electro-etching??

[calharkins]

I am buying blades that have already been tempered. I am just starting knife making and do not have equipment to make blades. Anyway, everyone tells me I need to put my name on the knives that I am making. I am considering an electro-etching machine to put my name on my knives. Anyone got any experience with the quality of the marking?

Thanks in advance

Cal

[Bob Warner]

Electro-etching is an excellent method to mark the knives YOU make. I would not suggest marking the purchased blades unless you mark them in a manner that allows others to know they are not blades you created.

Search this forum for marking kit knives and such and you will see strong feelings on this topic.

[calharkins]

I did the search that you suggested Bob. I guess I need to find another forum. I probably won't ever make my own blades. A lot of people here think that people putting together knives from blank blades are low down sorry bastards that should be put to death. They want to pass judgement on others based on their own skills and available equipment.

I have made several knives from blanks for friends and family. I have had several people see them and want me to make them one. So I may not be up to your standards but I am definitely up to those folks standards.

[AcridSaint]

I don't think anyone here feels the way you describe, however almost everyone here believes that you should not mark a knife that you did not make. I saw a poster the other day in a maker's shop - it said Steel is the heart of a knife and heat treatment is it's soul. In other words, those are the two parts that really make it a knife so it's hard to tell people you made the knife when you really just customized a blade.

There are many people who start out as kit makers and it's fine. There are many makers who purchase blades from other makers or do collaborations, that's also fine as long as everyone gets credit. In some cultures blade making is a multi-person job and you would be proud to say that so-and-so did one part of your knife.

Dennis Greenbaum is on this forum and he has made quite a name for himself as knife customizer, no one begrudges him.

I don't think you did enough search or close enough reading if you think that kit knives are frowned upon here. We only frown upon deception.

[EdgarFigaro]

There's also a large number of guys over on the British Blades forum that make the knife but don't make the blade. They'll purchase it from various sites or from other makers. They can do pretty nice work as well.

You could always try doing some of your own stock removal knives and then send them to one of the places that do the heat treating for you.

Setting up a small forge is pretty easy, and doesn't take a lot to do, the part that might require the most work would be something to use as an anvi, but that might be easy to find with a visit to the scrap yard.

You ever put that micarta you got from me to use? =]

[calharkins]

Haven't used the b'carta yet. Been deer hunting. I got a 10 pointer that field dressed 152 pounds. Shot it with custom amunition I made myself. I didn't make the brass, the bullet, the primer, or the powder. I did put it all together and it did the job well.

Cal

[Bob Warner]

I said nothing about MY standards. There are some makers here that make knives and their quality is not up to the standards of others, so what.

As Cap said Dennis Greenbaum has come up with some nice work, as have others by finishing kit knives or customizing them for customers.

The problem is that a lot of guys get on here and other forums and talk about a knife they made and then give it away or sell it as their own creation. That is deception. The people here have no problem with you making kit knives, just inform the recipient that you did not make the blade and do not give them the impression you did it all.

If you want to mark them, go ahead but mark them with "Assembled by your name" or something similar.

It has nothing to do with the standards of me or anyone else, it has to do with a simple fact; did you make the knife or just add hardware to it?

Now, as far as equipment goes you need a vise, a file, a drill, some sandpaper and a heat source to produce a knife that can rival some expensive knives. The other tools just make it all easier and faster. The skill will come with time.

Do as you want but the best teachers are right here and I can tell you, more than probably anyone else that frequents this forum, these people really care about the others on this forum and will do anything they can to help you.

You may find another forum but the question will always be there no matter who you talk to; "Did YOU make the knife?" If you claim to make a knife and then someone notices that it is a blade blank from a knife supply house, the forum members will eat you alive.

Did you make the knife? No matter the HONEST answer, you will be very welcome here.

[Panvelky]

I agree with those above that if you make it, mark it. As far as tools, I will include a knife pic of one I just finished. It was hand filed and sanded. You can do the same and send it out to be heat treated and then assemble it and put your name on it proudly! I did use a drill to make some holes. I also did the heat treat with a forge I made from an old freon bottle. The thing is not the tools but patience. It does take time, but so worth the effort. I also agree it's not the assembly of some one elses blade it's the deception.

[Ray Rogers]

I agree with to others that there's no problem with kit knives as long as you let people know that it is, in fact, a purchased blade. Many of us, including myself, started out making knives from those blades and there's not one bit of shame attached to that statement.

To answer your original question, sure, pretty much every one of us has experience with electro-etching. Etchers are very simple pieces of equipment and they all work they same way and one works just as well as another where knives are concerned. In other words, you can buy the least expensive Etch-O-Matic (which I use), or one of the significantly more expensive professional units, or you can build your own from plans available from several of our web sites (including Bob Warner's who has replied to you above) and you'll get exactly the same mark from all of them if you use the same stencil.

The stencil is the thing. You can make your own using your computer art program and a simple light box (built from plans on these same web sites) or you can pay a professional outfit to do the artwork and produce the stencils for you. There is a difference in the stencils you get by these methods, the professional ones last much, much longer but making your own adds a lot of flexibility if you need to change your mark from time to time....

[calharkins]

Well, the comments on the search I made did not make me feel welcome. However, the responses I have had to this question have made me feel welcome. I will mark my knives "Assembled by Harkins".

Several have offered suggestions on how I might make my own blades. I am going to try to buy some steel and grind it down and shape it. Where is a good place to send it to be tempered? What about putting an edge on the blade? Should this be done before or after the temper?

Thanks for the help.
Cal

[Ray Rogers]

Cal,

You are welcome here. No one on these forums ever intentionally flames or puts down anyone's efforts but sometimes misunderstandings can occur.

To answer your most recent question, where you send the blade to be heat treated depends on whether you have made it from carbon steel or stainless steel. Since carbon steels are so easy to heat treat few professional places handle it simply because they figure most people will just do it themselves. Stainless steel, on the other hand, is much more demanding in the heat treatment and only those with a suitable electric furnace can manage it. That leaves the professional places with plenty of work so they concentrate on stainless steel.

That said, if you are willing to build a small forge and heat treat some carbon steel yourself you will probably find that to be a very enjoyable experience. Or, you can get some good stainless steel like 440C from Jantz, grind out a blade, and send it off to Texas Knifemakers for heat treating. Last I heard, they charged $5 to heat treat a stainless blade.

Sharpening is the very last thing you do when building knife. Trying to work on a sharp knife is a good way to get a nickname like 'Stubby'.

If you don't have a suitable belt sander then you should consider using files and sandpaper. There are other ways to grind out a blade - such as bench grinders and angle grinders - but for the most part they are incredibly unsatisfactory for most people. The good news there is that even after you get a good belt sander some day in the future you'll still find that you need the files and other tools you accumulated back when you made your blades without power tools.....

[EdStreet]

Cal,

Sorry it took me so long to reply here.

quality of electro chemical etchings? This is a unit that I made and the stencil is made by monode .



this is a sample burn that I did on mild steel.


this one is not to good.

[Wade Holloway]

If you decide to try something in a carbon steel look around here and find someone pretty close to you. Most would be willing to let you come to their shop and would probaly help you to heat treat your first one or two. After that I am pretty sure you will be wanting to do it on your own. Good luck

[MCarter]

I have a Etch-O-Matic. It works but in hindsite I should have bought one of the more professional model. My biggest gripe with the Etch-O-Matic is that the pad is too big making it hard to get a good etch up close to a guard. It's also a pain to remove the felt pad for cleaning.

I also make my own stencils. That is good for small quanty special marks but the stencils I had made by Marking Methods are better and last longer. Marking Methods does charge a one time-set up fee for each stencil but then they keep it on file for future orders.

I also find that making the stencils is sometimes a crap shoot. You really have to guess at the exposure time which varies depending on how small or intricate your design is. Sometime it takes me 2 or 3 tries to get a good stencil.

[Ray Rogers]

MCarter,

I'm responding to your mention that the Etch-O-Matic pad is too large to get close to the guard. As far as I have seen, the pro unit pads are about the same size. But, maybe that's not really the problem. My guess is that you're following the instructions that came with your unit and mounting the stencil on the pad. If that is the case, don't do that.

Mount the stencil on the blade. Use Scotch tape to hold it in place and then apply the edge of the pad to it to get close to the guard. This method works quite well for me .........