Besides trying to get my wood shop set up, I am working on making knives. To that end, I took a one day class on making knives via stock removalllast Saturday. That means taking a piece of suitable steel close to the right size and removing everything that is not a part of the knife. 
The class was in Richmond VA, and the lead instructor, (of three), was Brent Stubblefield of Join or Die Knives. Some of you may recognize his name because he competed in Forged in Fire.
The class started with introductions followed by a brief technical and safety talk. Then down to business as each of the eight students was handed a piece of 1084 steel, (1.5" x 8" x 1/8"). One of the instructors made a knife along with us to demonstrate technique. Here is a brief synopsis - draw a pattern, cut it out on a bandsaw, grind close to final shape, mark the center of the cutting edge as a reference point, grind the sides flat, grind the bevel, heat treat, sand, aaaand temper. We didn't have time to temper, so most decided to cord wrap after tempering at home. I will finish mine when I have the necessary equipment in the shop, and what I need is working. BTW - sanding should be after tempering, but that was not possible in a one day class because tempering requires heating the blade at 400* twice.
I still have to move my table saw and wood lathe to the shop, and I will have to either replace or repair the feed rollers on the planer, so it will be a while before I get to putting a handle on the blade I made.
Was it worthwhile? For me, the answer is yes. I learned making a stock removal knife ain't hard, but doing it right will take a while to master. And I now have the confidence to move forward in this new adventure.
I tempered the blade in the oven Sunday and sanded with a higher grit yesterday, but will probably go a bit higher before I am satisfied. And I am enjoying the process, so I will probably wind up making more knives.
The class was in Richmond VA, and the lead instructor, (of three), was Brent Stubblefield of Join or Die Knives. Some of you may recognize his name because he competed in Forged in Fire.
The class started with introductions followed by a brief technical and safety talk. Then down to business as each of the eight students was handed a piece of 1084 steel, (1.5" x 8" x 1/8"). One of the instructors made a knife along with us to demonstrate technique. Here is a brief synopsis - draw a pattern, cut it out on a bandsaw, grind close to final shape, mark the center of the cutting edge as a reference point, grind the sides flat, grind the bevel, heat treat, sand, aaaand temper. We didn't have time to temper, so most decided to cord wrap after tempering at home. I will finish mine when I have the necessary equipment in the shop, and what I need is working. BTW - sanding should be after tempering, but that was not possible in a one day class because tempering requires heating the blade at 400* twice.
I still have to move my table saw and wood lathe to the shop, and I will have to either replace or repair the feed rollers on the planer, so it will be a while before I get to putting a handle on the blade I made.
Was it worthwhile? For me, the answer is yes. I learned making a stock removal knife ain't hard, but doing it right will take a while to master. And I now have the confidence to move forward in this new adventure.
I tempered the blade in the oven Sunday and sanded with a higher grit yesterday, but will probably go a bit higher before I am satisfied. And I am enjoying the process, so I will probably wind up making more knives.
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