Knife making....

[bbarer]

So a while back I posted a thread about how I built a knife from an old file: http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/threads/288520-From-yard-sale-treasure-to-custom-knife

Since then I have progressed quite a bit into the world of custom knife making. It started with a friend asking me to build one for her husband as a gift and went by word of mouth from there. Note, I am not starting a new full time business, this just a hobby that I am trying to make self supporting as I enjoy doing it. These latest two knives pictured below Were made using a slab of Damascus steel I purchased and had a pro properly heat treat them in a real forge as I did not want to ruin the (not cheap) Damascus by trying to do it with a torch in my driveway...

The sheaths I made from a heavy leather that I hand stitched and then wet formed to the knives for a custom fit and to add some style of my own. The anchor embossment is just a tribute to my early life at sea where I really learned my craft skills....

Enjoy the pics and yes these are for sale in the classifieds if anyone is interested...

 

[Goliathan]

Very nice work. I briefly explored getting into knife making and scoured Jay Fisher's website as a pretty good source of info. I'd still like to try it someday.

 

[GPP]

Those look beautiful! The jimping on the blade on the bottom looks awesome.

 

[KBCraig]

Don't be afraid to try heat treating. Unless you literally burn it up, you can always start over.

 

[mac1911]

Nice.....I wish I kept track of the knives I made with my uncle from old rusty files. I'm not sure if he was doing it right but I remember vividly him heating them in the coal stove and running out side and dunking them in oil.
It was fun and passed many cold winters doing cool little projects like that.

 

[Tiktock]

Nice work. I've been making and selling knives for a decade. I havent made knives actively in some time but I tend to make a bunch a year and sell them whenever I want to fund a new gun purchase

I would invest in an electro-etcher and a set of professionally made stencils to mark your work, especially if you are going to sell them. I use a "personalizer plus" I bought about 15 years ago. I got my last batch of my stencils from Ernie Grospitch (http://www.erniesknives.com/knifemaker_stencil.html) and you can work with him on design, etc.

I would also suggest you think about getting into the heat treating part eventually. It is a REALLY cool little sub-hobby to learn the metallurgy involves, particularly with hamons, differential heat treating, etc. It is, however, difficult to properly control temperatures with a torch or even a small one brick forge setup. This gets compounded if you ever want to use O1 or stainless that wants a nice long soak. I sold enough knives to eventually buy a Paragon digital oven that is fully programmable and amazing. Gettign professional HT done is the right way to go with any sale knives until you know you can control your process fully.

What kind of grinder are you using? 2X72"?

Hit me up if you ever have any questions.

 

[transamkid86]

Those are sweet looking. If i had the extra funds i would deff purchase... would you be able to take requests in the future?

 

[Tony2Times]

Awesome job! you can find some great info on youtube how to make, heat treat, and all other stuff about knife making.

 

[bbarer]

Those are sweet looking. If i had the extra funds i would deff purchase... would you be able to take requests in the future?

Yes definitely would take requests..

Thanks all above for the info, its greatly appreciated!!