My introduction: brand new, and learning from mistakes

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ScouterJeffMalak

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May 10, 2018
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Hi All.

I've come across BF.com many, many times as I have searched for info on knifemaking. I've read a lot (and hopefully learned at least a little) from some of you. I figured, since I'm new, I would post an introduction. (lots of it is copy/paste from my profile so I didn't have to re-type it all.)

My first knife is still unfinished - it was an industrial planer blade I started grinding on when I was in Venture Scouts at about 14. (that's 24 years ago now.) It sits in my toolbox - discoloured from heating past temper in places, weirdly shaped, and generally a reminder to learn while I do.

My second knife was from some random steel I found in my shop. I cut it out, ground a bevel, put on a handle. I was going to heat treat it, but then found out it's "weldable" mild steel, and won't take a heat treatment. I finished the handle anyway, hey, it's practice right?

Recently I bought some Chinese kitchen knife blanks from usaknifemaker.com and am putting handles on them. The first is the same Ipe wood I used for my failed bushcraft knife. The second is going to be from some ResinWood scales I bought with the blanks.

I'm learning, or at least trying to. Making many mistakes, probably spending way too much money, and hopefully building skills that will serve me for the rest of my life, and that I can pass on to my kids and the kids I mentor in Scouting.

I'm from a small town in BC, Canada - and so supplies and tools and such are more difficult to find than they might be in larger towns. I can't just go out to a brick & mortar store and pick something up lots of the time, I have to order online etc. I'm finding it really difficult to know what to actually spend money & shipping time on, what to make do with, and what to start with if I want to make my own blades, not just put handles on blanks.

While reading through the rules it wasn't immediately clear to me if I'm allowed to post links to images of my work (on something like imgur) if I'm not a paid member, so I don't want to until I know I'm allowed. Can someone fill me in on the technicalities?

Also, I wasn't sure if an intro should go here in Community or in the knifemaking general, but I figured here was my best bet.

That's me, thanks for reading so far down!
 
First off, welcome aboard!

Second, yes you are allowed to post pictures of your work, however, unless you have a paid membership you can't upload pictures directly to the forum from your computer. You will need to use a hosting service such as imjur. I used to use Photobucket until they self-destructed so I can't really say which service works best or is easiest to use.
 
Welcome!

For pictures I use imgur: https://imgur.com/

As for building, I get a lot of tips from the knife makers section here: https://www.bladeforums.com/forums/shop-talk-bladesmith-questions-and-answers.741/

And as for what's worthwhile? There's no set rule. If you can, go to a couple knife shows. People will talk to you. You can meet some of the makers, and maybe even get invited to the shop or a hammer in. The best West Coast show is the Oregon show every year in April. They are going to try and bring Blade back to the PNW this October, so if you can get to Portland for a weekend it may be worth it. Otherwise, read, and see if you can get some videos from the American Bladesmithing Association.
 
Welcome to the forum. As eisman eisman said, there's a wealth of information here and the folks in shop talk could probably answer your questions better than anyone. And definitely post pics of your work! As long as you're not selling or promoting a business (no links to a website where you sell, etc.) you should be fine, and we'd love to see your work!
 
Thanks for the warm welcome guys!

Here's some pictures. The gallery of my chef's knife project I'm working on now: https://imgur.com/a/WY7OABE (I'm not sure if the gallery links will work, some forums don't like outside links.) I'll post more if there's any interest and the galleries don't work.

And a quick pic if you don't want to go to the gallery:

Q2V8bWg.jpg


The gallery of Bushcraft Knife 1 - The Failuring: https://imgur.com/a/YqOYTIl

And a quick pic if you just want to see what it looks like:

UjBrpmZ.jpg


I really want to re-build the failed bushcraft knife - it's really pretty, it fits my hand beautifully, and it's exactly the knife I'm looking for in so many ways.
 
Hmm. I should figure out how to post smaller pictures from Imgur.

eisman eisman I don't think I'll be able to get to Portland anytime soon, I'm in north-central BC, so about 10-12 hours drive away. It's not impossible, just not likely right away. That said, I am trying to find some knifemakers in my area.

A buddy and I are doing weekly knife workings in my shop, it's a chance to turn on music, troubleshoot together, share tools and have a good time working on projects. Working on knives (and the axe I restored for my Brother in Law for Christmas) has had a sort of calming, rejuvenating effect on my shop time.
 
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