New to the game and absolutely loving it. I was hoping someone could suggest some relatively cheap but decent quality blanks, as opposed to diving in at the deep end and developing my nascent skills on something costing hundreds in SG2 or something (i.e. ruining it). I'm primarily interested in hard steels as opposed to stainless and am initially interested in making chef knives along the lines of a kiritsuke, santoku or gyuto. I live on Vancouver Island and would prefer to avoid mammoth shipping costs. Many thanks in advance. Z
Hi there. By blanks, do you mean the pre-formed blanks that the various knife making supply companies sell? If so, sorry, I don't have any experience with them but maybe others have. For a steel source, I'm not sure what you would consider a decent steel but it's hard to suggest anything without knowing your setup. Are you doing your own heat treating? I'm guessing by "hard" steel you mean high carbon and I've made excellent chefs knives from the old large circular saw blades you can pick up fairly easily. The challenge is that you never know what steel you're getting and heat treating is a bit experimental sometimes. The same goes for just about any inexpensive "found" steel you pick up to practice on. Everybody has their own views of course, but there's enough variables in this that I'd want to minimize them by working with a good, known steel from the beginning. It's all about the edge - nothing else matters. Having said that, we all want a good looking knife but why put all that effort into a good looking knife that's a marginal performer? I'd rather have a rough looking handle on good steel. I can always strip off the fittings and replace them later if I want. I still have my first knife - it's no looker but it still keeps a fine edge after all these years and I still enjoy using it. Since you mention Japanese knives in your post, I've always got the impression that it was all about the steel for them. Handles were often just pieces of wood that a hot tang was pushed into, long enough to hold and shaped enough to provide good balance and control. Kevin Kent who owns Knifewear (Vancouver, Edmonton,Calgary & Ottawa) and author of "The Knifenerd Guide To Japanese Knives" has two excellent Youtube videos on the Japanese knifemakers he imports (Springhammer : A Documentary about Japanese Blacksmiths & Knife Making and Springhammer 2: The making of a Knife. A Documentary About How Japanese Kitchen Knives are Made). I'd give my right arm to be able to work at this level. In any event, my advice would be to bite the bullet and accept that there will be a few exciting moments. Pick a good steel and learn it. I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. Good luck Dave
Thanks Dave. I've searched this forum for advice on blanks and there's some information, but not much. One fella recommends this company and made a lovely piece from the blank shown here; HAP40 Powdered High Speed Steel blade blank Gyuto knife 205mm non edge – ibuki blade blanks I'm actually in the process of reconfiguring my whole shop, and am considering what types of heat treatment to attempt as I progress. Won't be buying a forge and press in the near future, but one day, who knows. But I do plan on making my own oven for annealing and lower temperature finishing treatments. Looking into buying a grinder, etc... I like your suggestion of trying to find discarded saw blades and have seen it discussed elsewhere. Although my wife always says I hourde too much I've actually met Kevin in Calgary and have known a few people who work for him over the years. Great instagram account.
My apologies, I misunderstood what you were asking. Interesting site and great choice of steel for sure. All you have to do is put an edge on it. I get your point about price though - by the time you add their shipping charges, taxes and whatever customs decides, you're looking at a significant investment. I can't help you with any sources though - sorry. If you do find some it would be great if you could post them here. I've never met Kevin but my son did at a book signing in Edmonton a few years back. I was planning to drop into the Edmonton store next week to check out their sharpening stones if it's still open. Dave
Hey @Zakalwe https://www.canadianknifemaker.ca/index.php?threads/8”-gyuto-ibuki-blade-blank-project.3833/ here you can see the first of two knives I made with the Ibuki Gyuto blade blanks. I made two for personal use and they perform beautifully. I haven’t had to sharpen these knives since I made them (May 2021) and they have been used every day. The HAP 40 core is excellent steel, takes a very keen edge and holds it. As you’ve no doubt read the blanks come heat-treated already at about HRC65. So you got to keep the blades cool as you go. From what I remember shipping was not horrible and fast. They did use DHL Express and I’ve had nothing but great and quick service from them. Another option for you is https://www.knifeprint.com/ You can design a knife and they will water jet or plasma cut it out for you. They have quite a few steels to choose from and the blank will come annealed, so you can heat-treat it to yourself. Hope this helps! Cheers Griff
Griff - this blows my mind a bit. I am currently baffled by how people like you make knives that end up looking as incredible as that. I'm assuming you're a professional and/or have been doing this for a very long time? I'm having a lot of fun trying things and messing around while planning a couple of purchases, which is the best approach for someone like me who has a history of getting into something, then quickly dashing out to spend a fortune on all the best kit before I've really come to understand my new hobby. For example, my 'grinder' is currently an inverted Makita belt sander held in a vise So I'm planning on buying a grinder... Which may answer my next question, which is 'how TF do you get such a beautiful, geometrically perfect bevel? I've managed a comparatively modest, tiny but fairly straight bevel on an old kitchen knife I'm practicing on, but something like what you've done is alien. I suppose the answer might be something like 'you need a decent grinder and lots of practice/experience', both of which are currently absent in my shop. My other, bigger question concerns how far 'upstream' I should take my hobby. And by that I mean; should I aim to forge/shape/quench/anneal etc. or is it 'acceptable' to adopt the hobby while skipping all of that and just work with blanks I buy from forges? Or maybe that's how I start and see where it goes. I know for sure I would absolutely love to do the whole thing, but isn't that a major commitment, financially and in other ways? I watch YouTube videos of people like Kyle Royer with his 40 ton press and supernatural skill and obviously find it pretty intimidating. I'm currently easily pleased and am proud of effectively rejuvenating an old knife to make it look awesome with a new handle, new bevel, new pins, super sharp, etc., but when I show someone and they say 'wow! Did you *make* that'? I have to reply 'well, not really, but I did some cool stuff'... But it's the process of discovery and trial and error that I'm loving at the moment. Dom
Hey @Zakalwe Thanks for the kind words, but I’ve only been doing this as a hobby since 2016, and I only make 1-3 knives a year during the warmer months. I’m not one of the people you may run into trying to make this their full time gig. As a result of only doing this a few times a year I tend to get rusty during the months away from the grinder. The first and sometimes second knife of the year inevitably goes wrong in one way or another. Bud your knives are going to be what they are for a while. They are going to be your first knives and everybody’s first knives are not great in the grand scheme, but they are an achievement that can’t be taken away by anyone, no matter how crap they will be by ‘your own standard’ in a few years you’ll still love them. All I can tell you is to look at other people’s work as inspiration only, don’t ever compare yourself to the next knife maker, you’ll drive yourself nuts. Make them your way, but strive to make them to the standard you’d want your name on them and out there in the world. I could argue most knife makers are affected by the trickle down effect of the Master Smith syndrome. Stock removal guys (like myself) are the worse for this because the majority of us will never pick up a hammer or even think of going for Junior Smith, never mind Master Smith, and we sit in our garages hand sanding knives for hours on end, stressing over every minor detail, details that only other knife makers ‘may’ see anyway and not the end user. Then we charge $300-400 for a knife a M.S charges $4000 for. What we really all they should be concerned with is the end users needs/ wants and: Is the heat treatment good? And Does the knife function as intended? Not Will other knife makers like this? Or Oh there’s this micro scratch near the ricasso and no one else will see it, but I know it’s there arrggghhhh! Lol! Before anyone reading this and gets their panties in a twist, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being anal about your knives. The message is as it was at the beginning, make your knives your way, but make them to a standard your comfortable giving them to someone else with your name on it and that they function as intended and last. Dom, bevels and plunge lines will drive you crazy now, and will once in while haunt your dreams even when you’re a more accomplished knife maker, better get use to that now. If you’re going to push on learning on your belt sander for now keep watching freehand grinding tutorials , and maybe practice on mild steel blanks. There’s jigs out there, and don’t feel bad for using one they are awesome, but get a feel for things freehand first. I would also recommend 1084 steel to you so you can heat it to non magnetic and quench in canola oil to start, without getting into too much. The only guy I can recommend that I feel has a mirror to your current setup on YouTube to watch is https://youtube.com/@SLAVIKTELY He uses a similar set up sander, and heat treats via a forge rather than a kiln, also does a lot of primary bevel work with files. Watch his very early work though to see his minimal set up, he has a 2 x 72 grinder now. Also just in case you’ve never seen it, here is the bevel file jig Aaron Gough made years ago a lot of new makers use before using a grinder. This video plus a lot of Aaron’s first videos are also great for the beginner. I wish you the best of luck bud. Look forward to seeing your first few knives, don’t be shy about posting them. You have to view your first year/ maybe two years as your learning curve. I am in a perpetual state of that because of my time out of the shop haha! It’s a great hobby and for some a great source of income. Just don’t expect to be great off the bat, and know we’ve all been where you are now. Cheers Griff
Griff - thanks so much for the wisdom and encouragement. It's what forums are for and is much appreciated. Spooky how well you seem to know me and what I'm up to ;-)
