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Knife making

C

Chris152

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Back in 2022, I read Dr.Al's thread on making a beautiful knife at the forge in Hereford, and soon after took my son to have a go at beating a billet of steel into the shape of a knife. (It was a snowy day shortly before Christmas, such a treat.) He loved it, but we never got around to finishing it, mainly because of my failure to find the wood he wanted for the handle. Then, a few days ago, I stumbled on a block of purpleheart and realised it might work.

The more I've thought about it, the more I've realised I'd like to make some knives. We can't be forging and hammering metal in the garden on account of the neighbours' sanity, so stock removal seems to be the way forward for us. It'll work nicely, as it combines the lad's obsession with working with metal with my efforts to work with wood. We have plenty of gear (what's the second part of that phrase?) apart from a bandsaw, I sold mine along with other woodworking tools a few years ago. Reading around, the answer seems to be a portable bandsaw, capable of cutting steel in a vertical position with a fabricated table.

Does anyone have experience with reasonably priced (up to about £400?) portable bandsaws and advise which would be good to go for? I'm assuming it's best to get one that comes with a stand, so the connection can be readily used to mount the saw to a table.

I'll post our efforts here as we go. In the meantime, here's the knife he made and the purpleheart, with a bowl for some reason, waiting to be finished.

And thanks to Dr.Al for the recommendation, it was a great day out.

IMG_20251207_083029_edit_202853477523207.jpg
 
For metalwork, have you considered a horizontal bandsaw instead of a portable one? I've never used a portable one so I can't comment on them, but I have a machine mart (Clarke) horizontal bandsaw, which I bought second-hand for about £70. It was pretty shabby but nevertheless worked fine for the first 8 years (at which point I finally decided to give it some love and tidied it up a bit - I've had it for about 13 years now and it's still going strong).

They're fairly easy to get hold of second-hand and they're cheap. As standard they come with a little table (although mine didn't), but they're not hard to knock up if you get one that's missing its table.

They're (unsurprisingly) not made by Machine Mart; they get sold under a few different brands. Even brand new from Machine Mart they're not far off your target price and you can get them second-hand at varying prices / levels of shabbiness depending on what you prefer: cheap, not so cheap, even less cheap.
 
Dr.Al said:
For metalwork, have you considered a horizontal bandsaw instead of a portable one? I've never used a portable one so I can't comment on them, but I have a machine mart (Clarke) horizontal bandsaw, which I bought second-hand for about £70. It was pretty shabby but nevertheless worked fine for the first 8 years (at which point I finally decided to give it some love and tidied it up a bit - I've had it for about 13 years now and it's still going strong).

They're fairly easy to get hold of second-hand and they're cheap. As standard they come with a little table (although mine didn't), but they're not hard to knock up if you get one that's missing its table.

They're (unsurprisingly) not made by Machine Mart; they get sold under a few different brands. Even brand new from Machine Mart they're not far off your target price and you can get them second-hand at varying prices / levels of shabbiness depending on what you prefer: cheap, not so cheap, even less cheap.
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The biggest issue with such a saw for us is space. We've reached a point where everything has its place, but any more and we'll be putting something away to get something out, and even then we'll struggle for floor space - the ones I've seen look pretty big. If he was regularly cutting larger stock it'd make sense but he's working almost exclusively with sheet metal, which the portable saw with a table would be good for (curves etc.). That said, I'll keep my eyes peeled in case a smaller version of yours comes up used.

eta - this is the kind of setup I was hoping to achieve, but this one's pushing £700 from what I can tell (I can't actually find one in the UK):
 
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I've done several knife making courses, mostly in Japan but also in the UK (Will Catcheside). Without exception they all used horizontal saws because they are a lot better for metal. It's not such a big deal actually to use a coarse blade hacksaw.

A lot of so called "handmade" knives are made from blanks. Various qualities readily avaialble, including properly forged Damascus. I would focus my my money and attention on a good belt linisher - the bigger the better. The material removal method is pretty slow. Once the bug bites you will be wanting to use folded and multi-layered metal.

Then comes the powered hammer.....
 
AJB Temple said:
I've done several knife making courses, mostly in Japan but also in the UK (Will Catcheside). Without exception they all used horizontal saws because they are a lot better for metal. It's not such a big deal actually to use a coarse blade hacksaw.

A lot of so called "handmade" knives are made from blanks. Various qualities readily avaialble, including properly forged Damascus. I would focus my my money and attention on a good belt linisher - the bigger the better. The material removal method is pretty slow. Once the bug bites you will be wanting to use folded and multi-layered metal.

Then comes the powered hammer.....
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Maybe we could initially use an angle grinder with a cut-off disc and create curves on a linisher? More grinding and mess, but it could work ok.

I'm hoping to get away with my Sorby Pro-edge with a 40g or 60g belt for general shaping, tho that won't allow for concave shapes - I took a look at 2 x 72 belt grinders and decided not to go there! Maybe a 1 x 30, as they come in at more affordable prices. Is the idea of longer belts that they don't get so hot?

Dr.Al - I've now been pacing around the workshop looking for space! The horizontal/ vertical Clarke saw you linked to is in budget and I guess more solid than the portable ones. Hm.
 
Chris152 said:
Maybe we could initially use an angle grinder with a cut-off disc and create curves on a linisher? More grinding and mess, but it could work ok.

I'm hoping to get away with my Sorby Pro-edge with a 40g or 60g belt for general shaping, tho that won't allow for concave shapes - I took a look at 2 x 72 belt grinders and decided not to go there! Maybe a 1 x 30, as they come in at more affordable prices. Is the idea of longer belts that they don't get so hot?
Click to expand...

A 2×72" belt grinder (or something similar) is on my one-day project list. Unfortunately, it isn't going to happen until I move house to somewhere with more space.

Chris152 said:
Dr.Al - I've now been pacing around the workshop looking for space! The horizontal/ vertical Clarke saw you linked to is in budget and I guess more solid than the portable ones. Hm.
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If it'll fit in my workshop, it'll fit anywhere 😆
 
I have a small startrite volante metal bandsaw, much more pleasant to use than an angry grinder- worth looking for on eBay as with the gearbox can also be set up for cutting wood and other materials.

My workshops a bit of a mess at the moment, but if you fancy a trip to Cardiff could run through getting from a piece of bar stock to a blank, heat treating, grinding etc
Or even just stand at the bandsaw and rough out some blanks to get you going.
 
The long belt linishers are much easier to use. I have a Sorby Pro Edge too and if you use the coarse belts for removing a lot of metal they wear out very fast. They tend to heat the metal up quite quickly too I find. Will Catcheside's linishers can be run all day - from memory the belt speed is lower than the little Sorby.
 
—Tom— said:
I have a small startrite volante metal bandsaw, much more pleasant to use than an angry grinder- worth looking for on eBay as with the gearbox can also be set up for cutting wood and other materials.

My workshops a bit of a mess at the moment, but if you fancy a trip to Cardiff could run through getting from a piece of bar stock to a blank, heat treating, grinding etc
Or even just stand at the bandsaw and rough out some blanks to get you going.
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That's very kind of you, Tom. It'd be great to talk about the process, I'll send a pm? That said, you don't want me in your workshop just now as I seem to be going down with this flu thing that's going around! Thanks.
 
AJB Temple said:
The long belt linishers are much easier to use. I have a Sorby Pro Edge too and if you use the coarse belts for removing a lot of metal they wear out very fast. They tend to heat the metal up quite quickly too I find. Will Catcheside's linishers can be run all day - from memory the belt speed is lower than the little Sorby.
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I just watched this interesting video, and now need to watch it again. Really enjoyable, too.

 
Just a thought - is it an option to take a regular vertical bandsaw and reduce the speed (with a vfd, for example) to use as a metal saw?
 
Not tried it but I would expect that dropping the speed that much with a vfd may see it struggle for torque, but as knife steel is typically less than 5mm you may be ok.

The metal swarf does get everywhere so if you’re thinking swapping between wood and metal be prepared to have bits of swarf stuck in the wood unless you spend the time to thoroughly clean down each time. But I guess if you’re changing blades and resetting the guides an extra 20 mins with a hoover and a stiff brush isn’t much extra.
 
—Tom— said:
Not tried it but I would expect that dropping the speed that much with a vfd may see it struggle for torque, but as knife steel is typically less than 5mm you may be ok.

The metal swarf does get everywhere so if you’re thinking swapping between wood and metal be prepared to have bits of swarf stuck in the wood unless you spend the time to thoroughly clean down each time. But I guess if you’re changing blades and resetting the guides an extra 20 mins with a hoover and a stiff brush isn’t much extra.
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I'm still looking into this. It'd hardly be for wood, just handles I think. Is the tension on a blade for cutting metal much greater than for wood? Just wondering how the bearings and overall frame of, say, a small-ish Axminster or Record bandsaw would fare.
 
My brother was a development engineer and in the workshop (commercial) they used a bandsaw for cutting metal. It was however, nothing like even a heavy duty wood bandsaw as the blades were wider, under a lot more tension than I use for wood, and the frame was extremely rigid. He welded blades to fit using a special machine. If you look at horizontal powered metal saws, they always have a really heavy duty frame as well. They don't need much depth of cut usually so the frame is easier to make robust.
 
Here’s mine
IMG_3928.jpeg

3 wheel 10 speed Startrite Volant. The handy wheel on the front spins to tell you speeds for different materials (including asbestos….)

Tension wise I set it to 20-25kpsi vs 10-15 on my wood saw

A small blower running off the motor helps clear the swarf, and whilst it has a blade welder on it I just buy them to length from tuffsaws and so far they wear out before they snap.

Think this is the smallest vertical one they did
 
I have an Inca bandsaw but I believe it runs too fast for metal cutting. I make knives using a hacksaw, files, a drill press, a bench grinder and a Dremel tool. I'll make a separate thread to show my method if this would be of interest.
 
rxh said:
I have an Inca bandsaw but I believe it runs too fast for metal cutting. I make knives using a hacksaw, files, a drill press, a bench grinder and a Dremel tool. I'll make a separate thread to show my method if this would be of interest.
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I think a thread would go down well, especially as it seems making our own knives will soon be the only way to obtain them.
 
Thanks all. It looks like converting a wood bandsaw isn't a great idea for the reasons you give, and if nothing else because of the overall costs. A possibility if one comes up at the right price might be an old/ vintage Rockwell/ Delta 14" saw with low-speed gearbox for metal cutting. They seem to be cheap and very pretty machines - does anyone have experience?

It'd be great to see a thread describing your method, rxh. I decided to test our Metabo cordless hacksaw yesterday and it makes decent progress through 3mm mild steel - it'll definitely do for a start.

In other good news, I ordered a couple of 1m lengths of 1084 steel last Tuesday, for delivery Wednesday by DHL. By the end of the week it still hadn't arrived and apparently DHL couldn't locate the package, so the supplier sent out a repeat order. Today, both packages arrived - so plenty to start practising on!
 
I run this one, but for knife making it would be best used hand held as it comes off of the stand. There is a light as well as being variable speed.
I have cut 4" round Ali bar as well as a lump of steel which was 3" X 4 1/2" yes these were done on the stand as in the picture.
The only disadvantage I have found is you need to keep your finger on the trigger.

bandsaw (2).JPG
 
Yesterday, we made up a replacement guide for the proedge so that P36 belts would fit (the belt is too thick for the space allowed by the original guide), and allowing better access for a longer knife across its surface.

Then this morning, having seen rxh's method in his thread, decided to crack on with what we have. It's quite hard work even with the cordless hacksaw and the linisher, and a hand file for the concave sections, but it's a start and looks a bit knife-like in profile! I decided to start with a small kitchen knife, not sure what the type is, I just copied it from the net.

IMG_20251219_115416_edit_84347763218897.jpg IMG_20251219_115242_edit_84252601872036.jpg
 
Somewhat sidetracked from actually making knives, we bought this about a week ago - it's a 1942 Delta Milwaukee metal/ wood bandsaw. It has the wrong pulleys and we're looking for a solution that allows us to get as close as possible to the speeds in the manual. The chaps on OWWM in the US have been incredibly helpful. It's a lovely machine and running nicely, just need to sort the pulleys. And it's very nice to have a bandsaw again, I've missed it more than the other bits of kit I sold.

We've also cut a couple of blanks by hand and initially shaped and hardened one in the forge / hole in the ground, it seems to have worked OK. Pics to follow once it's done.

IMG_20260109_103117_edit_86003954039998.jpg
 
We find creating a consistent grind from spine to edge tricky, so we just made this to help. It's a sprung hinge, the rest is pretty obvious - design from this Instructables post:
www.instructables.com

Knife Grinding Jig

Knife Grinding Jig: I was recently looking for a knife grinding jig so that I didn't have to free hand it if I didn't want to but they were all in the $70 to $150 range and there was no way I was going to pay that when I knew I could make one myself. I then started sea…
www.instructables.com www.instructables.com

IMG_20260121_162418_edit_60726880885003.jpg

In the end, we turned a couple of pulleys for the motor and the saw is now producing about 90 ft/min in metal-cutting mode. Ian at Tuffsaws recommended a 1/2" x 10/14 M42 blade (I asked for one to cut both aluminium and mild steel) - we'll be doing our first cuts with it tomorrow!
 
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