Hello all, just joined to peruse the forum for info and pick brains if necessary. Also to help others if I can. (I find that helping find solutions for others is one of my quickest ways of learning). About me: My name is Perry Wolf and I live in Creston, BC, close to the USA border, (which is very handy for knife supplies with a parcel depot right on the border I use!). I'm 44 years old and just started knife making last August. So far I've only done 3 knives and currently working on Simple Little Life's #SSLBuildAlong October Build along with the Zombie Joe knife. Most my time so far has been spent modifying, upgrading and buying tools I want. (*click pics for larger view) I bought a small knife making forge off of eBay and used it to forge my first knife out of mild steel, just to see if I could do it. First time blacksmithing, so didn't know how the metal would move and ended with a less than desirable tang angle and overall shape. However I did manage a nicely forged distal taper I could work with! Reshaped the tang while shaping the knife: So far I've only got a Delta 1x30 belt sander which I modified with a bigger steel table. Still makes it challenging to get decent grinds. Preliminary end result with Padauk wood handle carved on my small CNC machine and then final shaped, (didn't bother pinning the handle because I knew I wouldn't be using this knife): Still didn't like the shape of the blade much, so reshaped for the final result: And now it's just a write-off for experience. Next knife was made with stock removal from 1084 bar stock I bought from Knifemaker.ca. 2nd knife was based on this EDC neck knife (youtu.be/QblExyqWeyo), but ended up larger using 3/16ths by 1.5inch stock: Etched in Ferric Chloride/water solution for one and a half minutes, but in hind sight I wanted it darker so I may redo the finish, plus I've designed a new logo for my future knives and think I'll put that on there as well, instead of just the "W", (done with a vinyl cutout to protect the area I didn't want etched). 3rd knife I jumped right in the deep end! Did a drop point hunter, 1084 stock removal again, with copper bolster and liners, blue acrylic pearl scales and brass pins. (Accidentally trial fit the bolsters in place with the brass pins but couldn't get them off again, so peened them fully and they went through heat treat with the blade. Made for tricky cleanup later!): Pretty dang happy with the way that one turned out, with the exception of a few hairline cracks in the acrylic scales by the pins. Shame but not bad enough to ruin it. Really loving this new hobby. Love working with the metal. Been working with wood most my life, (finishing carpenter for many years, but now Steel Coking Coal mining in BC), so working with metal is a great learning experience! And love knives, so naturally... Anyway, that's my experience so far in a nut shell. Not sure I'll get the October #SSLBuildAlong done by the end of the month, (work keeps getting in the way!). But I'll be sure to post pics when done. Take care now, -Perry Wolf.
You got a better start under your belt than I did. Welcome to the forum. Lot's of brains to pick here.
Welcome. Great pictures showing your progression so far. I agree with you that helping someone else is often the best way to learn new things yourself.
Welcome, it does not look like you have anything covering the ceramic blanket in your forge. If you do not you will want to get some sort of refractory cement to cover the exposed fiber blanket as the fibers can work there way loose and is terrible for your health. Take care your knives are getting better and better as you go.
Hi Perry. A belated welcome to the forum. My granddad lived in Creston. I spent many a summer there and in Ymir.
