Knifemaking workshop on a budget in 2021

HOW TO SETUP YOUR KNIFE MAKING WORKSHOP ON A BUDGET in 2021

If you want to start knife making you need a work place and a handful of tools. That’s it, its very simple to begin, but we don’t always know where to go once we’ve started. I’ll give you a road map to help avoid the costly tools that you wont use so your adventure in knife making is more enjoyable and cost less.

Knife making on a budget.

There are four levels I’m going to write about. In the first set I’m going to cover both forged equipment and stock removal. Location often determines which route you go, for myself, I’ve done both.

LEVEL ONE: KNOWLEDGE.

This is what I would call education, and there are a few ways to gain this.

THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS.

Get right into it, start hammering or grinding out blanks and don’t stop until you have a knife. Which isn’t always the best and now days with social media, YouTube and the many books in print its not worth spending your time going in circles. Its good to jump right in, but I recommend seeking outside knowledge when you do.

SEARCH THE WEB.

The second and cheapest is to search the web, or go to the many channels on YouTube. I myself have a channel to help new knife makers on things such as finding scrap metal and pricing your knives. I will include a link at the bottom of the page.

BOOKS.

The third is to buy books. One good book will provide you years of experience and be a constant reference if you continue to grow as a knife maker.

Some of the books I’ve found useful and worth the purchase are.

·         The Complete Bladesmith, Jim Hrisoulas.

·         The Wonder of Knifemaking, Wayne Goddard

·         For the smiths, A Blacksmithing Primer, Randy McDaniel.

TAKE A KNIFE MAKING CLASS OR COURSE.

The fourth is to take a local knife making course. I don’t recommend this until you have ruined a few blanks through trial and error. The hands on information given is often well worth the money, but they can be costly. If you can make one or two complete knives prior, you will take away much more from the course than if you just joined it right away. Search online, inquire at small colleges or sometimes museums will bring in knife makers and blacksmiths if they have a working blacksmith shop.

LEVEL TWO: BASIC HAND TOOLS

First we’ll deal with small hand tools, easy to acquire or perhaps you already have some kicking around the house. Sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words. At the end I’ll provide a link to a video I made covering the basic setup for making knives.

FILES.

I suggest going basic for now, a 5 or 6 pack of 8″ metal files and a set of wood rasps (flat and half round). This will give you a number of files and with time you’ll find which ones you like or use the most and later you can buy those ones specifically.

CLAMPS.

Clamps, clamps and more clamps, they are always use full. As a knife maker you’ll find you’ll need to make yourself tools from time to time, even woodworking like work tables, shelves or jigs. If your just beginning, 3-4 C clamps will be fine. I suggest the following.

·         1 @ 6″ (150mm)

·         1 @ 4″ (100mm)

·         2 @ 3″(75mm)

This amount will give you plenty for now.

DRILL.

Its a power tool, but It deserves to be one of the first things you buy. Even on a limited budget I recommend buying a drill. Yes, there are ways around drilling pin holes, but a drill is such a useful tool all around the house its still worth buying. You don’t need the big $300 cordless drill, you can get away with the corded drill for a fraction of the cost and all the quality. With a drill you can build many things, such as your work bench, filing jigs, or even save a bit of money by making your own furniture, then use the savings to buy more tools.

SAWS.

A hacksaw will replace your need for a band saw and for most cases an angle grinder. You don’t need to spend much as long as you can find one that you can change the angle on the blade. Most will do this, but I can’t account for the cheap bargain store tools. Along with it, buy some metal blades, if possible cobalt, these blades will cost more but last much longer. If your cutting annealed 1084 steel you’ll use one blade per blank.

BENCH VISE.

The bench vise, my personal thoughts on this is, its well worth buying one. Two if you plan on forging. A good size if your only doing knife making is 4″ (100mm). If this is out of your budget range I made a super cheap emergency vice with 2×4’s and a 6″ C clamp. It will hold the blank in place when cutting it and double as a sanding and filing surface when it comes time to polish. Its not pretty but it works when your on a budget.

SANDPAPER

Sandpaper deserves its own little section. You’ll come to know sandpaper very well with knife making. From the handles to the polish. For sanding the steel you need wet/dry sandpaper. You can also use this for wood in most cases, but be aware it will leave a black dust on the wood once you reach 340 grit. Here’s how I step up my grit.

·         80 grit

·         120 grit

·         240 grit

·         340 grit (Stop, for common use, basic knives, presuming your hand sanding)

·         400 grit

·         600 grit (Want to make it nice but still plan to use it)

·         1500 grit (Good for skinning, helps reduce resistance and staining)

·         2000 grit (Showing off pictures or art pieces, but I find myself hard pressed to actually use it, especially as an EDC)

Once you’ve finished grinding or filing the knife, you’ll need to sand it and polish the knife.

OTHER HANDY TOOLS THAT ARE NICE TO HAVE AROUND:

·         Slip lock pliers.

·         Stainless steel ruler.

·         measuring tape.

·         16oz ball peen hammer, or even a claw hammer.

·         Wood saw.

·         Vise grips.

LEVEL THREE: FIRE!!!

Who doesn’t love this one, red hot metal, the sound of the anvil, flames that burst from the oil tank, all to make a useful tool from a slab of steel. Songs are written about this. The tools here are very simple. An anvil, a forge, tongs and a hammer. But what shape, how hard, don’t use that use this, it needs to be made of a meteor or it wont work. Do these sound familiar?

Since this is knife making, I’m only going to cover the heat for now. If you have a backyard where you can dig a hole, you’ll be able to use this method.

VIKING DIRT FORGE.

If you don’t have the material to make a brake drum forge, there is another option. This is to mimic the Viking dirt forge, without the mound of dirt. Get a black steel pipe. 3′ long and 1-1/2″ ID and a hairdryer that has a cold option. Dig a hole 12″x12″x6″ and trench a 2′ section to the side, large enough for the pipe to sit in. If you don’t have coal, you can get away with dry wood, just make sure to build up your charcoal base at the bottom before heating up the blank to heat treat. This type of forge is even a usable option for testing out the waters for blacksmithing.

BRICK FORGE.

If you don’t have the backyard option and your making knives in an apartment or townhouse. There’s two options, the 1 brick forge or coffee can forge. I find they don’t produce enough heat to forge anything larger than coat hooks but for heat treating on a budget they work great. Fuel is the worst part about these, I found with my setup I only get 15 – 20 minutes of heat. Its enough to do 1-2 smaller EDC knives, but if you want to heat treat that 12″ Bowie your going to have to think bigger.

MATERIAL NEEDED FOR YOUR FORGE.

·         1-1/2″ x 36″ black steel pipe.

·         hair dryer with cold option.

·         A hole in the ground.

OR

·         1 Fire brick at 9 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2.

·         propane torch.

·         steel tie wire.

QUENCH TANK.

To quench the blade you’ll need a steel container, larger enough to dip the entire length of the blade. I recommend metal because when I first started I used a plastic bucket, one day I quenched my work piece and was resting against my anvil waiting on the second piece. That’s when I noticed the water level in my bucket was dropping. The tip of my work piece had punched through the bucket wall and the water inside was now spraying out. Fortunately it was my cooling bucket and not my oil.

·         16″ of 3″ steel pipe with a cap, or welded plate.

·         If on a budget – A tin coffee can will also work for smaller pieces.

·         canola oil (best budget quench oil before stepping up to professional oils if your working with 1084 and under)

LEVEL FOUR: STARTER POWER TOOLS.

There are only 3 power tools that will make your life noticeably better. (Besides the drill).

Belt grinder.

metal band saw.

Drill Press.

Angle Grinder: optional, but not required, – Also it can be one of your most dangerous tools in your shop.

BELT GRINDER FOR THE FIRST PURCHASE.

I suggest a belt grinder first. Everything else can help improve your time or quality, but the belt grinder will be the most noticeable. Don’t be scared to buy yourself a 4×36 or 1×30 or anything else under $250.00, its all better than a file. Just be aware, your knife filing jig will still come into play.

Tip: You can start off with the file jig to get the bevel right, then switch to the grinder. Once your almost done, switch back to the file to finish up the profile and grind line.

From here you can choose which tools you feel will improve your shop, skill set or needs. For more help I’ve included a link to my youtube video, Starting setup for knife making.

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN.

I’ve been making knives for almost a decade. I’m not the big professional or master, just a guy in his garage enjoying what he does. I hope these videos and these write ups will help you too and help you enjoy the craft of knife making a little more.