October 10, 20178 yr Hey y'all, any of you experienced folk help me out by giving me a list of equipment Im going to need to buy to start making small knives I don't want anything too fancy, and I don't mind replacing a machine with doing it buy hand e.g Grinder being replaced with a metal file. I just want to know the very bare minimum stuff I require to make a knife and also how much it's gonna run me. Thanks everyone, Have a great day!
October 10, 20178 yr The purpose of the knife will dictate the shape of the knife and many of the tools you will want to use. Bare minimum would be purchasing a known steel and a quality file for stock removal. Next you will want to make some type of clamping device for holding the steel which will make your life a little easier.
October 10, 20178 yr A file and a C clamp; they should run you 5 quantloos. (asking a price without telling us which of the 100+ countries participate here on the World Wide Web is rather pointless...we suggest you edit your profile to put a *general* location in as so many smithing questions do have a location component to their answers.) Do you have a copy of the $50 Knife Shop or "Introduction to Knifemaking" ?
October 10, 20178 yr Author I don't have a copy of either and yes I have been looking at some high carbon steels for my knives just more focused on the equipment im gonna need. Thanks guys
October 10, 20178 yr As Glenn and Thomas are saying, that is a very loaded question. Whatever the "bare minimum" is, to make a knife, ain't gonna be the the same as the bare mininum to make a knife, and actually have any FUN at the same time!! What *you* can get by with is more realative to different factors than you think it is. What the bare minimum would be to get *me* to make a knife would be something like this: angle grinder, file , drill (if you are using pins for the handle), sand paper, some kind of oil for quenching, hair dryer (to blow on a small fire for heat treating), and probably a couple other small thigs I'm forgetting... Oh, and the materials for the knife itself, of course. Yes, buy the book "$50 Knife Shop". Twenty bucks now might save $1,000 worth of head ache!
October 10, 20178 yr Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how much it helps. For me the bare minimum necessary to make a knife is the right kind of stones, leather gloves or a paper towel size piece of soft leather and eye protection. And no, I don't need a deer antler or piece of bone for the final work. Frosty The Lucky.
October 10, 20178 yr We're bound straight to the core! Behold the riant Anthropoid, fear his pointy rocks!
October 10, 20178 yr "I had a bone spur removed from my shoulder once...Now I know why horses dislike spurs!" He said with a flinty eyed stare.
October 11, 20178 yr The bare minimum...? The bare minimum to make tools, knives, axes, forges, spears and the like is a pair of good trousers. ..like this sophisticated fellow shows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVV4xeWBIxE
October 11, 20178 yr Author Thanks everyone for your useful advice and yes from what y'all been saying I will be investing in the $50 knife shop.
October 11, 20178 yr 11 hours ago, AyrtonRedfearn said: Thanks everyone for your useful advice and yes from what y'all been saying I will be investing in the $50 knife shop. Sorry if we got carried away on you but we couldn't do a lot more without knowing more about your goals. Soo, we got silly it's actually meant as an example of where really open questions can lead. Please stick around, we're actually pretty helpful if we can be. See? I didn't even comment on strange strata or orogenious zones those fossils can delve into. Oh, wait I did didn't I. I don't have such good self control sometimes. Like puns? . . . I hope. Frosty The Lucky.
October 12, 20178 yr Do not forget the Introduction to Knifemaking book by Steve Sells available in the IForgeIron store or through Steve. "Introduction to Knifemaking" A 6 x 9 inch format soft bound book, with 212 pages and over 100 black and white illustrations and photo's. The book is reviewed - click here.
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