please help on knife making

[monkey boy]

hi everyone, i watch green petes video on making knife, its really cool. i want to have a go but first i have a few questions and was wondering if any one could help.

is there a certain type of file i should use or would any do?

when pete heated the file for the first time to make it softer he did it in a fire, could it also be done in a forge?

is this tool any good for the grinding stages? http://www.ackosdiydecorative.com/pro-user-240v-135w-multi-purpose-mini-grinder-set-73-p.asp

he talks about fileing in a certain angle, why is this? is there an other way to do it?

sorry for all the questions i hope someone can help
many thanks monkey boy

 

[C_Claycomb]

Based on the questions you are asking, I would advise you to save yourself a little time by taking a little more time to do reading and research.

Know that the way that Green Pete does things is not the only way to do them. For instance, you might get on better buying some O-1 Tool steel (ground flat stock) to make your first knife, so saving yourself the problem of anealling a file, or worrying whether the file you have chosen has enough carbon in it to do what you want (cheap files may not). There are many ways of making a knife and quite a few tutorials have been written on the differnerent methods.

That little Dremel type tool won't grind bevels, so save your money. You would be better off buying some good quality hand files (Nicholson are good, Grobet Vallorbe are better) to use as tools rather than as raw material.

You don't have to file at a fixed angle, if you want the finished product to come out with a cross section like an axe. If you want it to come out with an even, flat bevel, whether it runs part way up the blade, as in the case of the Woodlore, or all the way up, as you get on Swiss Army Knives, you need to file or grind at a fixed and consistent angle.


Quoting from a Sticky thread in the Edge Tools area...

How do I make a knife.
There is enough information out there in books and on the Net that you can go as deeply into the subject as you want. Here follow some links to the more useful sites that I have come across, there are doubtless many more.

Forums
www.britishblades.com
www.bladeforums.com
http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/

Tutorials
One way of doing a hidden tang
http://www.britishblades.com/home/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=23
And another
http://www.britishblades.com/home/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=27

Here is a good tutorial by our own Klenchblaize on fitting slab handles. Entertaining AND informative
http://www.deerstalker.com/stalker2.htm

Nick Wheeler's tutorial for handle slabs, with photos.
http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/cache/articles/nw1/scales1.htm

Mortice tangs. The same things can be done with files and sandpaper and sharp chisels
http://www.primosknives.com/articles/mortised_tangs/mortised_tangs_1.htm

Compendiums of articles and instructions
Bob Engnath’s site, gives step by step instructions on nearly all aspects of knife making.
http://www.engnath.com/public/manframe.htm

A little more advanced, info on making equipment too
http://www.knivesby.com/knifemaking.html

All you ever wanted to know about materials (almost)
http://ajh-knives.com/material.html


I can also thoroughly recommend Wayne Goddards books, The Wonder of Knifemaking and The $50 Knife Shop. The Barney & Loveless book How to Make Knives is also very good and shows how to make slightly better finished knives than those seen in the Goddard books (though the b/w photographs aren’t so clear).