Anyone filing baldes to finsih?

[AWGunS]

I am going to eventually make my own blade (and hopefully many more) soon, and was curious as to whether any of the knifemakers out there file their blades to finsih, bevel and all?

I picked up a book by Tim McCreight, and all his blades that are made in the book are from filing. Since i don't have a proper grinder (I have a Delta 1", but I don't trust it and the lousy platten), I will be filing mine. I have a brand new Nicholoson Magi-cut, 2nd cut, and fine files waiting in the wings. I will use the delta to grind the outside form and help with the handles. Anyone have any tips with filing? I am a machinist, but use files only to deburr and maybe to round an edge on occasion. Never attempted serious stock removal though.

A Smith

[A T Barr]

That's a rough way to make a blade. But,.... it is a safe one.


You need to purchase the book "How to make knives" by Barney and Loveless. That is basically the only book that was around when I started making knives in '79. Barney tell's you how to make a sheath knife without any power tools.

Good Luck,

A.T.

[AWGunS]

I know its not the easiest, but its a start. Maybe after I complain enough about my hands hurting from filing, my wife will let me get a KMG But seriously, I am looking forward to it.

A Smith

And please forgive the spelling in the title.

[Crex]

Get you a Harbor Freight side grinder when they are on sale for $14 or so. You can really bulk down a blade with the proper disc and get them down to where filing is minimized.
I forge all my blades and finish them by draw filing then sanding blocks and stones. Filing one down from barstock is a lot of work even when your good with files.
Have fun.

[hammerdownnow]

There are many ways to skin a cat. All you really need is the will to make a knife and a point in the general direction. I made the mistake of trying to start by hammering out 17" bowies. It did not take long for me to realize it is best to start small and work my way up. The link below is the Jonsey tutorial. It has some good tips on how to start simple. Take what you can use, use what you got and improvise the rest. Crex's advice to get a side grinder is a good one. It does not take long to get pretty good with one and it saves on belts and or elbow grease. Another good power tool for final finishing was brought to our attention by Bruce Evans. A jitterbug sander. Makes short work of the tedious job of hand sanding. Be sure to visit the Workshop link found at the top of this page. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

http://hossom.com/tutorial/jonesy/

[Doug Lester]

Guns, click on The Outpost and go to a thread "stonefiles II". I think that you could find that interesting.

Doug Lester

[AWGunS]

Thanks guys. And thanks for the reference to the stonefiles II. That was very enlightening, and I think I will give that a try. Thay way, maybe I can leave a bit more material on the blade BHT (before heat treat). I liked the Hossom page as well. His turned out to be a good looking knife, and just proves to me I can do it too with a little elbow grease.

Off to my first knife show this weekend. I am going to pick up a fixed blade kit, just to give me a reference and a little practice before I start my first real blade.

A Smith

[Phydeaux]

Go for it! My fisrt half dozen knives were all done using a hacksaw (to crude profile) and files. It does take more patience. Power tools make some of it go faster, but is also easier to mess it up faster.

I started with with files because I didn't know if how much I'd like making knives, so it was very littlle money invested. Well..... I got hooked.

Ric