Knife making hobbyists

[mdwest]

A thread inspired by @MarkCZ ! Im guessing there are more than a few guys on here that have made a few of their own blades... show us what you've got..

I'd been building my own bolt action rifles for a couple of years.. so I already had all the metal and wood working tools on hand needed to give knife making a try.. and had thought about doing it for a while.. but never really took the plunge until @Gert Odendaal gifted me some beautiful African hardwood the last trip I made to South Africa.. Not knowing what else to do with it.. I set out to make a few knives and use the wood for handle material..

I was pretty proud of the first few blades.. but looking back.. I now realize they were crap lol... grind lines were uneven.. I kept making mistakes that created visual imperfections that were hard to fix etc (bumped the blades while shaping handles.. not realizing that simply taping the blade up well while working on the handle is an easy fix for this sort of thing..).. I also built a couple of jigs for both the blades and handles which helps A LOT in keeping everything correct and consistent..

Fast forward several months and about a dozen builds later.. and I think Im finally making a few things woth actually carrying/using..

Im a long long way from being even close to capable of creating something as nice/useful as @Von Gruff .. but Im having a lot of fun out in the garage playing.. and find it satisfying that I can build a practical tool for myself..

Here's a pair of 4" spear points I made for myself and my favorite hunting buddy (wife) a couple of weeks ago..

Steel is 440C stainless.. simple brass pins.. and the handles are from a piece of really nice African Wild Olive..

I toyed with leather sheaths for the first several knives I made.. but have found my leather skills to be severely lacking.. I can crank out a leather sheath that is "ok".. but dont have the skills to really make something "nice" just yet.. leather is still a work in progress..

I did find it super easy to build a kydex press though.. and super easy to make a quality kydex sheath in about 1/10th the time it took me to make a leather one.. attached a couple of knock off Tek-Loks to the back.. and the project was complete.. Lefty version for me.. and Righty version for the boss..



Who else out there is making knives?

 

[sierraone]

I think those two you posted look pretty damn good. Just need a skinner blade now!

 

[mdwest]

Just need a skinner blade now!

thats actually the next thing on the target list..

one of the original designs I tried was a little 2 1/2" drop point skinner.. it makes a decent little "gentlemans" multi-purpose knife.. but sucks as an actual skinner lol... not enough belly in it..

I've been looking at some traditional profiles like the old schrade and old timer skinners.. and also been looking at some stuff done by some of the more famous custom makers like Bob Dozier and Loveless.. but havent really settled on where I want to go yet..

The biggest challenge for me I think is going to be a good skinner needs to be flat ground.. which is supposedly easier to do that hollow grinding.. but I am finding that for now I am much better and more consistent with hollow grinding..

I think if I can build a couple of jigs to help me with flat grinding a profile nicely.. I can probably figure out a good working skinning knife..

its just going to take some time..

 

[nztimb]

@mdwest Thank you for the kind words and if you would take a little critique I hope it will stand you in good stead for future knives. Your grind lines are very crisp particularly on the lower knife with the tip of the upper knife may be subject to light distortion making it look a little washed out.
The wood on the handle where you have bought it right down to the end of the finger notch is particularly vulnerable to splitting of and I have seen quite a few on the knife making forums who have suffered from this malady asking how to "fix it". In essence the best fix is not to go down so far where the long grain is unsuporte by length. On the lower knife I would have been tempted to stop somewhere near the edge of the dark patch of grain and rounded the front to get more knuckle room forward. Straight fronted handles that go that far forward and down are best protected by a bolster which is why they came into use.
Regardless of that , you have shown a good skill set to bring these two to the fine finish that you show them to be here.

 

[mdwest]

awesome advice @Von Gruff ... thanks!

Im sure this will be a very part time / occasional hobby at best for me.. I certainly dont envision myself as a bladesmith in any way.. I could use all the help and advice I can get!

Regarding bolsters.. I have only tried one knife with bolster so far.. I struggled a bit with it getting the wood perfectly flush with the back of the bolster.. and then grinding and sanding the wood down to the width of the bolster.. I finally figured out how to tape up the bolster with about 3 layers of painters tape.. then when I saw the grinding belts start to cut tape, immediately transition to hand sanding.. and then to finish with 1200 grit wet sanding to remove any/all scratches from the bolster..

any additional tips on how to work with bolsters? or am I over complicating things?

 

[jeff]

Good looking knives, thanks for sharing!

 

[nztimb]

awesome advice @Von Gruff ...

any additional tips on how to work with bolsters? or am I over complicating things?

If you are using a (2x72) type belt grinder to do your blade work then that can be used to make the meeting edge of the bolster with the wood flat and straight. A disc grinder will do the same and will get the front of the handles flat so there is not gap.
This is a short video I did on setting the handle against the bolster

It depends on whether you are using wood, bone, horn or copper, brass, or one of the steel types as to how the next stage of the shaping goes but if easily cut with the bandsaw I will do it as f this video shows

If there are metal bolsters I will grind them down on the belt grinder to the marks drawn on as shown in previous video
After the bandsaw I go to the grinder for general shaping

Then it is hand work with rasps through the finer files untill sandpapers. Always have a hard backer for the paper for the transition from the wood to the metal bolster. For wood and bone/horn, I will go to 600 grit and finish on the buffer but for metal I will take them to 1500/2000 grit before buffing

 

[mdwest]

Those videos are great help @Von Gruff ! Thanks!

Ive got a couple of different grinding/sanding options.. I've got a 1"x30 belt sander as well as a 4"x36" belt sander.. Ive also got 6" and 8" bench grinders (disc).. the plan is to upgrade to some better quality power tools.. (2x72 belt grinder would be awesome.. but for now Im making due with 1" and 4" options... and most of my stuff is bench top tools... like my band saw is a 9 1/2" bench top.... I'd love to upgrade to a 12" or a 16" floor model at some point)..

 

[nztimb]

Some amazing knives were made before any of this modern equipment was thought of so it really is just a point of determination and paitence.

 

[mdwest]

I think those two you posted look pretty damn good. Just need a skinner blade now!

Reviving an old thread....

Finally made a skinner that Im reasonably happy with

Im a hobbyist on my best day still.. but am continuing to work toward getting better.. and have figured out a few new tricks since the the OP made a year and a half ago.. I managed to figure out etching damascus, burning a makers mark onto the blade.. and bolsters are FINALLY looking decent after watching @Von Gruff 's videos a hundred times, and screwing up the first dozen attempts or so..

How about you @norfolk shooter .. you still grinding on steel during your free time?

 

[nztimb]

Reviving an old thread....

Finally made a skinner that Im reasonably happy with

View attachment 394964

Im a hobbyist on my best day still.. but am continuing to work toward getting better.. and have figured out a few new tricks since the the OP made a year and a half ago.. I managed to figure out etching damascus, burning a makers mark onto the blade.. and bolsters are FINALLY looking decent after watching @Von Gruff 's videos a hundred times, and screwing up the first dozen attempts or so..

How about you @norfolk shooter .. you still grinding on steel during your free time?

A very good effort indeed. I understand why you have done so with your makers mark but with the saber grind but there is room to have the makers mark and the grind terminating at the same rearward junction so the one bit of advise I might offer is to make the ricasso a bit shorter on a knife of this size as it only needs to be long enough to keep the sharpening stones etc away from the front of the bolster and with the gentle curve you have got there an 1/8 in front of it would increase the length of the cutting edge and give a longer effective blade all in the same length knife. A larger knife can still have a visual balance with a longer ricasso.

Have to add that I really like your makers mark

 

[Dr Ray]

Reviving an old thread....

Finally made a skinner that Im reasonably happy with

View attachment 394964

Im a hobbyist on my best day still.. but am continuing to work toward getting better.. and have figured out a few new tricks since the the OP made a year and a half ago.. I managed to figure out etching damascus, burning a makers mark onto the blade.. and bolsters are FINALLY looking decent after watching @Von Gruff 's videos a hundred times, and screwing up the first dozen attempts or so..

How about you @norfolk shooter .. you still grinding on steel during your free time?

Very nice

 

[mdwest]

A very good effort indeed. I understand why you have done so with your makers mark but with the saber grind but there is room to have the makers mark and the grind terminating at the same rearward junction so the one bit of advise I might offer is to make the ricasso a bit shorter on a knife of this size as it only needs to be long enough to keep the sharpening stones etc away from the front of the bolster and with the gentle curve you have got there an 1/8 in front of it would increase the length of the cutting edge and give a longer effective blade all in the same length knife. A larger knife can still have a visual balance with a longer ricasso.

Have to add that I really like your makers mark

Much appreciated advice @Von Gruff ...

Youre spot on about the ricasso and the grind height.. I was too focused on leaving enough room for the mark.. and actually regretted not going another few mm higher with the grind and cutting the ricasso back to about 1/2 of its length once I started considering the final product..

The funny thing is.. Ive got stencils for that mark in 3 different sizes.. I could have easily just used the smaller stencil lol.. but I was more concerned with form over function and thought the bigger one would look better.. and ended up giving up performance for appearances (which actually didnt end up looking quite right when it was all done.. but looked exceptional on paper lol)..

The next thing I've got to spend some time on and learn to do better is leather.. My leather skills still suck.. and I think kydex on this one (and hopefully the next, better executed one) would be a disservice..

 

[nztimb]

Most definately leather for that little beauty. There would be a terrible visual clash it that was drawn out of a kydex sheath.

 

[norfolk shooter]

Reviving an old thread....

Finally made a skinner that Im reasonably happy with

View attachment 394964

Im a hobbyist on my best day still.. but am continuing to work toward getting better.. and have figured out a few new tricks since the the OP made a year and a half ago.. I managed to figure out etching damascus, burning a makers mark onto the blade.. and bolsters are FINALLY looking decent after watching @Von Gruff 's videos a hundred times, and screwing up the first dozen attempts or so..

How about you @norfolk shooter .. you still grinding on steel during your free time?

Yep still going for it. just not much spare time at the moment. I must say your work is looking sweet

 

[mdwest]

Stitching could use some work.. and while trying to leave a drain/air hole I probably stopped 2 stitches short...

And I thought a dark chocolate dye was appropriate... but now that it’s done I wish I’d gone about 2 shades lighter...

But this will serve its purpose until I get a little more practice in and can do a little better...

I used a saddle stitch to do this one.. it’s the first time I’ve tried that technique... I definitely like it...

 

[nztimb]

As far as getting the drain hole right I usually mark center of the sheath from 1 1/2 inches down from the top through to the bottom and use a groover to make a groove down hard against each side of the center line and mark 1/4" from that groove edge and start the welt at that point and then when you fold and glue the sheath together and stitch round to just shy of the end of the welt you end up with the correct sized drain hole. It looks like you may have your last stitch over the end of the welt so maybe one stitch too many on that length welt.