Quick question for those that came before me...

[hardwaymike]

Is there any books out there for a begining knife maker? I also am wondering what the drawbacks would be to using a old butcher knife to cut out my blank from. Is it ok to do something like this? And if it is, how would I go about sharpening the knife blank? I do not have a forge or any of the other necessities for knife building. But I do have a dremel tool and would like to make my own knife,lol. Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks in advance, Mike.

[gudspelr]

Wayne Goddard's $50.00 Knife Shop is a great book that covers a lot of the basics of making a knife.  I would imagine using an old butcher's knife could give you a decent blank to work with, as long as the old knife was a decent one to start with.

I've got minimal tools (no belt grinders, etc) and am making my first solo knife right now.  If you have the patience and desire, the guys on here will help you through the steps you need.  I've got a LOT of arm time in with a single cut file, but I'm learning a ton.  Good luck and I'm sure the more experienced guys will be chiming in with their good advice.

Jeremy

[skullworks]

This knife was made from an Old Hickory butcher knife.

 
 

[hardwaymike]

So did the old hickory have the layered look when it was a butcher knife or did you do that after?

[hardwaymike]

TTT

[Lin Rhea]

Mike, the Old Hickory knives were embossed on the top half of the blade. I have seen them since I was a kid and view them as one of the good things from the old days. You can recognize them from a distance at flea markets and antique shops. Clarence sure did this one proud.

[hardwaymike]

Sorry Lin, but I have never done any knife building at all so I lack all knowledge in the way of terminology. So my next question is what does embossed mean? Is that the "layered" look? I am thinking of doing just that in the way of looking at garage sales for old butcher knifes and old saw blades to cut the blanks out of to get a start. Cheap is the way for me,lol. But my next question is, do I have to heat treat the blade after I cut it out of the old stock? I am not looking really at looks just mainly functionality really. I will leave the looks for the handle lol.

[gudspelr]

As far as stock removal goes, I've heard most say annealing the steel prior to trying to grind/shape is a good bet.  Once it's annealed, the steel is softer which makes it a lot easier to shape and take metal off with file, sander, etc.  If you have a belt grinder that could still take off the material without annealing, you can easily change the temper in the steel by it becoming heated up while grinding.  Either way, once finished, you'll want to heat treat it.  A knife could look outstanding, but if it's not properly quenched and tempered, you can end up with a pretty piece of metal that is too soft to hold an edge or one that's too brittle to hold up to any work, and any number of other problems.  Lin had a great thread he wrote about proper heat treatment and how to go about it a little while back-definitely worth the read.
  http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=110;t=002974  

Hopefully the really smart guys will comment and fix any of the stuff I've got wrong.


Jeremy

[skullworks]

Originally posted by hardwaymike:
Sorry Lin, but I have never done any knife building at all so I lack all knowledge in the way of terminology. So my next question is what does embossed mean? Is that the "layered" look? I am thinking of doing just that in the way of looking at garage sales for old butcher knifes and old saw blades to cut the blanks out of to get a start. Cheap is the way for me,lol. But my next question is, do I have to heat treat the blade after I cut it out of the old stock? I am not looking really at looks just mainly functionality really. I will leave the looks for the handle lol.

What Lin was referring to I think was the pattern at the top of the blade by the spine. I cut this one with a Dremel cutoff wheel and kept the blade wet to keep it cool so it wouldn't lose it's temper. If you did an existing blade this way you wouldn't have to heat treat and temper it. This knife was man from the tip of the butcher knife.
 

[hardwaymike]

skullworks, so if I cut my blank out of a older butcher knife I wont have to heat treat it? How do you remove the steel to get the edge for the actual blade (the part of the blade that is used for cutting)?

[hardwaymike]

Is that handle wood zebrawood?

[hardwaymike]

One more thing, is there any books or instructionals out there for newbies? No intentions of becoming an apprentice or anything like that. Would just like to make some knives of my own someday. Thanks for everything guys.

[skullworks]

Wayne Goddards is a good one. Northcoast knives has a lot of tutorials on their website. Yep...Zebrawood. I use a Lansky Diamond sharpener to sharpen knives. It will be fine if you keep the blade cool...it should never get too hot to hold with bare hands.

[JMR]

Mike keep reading everything you can on these posts. That is where I have learned what little I know about knife making. Everyone that posts on here is very willing to share their knowledge and there is a ton of it posted right here. Be carefully though knives are like tater chips you can't make just one.LOL

[hardwaymike]

LOL, Thanks JMR. So if I was wanting to only make knives out of old knives, would I need to have a forge? Or are those for the knife builder that is starting out with "stock"?