Thread: Making knives

Yeah @Jakeo03 get cracking with the file jig. Takes a bit of time but you can get some excellent results. 1075 and 1084 steel are your friends if you plan to heat treat yourself. I do mine in a cheap brick forge. Works sweet.

Keep designs simple and practical early on, with a focus on getting a good finish. Sanding the finish is the single most time consuming part.

Also as above, a drill press is pretty damn handy

Thanks for the advice, I’m using 1075 and my mum has an old friend who does lots of his own metal work so he’s happy to show/do the heat treating. Yep I’ve brought lots of wet and dry sand paper because I noticed I will need a lot. Looking to either get a cheap drill press from trademe or get one from mitre10 when I get a job, for the first 2 I’ve already used the hand drill( turned out ok ish)

Originally Posted by Jakeo03

Thanks for the advice, I’m using 1075 and my mum has an old friend who does lots of his own metal work so he’s happy to show/do the heat treating. Yep I’ve brought lots of wet and dry sand paper because I noticed I will need a lot. Looking to either get a cheap drill press from trademe or get one from mitre10 when I get a job, for the first 2 I’ve already used the hand drill( turned out ok ish)

Cool man. Make sure you post up your finished work. Always keen to see people getting stuck in.

I use an el cheapo 1x30 now. It's a bit faster than the file jig but is pretty easy to stuff up a knife. I'll invest in a grinder at some point