Man, do I have some questions!!

[Meister]

Hi, My name is Jerad, and im now addicted to making knives! I BLAME it all on you Trad Gang knife makers!!!!!!

First off, after reading a bunch of posts and how-to`s late one night, I decided I wanted to try my hand at making one. Whew, bad idea, now ive got the fever!

I am a 100% newbie when it comes to this stuff. Im a painter by trade, but I do finish woodwork as well. So I have no metal working skills or wood shaping skills or anything like it! I should also mention that I dont have all the fancy tools tools that alot of you guys use, but I made do with what I had in the garage (a grinder, a hack saw, an air grinder, a file, and some sandpaper and a palm sander).. I didnt temper this one since it was just a practice run, but will do my next one. Ok, for the questions.

Where do you guys get your pins? What pins do I use for a mosiac (sp) style pins? Once you get the scales attached to the blank with the pins installed, what do you guys use to "sand" down the pins even with the wood scales? I think I may have done it a little backwards, but I didnt even attach the scaled before I sanded them down.. I took a peice of 1"x oak (typical construction material for shelving), and cut it in half with a hacksaw (!), then I made some makeshift pins and sanded the wood down on both sides to where it fit well.. If im reading most posts correctly now, I should completely attach the scales and pins and then shape to my liking, along with the pins? I then used my pins (the bottom of the drill bit I used to drill my holes!! Hack job? haha) and cut them to the right side and grinded them to fit right.. I then used Epoxy to attach the scales to the handle and added a little extra for the pins.. I used early american stain and a satin poly I had laying around.. I KNOW its not the prettiest thing, but like I said, this was just a quick run through! You can see the saw blade I used in the background of the picture.

Anyways, since I tend to ramble when I get addicted to something like this, all in all, ill just say that im looking for any suggestions you guys can provide a 100% NEWBIE.. Anyone happen to have any old scales or peices of wood that I could use on my next project (I can only get oak and poplar and the like, construction material for new homes) because im looking to use a something a little more classy? I want to build a few more and if they turn out well enough, I would like to build some for the Trade you guys have going on (AWESOME idea!).. Anyways, I will attach a picture of the one I threw together just for the heck of it.. Sorry if this is just pointless newbie rambling, but its all YOUR fault!!!!

   

I should also mention, that in this picture, I didnt have it completely finished, but close.

[LONGBOWKID]

Did you cut the knife from the saw blade in the picture on the table?

It looks to have carbide tips, I have heard that they are mild steel and wont make a great knife when they have the carbide tips. Just curious.

You said that one was just for practice, just warning you about the future. I avoided buying them for that reason. Someone correct me if I am wrong...

You don't need all the "fancy tools" to complete knives, a cousin and I threw together a home-made kiln today and took the temper out of a few of my blades.

Nicholson file $ 7.99
4" side grinder $24.99
10" cutoff/rip saw blade $14.99
Small electric leaf blower $29.95
Bunch of stuff from around the farm $ 0.00
Big ol' grins on two rednecks faces as steel heats to cherry red...PRICELESS!


It looks nice, I am working on my first at the moment, its cut from a saw blade as well, ground, belt sanded, and had the temper removed. I am going to put the temper back in it tomorrow.

You are right about this being addicting!!!

Good job on the knife, once again.

The Kid

[Meister]

Thanks for the input!! I too read that the carbide tips arent the best for knives, after I did it of course! That was just and old saw blade the girlfriends dad let me have. If I dont use any of the carbide areas, will the center steel work well?

[skullworks]

Welcome to the addiction! Someone will chime in about the saw blade! Nothing wrong with a practice blade...wish I had done some instead of just diving in! LOL!

[4runr]

Meister, you are only about 15 minutes from me, depending where in N.C. you live. I've got quite a bit of knife making stuff, steel and scales, if you're interested. PM me your phone # and we'll get together.

[prarieboy]

Practice blade looks good to this wanna be!
I wish my first had looked any where close to that good. Still addicted though.
 Check out you tube: green pete's i make a knife.
then read all You can here about heat treat and tempering. Just some quick thougts.
  C-Ya Bob

[kbaknife]

The concern of a carbide tipped blade not making a good knife is that the blade is designed for the carbide tips to do all of the work - the remainder of the blade is irrelavent to the work, and as such, is not hard or hardenable.
On blades where the cutting portion and the larger body of the blade are one material, then the main body may be hardenable, as it would need to be for the points to be serviceable.

[Hattrick]

That looks great !!! GOOD JOB!! i think its rubbin off so i have a question??? with a saw blade do u have too take the temper out be for u work it? an if so how do u do it? I`M thinking off trying one similar in style for the first time

[Meister]

I didnt do much of anything but heat the handle just incase to drill my holes..

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys!

4runr, if your in Hartville, im probably a bit closer actually! State and Middlebranch. I will shoot you a PM with my number and email!

[uhdet]

Looks good. One tip I will give you is that the blade makes a knife but the handle sells it. You might want to roll the handle some more toward the tang and since there is no guard, taper the handle more toward the blade. just some friendly advice. Welcome to the craft!!

[Meister]

Thank you for the tip! I will put a bit more effort and detail into my next project. I just wanted to kind of "get the hang of it" with this knife. I think I could produce a good looking knife. Can anyone give me any info on the questions I have in my original post pertaining to the pins?

Will be getting ahold of 4runr and hopefully meeting up with him as well.