Hi, I'm a new knife maker and i wonder to know where you all take your brass or copper bar to make guard and your brass or copper pin to assemble your handle? Thanks Guy!
I get most of my metals (other than blade steel) at the Metal Supermarkets. They have an off-cuts section where you'll find lots of different sizes and shapes. Off-cuts are sold by the pound so it's cheap, but also hit or miss as to what they will have at any given time. I recently bought some brass tube and rod, 1/8", 3/16 to 1/4" range at Great Hobbies. K&S ENGEERING is the brand, all 3 foot lengths. If you want to make mosaic pins, this is a good place to go. HomeDepot also has brass rod. Canadian Knifemaker Supply is a place to get small quantities of 416 stainless steel rod and bars. If I need to match a pin to a bolster I like to use the same steel. As for copper, I have been using the same pieces of electrical bus bars from salvage. Try your nearest metals recycler and ask what they have. They might have some bus bar in the scrap. Again sold by weight. Hope that helps, Dan
