Another Newbie KITH???

[NJStricker]

Welcome, Doug! Glad to have you join in.

Jayson, funny how knives tend to get shorter the longer you work on them!

[JediOkie]

Espically the first few hundred you make or so I hear. But as Yoda says; "Do or do not. There is no try."

[AcridSaint]

I'll go in for a tentative, if the deadline is April I think I can put something together. I don't know if I can confirm by the first of the year, as I'm sure I won't get any real time until after Christmas.

Jayson convinced me to have a go at it. Hopefully I won't disappoint.

By the way, I also like to take the dimensions of a bar and work from there on some of my designs. I would use some graph paper or a sketch book and pencil in the corners of the bar and work the design from there. I learned a really easy way to make cheap patterns, just get some wide masking tape and tape the back of your design then cut it out. It won't last forever, but at least you have a pattern if you want to make another one. I am guilty of getting out a sharpy and drawing on my steel too though

[markd]

I'd like in, too. I need as many of these as I can get. I'm in for the kitchen kith, so will do these side by side. Any style preferred??

[jdm61]

I'm in.....FOR REAL this time. I had to totally quit knifemangling last year before the newbie KITH ended becuase I started a new business venture and I just started up again in October. Whoever I owe a knife to from last year, speak up and I will make 2 for this one...lol. Tell ya what...I am planning to take the Intro to Bladesmithing course at the Moran school in February, so one of you lucky chaps may get a blade made by me whilst under adult supervision.....LMAO What say we do like we talked about last year. Knives finished by the end of April and anyone going to Blade brings the knife that he or she received and we have a Newbie KITH show n' tell beer bust in The Pit Saturday night so we don't compete with the ABS banquet on Friday

[jdm61]

Originally Posted by Armory414

Welcome, Doug! Glad to have you join in.

Jayson, funny how knives tend to get shorter the longer you work on them!

That is one thing that I promised myself when I started up again.......no more "oops....fix-it" projects. I threw away most of the half made blades that were left over from 2005 and started fresh. I'm doing a LOT more hand sanding, etc now. My new found patience is paying off. I have 6 knives in varying states of completion and at least 4 are going to turn out pretty nice and the flaws on the other two are not fatal.

[jdm61]

Originally Posted by derek parker

i would love to get in on this. however i am still only making kits, it will be another couple of years before i try my hand at knives from scratch.
if you guys would be ok with it i would love to get in on it.
i just dont want anyone feeling like they got the nasty end of the stick if you know what i mean.......let me know either way, thanks guys.

Here is a thought on a way to get you started on your first made-from-scratch blade. Get some basic steel like 5160 or 1075 or maybe a nice piece of precision ground O1, D2 or W1. Trace your favorite kit knife on the steel and hacksaw or grind out a few blanks (extras in case of screwups....lol) in that shape. (I would recommend doing it with a hidden tang knife....easier to do) Clean up the blanks with a file and some sandpaper and file, sand or grind the bevels, but do the type of grind that you want if it is different from the kit. Use the kit blade as a template for profiling the blade, drilling holes, etc. Use the roughed guard and handle materiel, bolts, thong tube, etc from the kit and voila!!! you will have your first made-from-scratch blade with a few little shortcuts on the fixtures, which we have ALL done on occasion (pre-slotted guards, handle bolts, etc.)

[Andrew Garrett]

jdm61's idea is good, but why use a kit knife as a template.
Draw a picture of the desired profile in actual size on cardboard, lenolium tile, thin wood, or any other semi rigid-yet easy to cut material.
Cut it out and hold it in your hand. Mimic using it.
Make changes where you think they are needed.
When it feels and looks right, then trace it onto the steel. I use a sharpie for this!

Then you have a custom design from the ground up, with nothing borrowed!

You can measure a favorite knife for things like handle length, finger groove size, etc. if you need a starting point.

[JediOkie]

Originally Posted by Andrew Garrett

jdm61's idea is good, but why use a kit knife as a template.
Draw a picture of the desired profile in actual size on cardboard, lenolium tile, thin wood, or any other semi rigid-yet easy to cut material.
Cut it out and hold it in your hand. Mimic using it.
Make changes where you think they are needed.
When it feels and looks right, then trace it onto the steel. I use a sharpie for this!

Then you have a custom design from the ground up, with nothing borrowed!

You can measure a favorite knife for things like handle length, finger groove size, etc. if you need a starting point.

Made a couple of blanks like that out of some of that cheap hobbiest plexiglass you can get at Home Depot or a hobby store. I found out real quickly what looked good on paper didn't always feel good in the hand. I got the idea from reading Bob Lovless's book.

[JediOkie]

So it looks like we're up to seven Nathan.

[jdm61]

cross post on Blade Forums and Don Fogg's board.......shhhhhhhh....lol. Let's get a bunch of folks. So what are the "newbie" qualificatrions? I remember last year that we expanded it a bit. How about these basic rules.
1. If you currently hold any ABS stamp or are a probationary or voting member in the Guild, you are NOT a newbie.
2. If you make knives for a living, you are NOT a newbie
3. If you have been making high priced stock removal art knives for 10 years and you just decided to try your hand a forging, you are NOT a newbie even if you forge your KITH blade.

If you are still not sure about your status, let me throw out a few sure signs of newbieness.

1. If grinding plunge cuts still makes you want to go out and kick the first small dog you can find at least half of the time and the other half of the time makes you want to break out that good single malt Scotch or the Cuban cigar your brother brought back from Canada.
2. If you have recently bought any piece of of knifemaking equipment that cost more than $100 and it sat for more than 2 weeks in the box in your gargage, shed, shop or living room for those of you who are not married because you either didn't have time, didn't know how or were afraid to assemble it.
3. If more than 25% of the knives you start either make the long and painful journey to the local landfill or end up smaller than you originally planned and become your "new" EDC knife.
4. If, at your current rate of production, the 240 pounds of W2 you just bought will last you 4 years even assuming a 50% failure rate (that one is mine....lol)
5. If you are still quenching your blades in a vessel or container originally designed to cook, serve or store food in and tempering in your kitchen oven.
6. If the bottom of the ricasso on some of your knives still ends up thinner than the top after your rough grind or if the tang is thicker than the back of the ricasso on your forged knife when you get ready to rough grind.
7. If it still takes you more than one try to get the swedges on a clip even.
8. If you still have the "2 Inch Disease" or have to hand sand for days to get grinder divets out of your blades.
9. You still occasionally have to go back an thin an edge bevel out a bit more by hand sanding AFTER you attempted to sharpen the knife the first time.

and the BIG indicator that you are a REAL LIVE NEWBIE.......
10. The only people who currently own your knives are either related to you by blood or marriage, work with you, hunt with you annually or have known you since high school and don't want to hurt your feelings

[JediOkie]

If you only understood half of the above mentioned knife terms, you might be a newbie.

[derek parker]

wow, i must say that i am overwhelmed by the fact that you guys are so supportive...dont know why i am, this is what ive come to expect out of you guys.
so, ive been reading all the responses and giving it some thought. i recently met a guy out here that decided he liked my filework so much that he has hired me to file his production knives (benchmade, kershaw, gerber etc.) and i charge him by the inch. its really great and i have found the income that comes in every week, however i feel like its eating up all of my time. i havent even done a kit since i started this guys filework.....now i read in a prior post that if you have a business with knives you arent a newbie. i still really consider myself a newbie, whether i make $$ from my knives or not right now, so i hope that doesnt cause any concern.

now, new years is creeping up and ive been looking at one of the cheap-o grinders for awhile.....soooo, i might as well start trying with my first knife on the first of the year. you guys have got me hyped, and i think im going to start drawing designs today after i do my filework lol. i will shoot for this knife to be the KITH......if something were to happen and i wasnt able to do it for some reason, i will fall back on a kit.....
but be warned gentleman.........you started this, so expect me to flood you with the "how to" "why" and the classic "AAAAAHHHHHHHH" questions.....lol
thanks guys and i really look forward to doing this.

[JediOkie]

Woohoo! You can do it!

[AcridSaint]

I think that as long as someone is trying something new or considers themself a newbie they should be allowed in the KITH. If Ed Caffrey or Don Robinson or whoever else walks in here and says I want to make a knife, I don't want to be the guy that turns them down