On Jun 9, 9:12*am, "RogerN" wrote:
I thought knife making would be an interesting metalworking topic. *I mean
we got tools, quality metalworking, steels, heat treating, forging, and on
and on.

So if I get my shop building and have more convenient access to my
equipment, I'd like to make some quality knives. *For one, I want a blade of
D2 because I hear it's almost stainless but holds an edge real well.

So if I could come up with a nice folding knife locking mechanism I could
design in CAD and machine with the CNC, I could use that design to make an
assortment of blade styles and handle styles.

One thing I noticed about knife making is that you can get a lot of money
tied up in equipment, and I always like the idea of getting more equipment
but not spending lots of dollars. *I thought I could make a knife makers
grinder by using tubing in the Reese hitch size ranges, maybe using
polyurethane wheels ground true for contact wheels.

The heat treating furnaces are quite high too. *Maybe get some kiln
firebrick and heat elements, fabricate a frame to hold the bricks, and use
an industrial ramping temperature controller with a solid sate relay for
temperature control. *Then I can set it to soak, ramp to temperature, hold,
then switch to tempering temperature. *Also it seems one of the controllers
would be great at annealing, heat, soak, let it cool at specified rate at
the critical temperatures.

Anyone here do any knife making?

RogerN

There's a book out by an editor of Blade magazine called "The $50
Knife Shop" or some such. Probably would be $100 now. Guy has some
funny ideas about metallurgy and what goes on with hardening and
tempering, but his shop ideas are sound. Has things like how to set
up a smithing outfit, makeshift hardening setups, not so makeshift
furnaces, build belt grinders( worth the price right there) from skate
wheels or shopping cart casters, anvils and the various bits and bobs
needed. Basically taking scrap and building a shop.

If you do differential hardening, your fancy precision controlled
furnace isn't going to be much good. The Master's test for a blade is
to be able to put it in a vise and bend it 90 degrees without it
either breaking or taking a set. He shows how to do that.

Stan