especially if you consider that my 10" cooks knife is $300 to replace alone, a good quality small kitchen knife is about $150 to start and decent specialist cutlery all starts around the $200 mark.

Yes, i know you can buy decent, functional knives for a lot less, like the ones i use to bone and butcher stock but cheap and effective is not the point of this excercise; learning to make custom crafted durable cutlery is. My boning knife has buckled... you wont get any of the knives i have made to buckle.

I temper (that is after hardening) depending on the intended use. Most of the knifes have a spring tempered spine but retain a lot more hardness out to the edge. My hardening and tempering still need a lot of work but it seems to be working ok. The edges don't chip, roll or round off but do benefit from a regular visit from the steel; something i am in the habit of doing for all my knives anyway. Once i am more confident and consistent with my grinds and finishing techniques, i will start ordering specific steels for different knives for different tasks and refine the heat treatment. For now i am happy enough but would love some honest feed back from people who use a knife regularly for real work, like field dressing game, etc..

[Noisydad]

I've been avoiding reading this story out of fear of generating another project.

[tom604]

go on...you know you want to,,,,it will be sooo good,,,,no one will know,,,,just try it,,,once,,,one time wont hurt you,,,you could give it up anytime you want..go on just a butter knife,,it's not like it's bowie you will look

[Wobble]

I've been avoiding reading this story out of fear of generating another project.

Go blow something up with black powder, that'll curb the cravings

[darwindingo]

Well

Thanks to this inspirational thread I've got off my a$$ and done some work on the when I get some time to spare, blade.....

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Need to start thinking what I'll do the handle from, (it won't be the pine that is there to protect the finish in the mini vice) Perhaps a wood/epoxy resin/with a couple of in bedded spiders or something... ????

BTW.. Noisydad !!!!!!, Tom604 said.... "go on...you know you want to,,,,it will be sooo good,,,,no one will know,,,,just try it,,,once,,,one time wont hurt you,,,you could give it up anytime you want"..... ..... LOL Good one Tom.. .... You sound like a dealer of knife making lol....

Thanks for the Inspiration Guys ....

Note... Edit... Due to replacing image from Photobucketofcrap.. after they revoked their free 3rd party hosting...

Cheers

Jeff

[tom604]

very shiny,, looks great, you will have to put up picks when she's finished

[Noisydad]

go on...you know you want to,,,,it will be sooo good,,,,no one will know,,,,just try it,,,once,,,one time wont hurt you,,,you could give it up anytime you want..go on just a butter knife,,it's not like it's bowie you will look

Well.....I do have a forge and an anvil.......nooooo. Must resist......I have heaps of charcoal........must fight it off......

[Gwion]

Looks good, Dingo!

What steel is it? How did you shape it? How did you polish it? (Mine are no where near that shiny!)

And most of all.... How do you keep a work bench so bloody clean??? Makes me ashamed of the shambles that is me work space!!! :Lol:

[Gwion]

go on...you know you want to,,,,it will be sooo good,,,,no one will know,,,,just try it,,,once,,,one time wont hurt you,,,you could give it up anytime you want..go on just a butter knife,,it's not like it's bowie you will look

Well.....I do have a forge and an anvil.......nooooo. Must resist......I have heaps of charcoal........must fight it off......

You cannot resist the power of the forge, young Skywalker!