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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 08-16-2015, 10:50 PM
prerunner2 prerunner2 is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
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looking for first knife blank..

I am looking to get into knife making but at the moment I just want to play with some handle materials that were gifted to me. I have 3/16 composite gemstone handle material and was curious what knife blank I can pick up on the cheaper side that the handles would look good on. I guess my main question is how to know what blanks work with what thickness handles?
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Old 08-17-2015, 01:42 AM
NPD NPD is offline
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You can have a look here first they have plenty knife blanks and the materials you need.
http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/index....gsdn2ntc7i5i63


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Old 08-17-2015, 07:53 AM
prerunner2 prerunner2 is offline
 
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Thanks...I understand where to get the materials from. I am wondering how do I know what handle thickness works for which blade blank. Is it just a preference or is there a rule of thumb. Ie blade is so thick it uses skinny handles or blade is thin it uses thick handles?
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Old 08-17-2015, 08:05 AM
NPD NPD is offline
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have a look on this tread maybe it helps.


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  #5  
Old 08-17-2015, 08:57 AM
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BCROB BCROB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by prerunner2 View Post
Thanks...I understand where to get the materials from. I am wondering how do I know what handle thickness works for which blade blank. Is it just a preference or is there a rule of thumb. Ie blade is so thick it uses skinny handles or blade is thin it uses thick handles?
No rules in knife making , whatever you like , just look around and you'll see variance in 1000's of pics available here


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Old 08-17-2015, 10:02 AM
prerunner2 prerunner2 is offline
 
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Thank you I will be sure to check out all the pictures of the amazing work all you guys do around here!
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Old 08-19-2015, 06:33 AM
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You will most likely have to shape/reshape your handle when finishing up the knife. Then it is a "what feels good, looks good and handles good" issue and purely up to you.

Be sure you have the tools to work the stone before you start. Even some of the reconstituted stones require special stone working tools rather than metal working tools.
It does sound like you will have to do a good bit of work......so don't put all that effort into a "cheaper side" blade. Be like putting a tux on a yard hog.


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  #8  
Old 08-19-2015, 07:52 AM
argel55 argel55 is offline
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Jantz has a wide variety of blanks. they even have damascus ones on the catalog.
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  #9  
Old 08-19-2015, 08:13 AM
prerunner2 prerunner2 is offline
 
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I ended up going with a blank from knife kits..I purchased the drop point club blank. What special tools may be required to work the composite stone? I was planning on just using hand files. The only thing that worried me was that the scales sound like tile and not a fiberglass/resin composite. My plan was going to treat it as a tile and keep the heat down and possibly a lot of wet sanding.
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  #10  
Old 08-19-2015, 09:41 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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If the composite stone you have is the same stuff sold by most knife supply places then no special tools are required. However, be sure that whatever cutting tools you use on it - saws, drills, sandpaper - are as fresh and sharp as possible.

I use composite stone as spacers on most of my knives and it works well that way as it is protected by the guard and the remainder of the handle. Using it as scales is not advisable though as it will break the first time the knife is dropped on a hard surface ...


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Last edited by Ray Rogers; 08-19-2015 at 10:31 AM.
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  #11  
Old 08-20-2015, 06:14 AM
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Most of the re-constituted stone is made up from dust grindings from the real stone or a surrogate dyed stone. Many stones are harder than most steel tools that are not designed for stone. Even though, as Ray said, you can work most with tools on hand, be aware that your tools will dull faster. With some stones, barely or not work at all. Like I said, depends on the stone, any with a MOH's hardness of 5 or higher will be very problematic unless you use carbide or diamond tools.
A lot of the re-con stone sold by knifemakers' supply folks is dyed stone that is a little softer than turquoise - MOH's of 4 - 4.5, (name escapes me at moment). So as Ray indicated, you may be ok with tools in hand. Test an edge with new sharp file and see. Plan on using wet/dry silicon/carbide paper (auto body stuff) and use it wet.
Please use great caution if you grind, the dust from stone is very bad for your lungs - goes in and never leaves introducing many heavy metal components such as lead, copper, chromium, etc. to soft tissue and are carcinogenic in nature.
And yes ,the scales will be fragile.


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