On 2013-06-09, 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.

It is not almost stainless, it rusts.

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.

I do not believe that there is any money to be made by knife making.

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?

I do not and do not plan to. Seems like everyone wants to be making
knives.

But the equipment, you can get on the cheap.

i