Hello Bladeforum
Just wanted to share a little story, and perhaps convince anyone out there wanting to make their own knife that it's really not that difficult to get an acceptable result, even on a first try. I have zero experience with woodworking, leather, sewing or metalwork. I don't have any machinery or access to a toolshop (except for a small electric table buffer). And you don't even need that. Don't get discouraged when you see the Youtube videos of knifemakers go to and from large machinery, beltsanders, drillpresses etc. Get a vice, some good sandpaper, watch some Youtube tutorials, and you're 90% of the way.
(wall of text, skipable) So.. why make a knife? Me and the missus uses the outdoors quite a bit each year, shelter, camping, trekking that sort of thing. She broke her fixed blade last year, and I wanted to make something for her birthday.. if anyone was wondering about the design choices being made here
.. and I thought why not try and make a knife and learn something along the way! So I jumped on Youtube and 2 hours later was completely obsessed with the whole world of knife making. I found a woodshop in Ukraine that does some beautiful wood scales and ordered a pair of scales, bought a fairly cheap blade from a German knifeshop (Stainless 14C28N), some cheap mosaic pins from Turkey and some scrap veg-tanned core-leather from a nearby leathershop. I ended up with a knife that isn't really that suited for outdoor tasks, unless carving feathersticks is your sort of thing, but I'm happy with how it turned out none the less.
Feedback and comments for a beginner appreciated.
(PS kudos to you knife makers out there and the attention to detail you are able to achieve. That's the real hard part)
The forum doesn't seem to want to show more than 4 pictures, so here's a link to a gallery with some work on progress pictures:
Just wanted to share a little story, and perhaps convince anyone out there wanting to make their own knife that it's really not that difficult to get an acceptable result, even on a first try. I have zero experience with woodworking, leather, sewing or metalwork. I don't have any machinery or access to a toolshop (except for a small electric table buffer). And you don't even need that. Don't get discouraged when you see the Youtube videos of knifemakers go to and from large machinery, beltsanders, drillpresses etc. Get a vice, some good sandpaper, watch some Youtube tutorials, and you're 90% of the way.
(wall of text, skipable) So.. why make a knife? Me and the missus uses the outdoors quite a bit each year, shelter, camping, trekking that sort of thing. She broke her fixed blade last year, and I wanted to make something for her birthday.. if anyone was wondering about the design choices being made here
.. and I thought why not try and make a knife and learn something along the way! So I jumped on Youtube and 2 hours later was completely obsessed with the whole world of knife making. I found a woodshop in Ukraine that does some beautiful wood scales and ordered a pair of scales, bought a fairly cheap blade from a German knifeshop (Stainless 14C28N), some cheap mosaic pins from Turkey and some scrap veg-tanned core-leather from a nearby leathershop. I ended up with a knife that isn't really that suited for outdoor tasks, unless carving feathersticks is your sort of thing, but I'm happy with how it turned out none the less.Feedback and comments for a beginner appreciated.
(PS kudos to you knife makers out there and the attention to detail you are able to achieve. That's the real hard part)
The forum doesn't seem to want to show more than 4 pictures, so here's a link to a gallery with some work on progress pictures:
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