so uhhh...I'm going to start assembling knives

[Ben S]

I decided to try putting knives together. I found a bunch of Camillus blade blanks on eBay (so far I've bought about 6), and will be buying handle material and pin-stock from knifekits.com.
I've already started working on one of my blades. it's an upswept skinner type of knife. I spent a night going at it with Mother's polish and got the blade to a mirror reflective shine.

The reason I'm doing it is because i like to work with my hands, I enjoy knives, and I think it would be neat to be able to pass on "a couple knives that your dad made when he was younger" to my kids one day.
Anybody have any tips for how to do this as well as possible?

[HTRN]

Do you mean finished blade blanks? Because if not, you're probably going to need a belt grinder. You might even need one anyway, even if they are finished blanks, to shape the handles.


HTRN

[308Mike]

Do you mean finished blade blanks? Because if not, you're probably going to need a belt grinder. You might even need one anyway, even if they are finished blanks, to shape the handles.

I was thinking the same thing, otherwise he's going to wind up with straight-stock handles. Are these blanks drilled for handle pins/screws?

What are you going to use for handle material? You're not going to want to use anything that'll soak up blood/sweat/oils/water, etc - unless you treat it or seal it.

What kind of Mother's polish did you use?

Knife & sword polishing is an art to itself.

[Ben S]

These are blanks that were ground but need final sharpening.

Here is a pic I took of two of them.

I am learning that the polishing is a pain in the ass!!!! I've been going at the upswept skinner in the pic for a while now with Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish, and it's shiny and more mirror-like than it was, but it's still got visible grain. I want to get it like a mirror. Obviously part of the problem is that using an aluminum polish on steel is a waste because aluminum is so much softer it's significantly easier to polish. Got any tips on a stronger abrasive? Flitz perhaps? I want to get it to look like a mirror.

I can get pinstock from knifekits.com. I'll cut them down to the size I need, and polish the ends and whatnot. I plan to get various handle materials. I'm going for variation. I like the looks of burled maple, cocobolo, micarta, etc... So i'll make one of each!!! It'll take me a while, but hey, that's part of the fun of a hobby.

Edit to add: the spines on some of the blades are screwy and obviously left as they were when stamped out. I think I get get it out with an abrasive wheel on my dremel though. they are not THAT bed.

[Greg]

I think you might need some "green compound". From what I've seen, different abrasives used to charge strops and belts and such are often just referred to by color.

'Green' seems to be chromium oxide, which is definitely capable of polishing steel. I know Lee Valley sells bars of the green stuff, which they say is .5 micron avg particle size. That should be able to give you a nice polish.

I bought my strop and a bar of the chromium oxide compound from Lee Valley. Good combo.

[Highspeed]

Here you go Ben - http://www.knives.com/engnath_handrub.html

A tutorial from a master of the art.

[308Mike]

Play with various handle materials, combining them with imagination and color coordination. Here are a couple of Anza knives I picked up the last time I went to the factory (factory seconds are always MUCH cheaper).

IMG_3410_x800.jpg

I like the handle on this one much better, but don't like the shape of the knife as much as the first one.

IMG_3412_x800.jpg

[Ben S]

COOL!!!! thanks for the tips guys!!!

As soon as I finish a knife, i'll be sure to post pics for you.

[SeekHer]

The ridges on the back of the drop point hunter, top blade, is called "jimping" and is there as a thumb or finger rest and helps prevent slippage...

An orbital sander with wet dry paper attached is not recommended but it is better then using a Dremel to polish...you need a long surface to polish the blade otherwise you tend to get hot spots of over shined (burnt) blade material...Jewelers Rouge as a final sanding medium will give you a very polished look...The Dremel will work great at de-burring the rough spots on the tang and blade...

Watch out for some of the handle materials, even the wooden ones--they are poisonous and you should sand them only in a well-ventilated room--preferably outdoors--and with a real breathing mask not just a paper filter...MOP, Ebony etc.


A few places to check:

Handle Scales
Knife Supplies
Knife Scales
Giraffe Bone Hardest bone of all
Lumber Company Links from The Woodworking Catalog
Wood Stabalizing
Arizona Desert Ironwood
Desert Ironwood
Mother of Pearl - MOP
Coast Ivory
Tussk Mastadon Ivory
Stag for Sale

[Evyl Robot]

Too cool! You are going to love the knife making! I may have to take some good shots of a couple that I've done over the years...

--Michael