first knife

[Jonathan Dracon Michelin]

Hi everyone, im thinking about making a cable blade or a 4 layer knife, any advice on how to go about my first blade??

[Rich Hale]

Good project..We could write a book on this forum about how to get started, Wot steel to use, Wot equipment to use. How to work safely, where to get materials for the knife and the shop, and wot shop study materials would be good for a beginner. But If you would like to do a little research we have already done that. There have been many questions almost just like yours and a long list of great replies to them. Some of themm failry recently. I bet if you are better with a 'puter than I am you can find a lot of those and read through the information they contain. See which ones suit you and move ahead on that information. Not trying to cut you short but the material on here is like gold. Takes a bit to locate but worth it when you do. Have fun.

[Steve Shimanek]

My advice would be to stick to a simpler monosteel knife for your first one; there is a lot to keep track of on the first few blades and dealing with multiple laminations will just add to the potential for negative success. I second Rich's comments above. Good luck!

[Jonathan Dracon Michelin]

Thanks guys, i was thinking about a mono steel, i have some cold rolled steel and i might have a old file which is W2 steel, when you use a mono steel do you cut the shape or just forge it propper?? im trying to get all the ides i can before i start out, i got a nil bright orange to dull yellow

[Steve Sells]

Thanks guys, i was thinking about a mono steel, i have some cold rolled steel and i might have a old file which is W2 steel, when you use a mono steel do you cut the shape or just forge it proper?? im trying to get all the ides i can before i start out, i got a nil bright orange to dull yellow

forget low carbon steels if ya want a blade, try the file.

[Jonathan Dracon Michelin]

forget low carbon steels if ya want a blade, try the file.

ok thanks, now my question is would you cut the shape or heat and pound the shape??

[Steve Shimanek]

ok thanks, now my question is would you cut the shape or heat and pound the shape??

You can be a knife maker by stock removal but you have to forge it to shape to be a bladesmith.

[Steve Sells]

ok thanks, now my question is would you cut the shape or heat and pound the shape??

To begin, BACK UP... and learn how to work metal. you can't be a surgeon without getting the pre-med stuff out of the way. Few things are more ridiculous than a guy that insists on calling himself a bladesmith, then asking us beginner questions like "how do I straighten out a curve or warp that is forming in the blade?"


If your only goal is to say you have made a blade, then do it, and have fun. that is ok to do. But this being a blacksmithing site, and this area being for bladesmithing, we normally assume posts here are for people that want to talk about forging a quality blade. There is nothing wrong with wanting to make a knife "just because", just remember that most posts focus on long term skills.

Knowing how metal moves is a basic smithing skill. To assume the title of an advanced area of a craft, when by-passing the basics wont get anyone to the finish line faster, tho it sometimes amuses those of us that have learned the basic skills. It is like reading the last chapter of a math book first, it does not make seance with out the other information. Many of the skills we learn in our basic smithing training, are later built upon to master more advanced skills.

Welcome to the forum

[ThomasPowers]

I have never let a student do welding for a first knife; as Steve says you gotta learn the basics first! (It's a lot less frustrating to mess up a simple beginner's blade and have another one to the same state the same day than to have to throw away a weekend's work several times!)

Now I have had *1* student where he did a pattern welded blade his first day at the forge (in 30+ years!); he was studying Metallurgy at college and was already a stock removal knifemaker and as I recall he did his S hook first; then a self hilted squirrel knife and then we did the billet...Patrick is that how you remember it?

If you have someone coaching you in real time you can often speed up the learning curve; but if you are doing it on your own I would expect a LOT of failures before getting a usable pattern welded blade.