Thread: First ever knife grid

So the boys who have been coming around to my shed on a weekly basis to build stuff decided that they wanted to grind knives for their next project. That forced me into doing some homework on materials and techniques that I could teach them, and meant that I had to be building a knife one week ahead of them so that I could give them some do's and don'ts.

As they say - knife makers don't make mistakes, they just make smaller knives.

So last week I finished making my one, and most of the boys are in the final process of handle shaping.
For simplicity of heat treatment, we chose to use 1075 steel. For my knife, I bought in some green micarta handle material and some mosaic pin in from Aliexpress, and I bought a steel stamp from Esty for my 'makers mark'.
I ground out a drop point from 3mm material, convex grind, finished to about 400 grit and left 'as heat treated'. Did two temper cycles which by the tables should leave the blade at 60HRC plus/minus one or two.
I decided early on that this knife would be for my older brother for Christmas, and since sharpening is a personal thing and you tend to have your own angles I've left the blade unsharpened for him to complete. As an added extra, my younger brother did his first ever leather sheath build, which I think came out bloody well.
The 'blemish' on the blade in the photo is where the hot blade melted the paint on my magnet that I was using during the heat treat. Its not a defect in the blade.







Close up of the makers mark and the mosaic pin, and the sheath before waxing.

Turned out good man. Be a great little user. What did you shape the bevels with?

Sorry, is this your first go at knife making? Either way it looks fantastic. Great shape with a very nice finish. Kudos to you. I would think that knife would sell in any knife makers repertoire.

very tidy job.

Well done.

sweet little knife, can't believe it's your first one. How did you do the makers mark??

Yes, first attempt at knife making.

Bevels were ground with a belt grinder.

Makers mark was with a steel punch that has the symbol or logo engraved into it. Was about $60NZ landed from the USA.

Heat treat was with a forge made out of two 9kg lpg bottles running a carburising flame to prevent blade oxidation and quenched in canola oil. Tempered in a bench top oven which was surprisingly accurate in holding temp. Would be keen to get an actual hardness test post tempering. I was targeting 60HRC.

YouTube was my friend for tuition before undertaking each step.

Great First knife
I’m gonna be making my first proper knife this holidays since I’ve finnaly got my charcoal forge built and my workshop/tools set up. I have made a few practice blades just to figure out the basics but didn’t take any to seriously so if they bent or warped I wouldn’t be to sad.

Few questions I’ve got
What type of belt grinder do you have eg: 2x72, 4x36, homemade, brought
Also how long did u temper the 1075 in the oven for(time/tempature)

I didn’t really know there were any beginner knife makers in NZ so this made me happy seeing I wasn’t the only one.
Any Knifemakers a few hours from levin?

very nice indeed, well done!

Awesome mate, im very impressed.....

Originally Posted by Jakeo03

Great First knife
I’m gonna be making my first proper knife this holidays since I’ve finnaly got my charcoal forge built and my workshop/tools set up. I have made a few practice blades just to figure out the basics but didn’t take any to seriously so if they bent or warped I wouldn’t be to sad.

Few questions I’ve got
What type of belt grinder do you have eg: 2x72, 4x36, homemade, brought
Also how long did u temper the 1075 in the oven for(time/tempature)

I didn’t really know there were any beginner knife makers in NZ so this made me happy seeing I wasn’t the only one.
Any Knifemakers a few hours from levin?

I bought a Radius Master a year or so ago which is a 50x1220 which I have been using for general grinding duties as I don't have a bench grinder. Its a very versatile machine due to the rotating head and roller cassette which allows you to flat grind, slack grind, or used any of the various size rollers. https://www.machineryhouse.co.nz/L096
Its not a cheap grinder, but very versatile. I've been getting my belts from PPS in Auckland.

I made up an extension to the little table that comes with the grinder to give a bigger work surface, and then made up a grinding jig so the boys could do accurate flat grinds. I'll post a picture tonight.

I tempered the 1075 twice for two hours each with the oven bouncing between 210 and 220 deg C

Here's the grinder with the table extension which just clamps over the factory table and his held in place with a couple of bolts. Its 75x6 flat bar.




And here is the grinding jig for flat grinding

nice i could test the hardness if you want
cheers john

Originally Posted by john worthington

nice i could test the hardness if you want
cheers john

Thanks for the offer John. I'll keep that in mind.
I sharpened a couple of the boys knives tonight and they appeared to have good hardness. Main concern is that they could be too hard and prone to chipping, but time will tell.

Some inspiration. These guys of course can't afford personal protective equipment so let's not criticise that aspect.