How to Make Your Own Knives. Knife-making for the Home Hobbyist

185 Pages·1978·82.135 MB·English

by  Jim Mayes

HOW TO MAKE
YOUR OWN
KNIVES
Knife-making
for the
Home Hobbyist
by Jim Mayes
Illustrated by Dale Bolen
j
EVEREST HOUSE
..Publishers New York
To Barbara ...
Who allows me to spend more
time than I should at the
workbench.
Copyright © 1978 by James Mayes
All Rights Reserved
ISBN: 0-89696-018-8
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 78-57407
Published simultaneously in
Canada by Beaverbooks,
Pickering, Ontario
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD 9
CHAPTER 1 A BRIEF HISTORY 13
OF KNIVES AND
KNIFE-MAKING
CHAPTER 2 KNIFE 24
NOMENCLATURE:
What to Call That
Thingamabob
CHAPTER 3 UNDERSTANDING · 29
METALLURGY: The
Steel-Maker's Art
CHAPTER 4 SETTING UP YOUR 38
WORKBENCH
CHAPTER 5 GETTING STARTED: 48
Where There's a
Will, There's a
Knife
CHAPTER 6 BLADE DESIGN: 56
Sizes, Sha pes,
and Grinds
65
CHAPTER 7 THE BLADE: .
Getting What You
Want in a
Handmade Knife
75
CHAPTER 8 HEAT TREATMENT:
Giving Your Blade
Its Character
CHAPTER 9 THE TANG: Its 82
Purpose and
Design
87
CHAPTER 10 HILTS AND
POMMELS: How to
Make Them
105
CHAPTER 11 THE HANDLE: An
Expression of Your
Individuality
124
CHAPTER 12 EPOXY AND HOW
TO USE IT
131
CHAPTER 13 USING PINS AND
CUTLER'S RIVETS
141
CHAPTER 14 FINISHING YOUR
KNIFE: Sanding,
Buffin9, and
Polishing
151
CHAPTER 15 THE SHEATH: How
to Desi~n and
Make I
7
CHAPTER 16 KNIFE CARE: 166
Honing and Other
Thoughts
APPENDIX Glossary of 179
Knife-Making
Terms
Where to Order 188
What You Need
Knife-Making 190
Supplies and
Services
9
FOREWORD
This is obviously another one of those how-to-do­
it books. That's what it's meant to be and that's
what it is. But I hope the information it contains
will also instill in you, as it has in me, a greater
appreciation of the art and science that is knife­
making in America today.
By reading this book and following the in­
structions it offers, you will be reliving a heritage
that is older than our country itself. I believe you
will discover, too, the pleasure of melding metals,
woods, stag, and other components into practical
artistry. You will find that the only limitations
imposed on your ability to produce fine cutlery are
the time and care with which you approach this
satisfying hobby.
I make no pretense that all of the information
contained herein is original. Indeed, many of the
most useful tricks I have learned have been those
taught to me by others. At the same time, I am
sure that some of the statements I make will not
be accepted by every knife-maker. For this I take
full blame, and say only that this is part of the fun
of knife-making.
This book above all else, is intended to be
practical. There is no statement made and no les­
son taught that is based on hearsay. Everything
has been tried in my basement workshop. The
suppliers I list and recommend are those who have
provided satisfactory service and materials to me
at competitive prices. I apologize in advance to
any who might be offended by my omitting them.
10
Through words, photographs, and illustra­
tions, I have attempted to chronicle the step-by­
step approach I have found most useful during the
several years I have been making knives as a home
hobbyist. I have not tried to gloss over difficult
tasks, nor have I made some jobs seem more
difficult than they really are.
With the possible exception of the chapters on
metallurgy and heat treatment, I have not used
technical terms that are beyond the understanding
of the average hobbyist. Terms and language that
are somewhat specialized are explamed in the text
or in a glossary at the end of the book.
On the assumption that the reader of this
book is like me, an outdoorsman entering upon
knife-making largely because he admires quality
workmanship and seeks something "a little out of
the ordinary," I have included a chapter on the
history of knives and knife-making, and discussed
briefly the background of some of America's great
custom knife-makers. Other books have done this
quite well, however, and my real purpose in this
book is to help the reader become proficient in
knife-making with tools and material that are
readily available.
If this book inspires you to join the thousands
who enjoy using, collecting, and showing knives
that are the product of their own skill and imagi­
nation, then I have done what I set out to do.
Jim Mayes
Hom ewood, Illinois
May 1978
HOW TO MAKE
YOUR OWN KNIVES
13

CHAPTER 1

A BRIEF
HISTORY OF
KNIVES AND
KNIFE-MAKING
Today's knife-maker-whether hobbyist or
professional-is recreating a form of craftsman­
ship that began in Asia and Europe many centuries
ago, traveled to America with the earliest
pioneers, crossed the Alleghenies and later the
Rockies with the first westward migrations, and
finally became entrenched among frontier
blacksmiths as a distinctly American art and craft.
In common with the early day gunsmiths of
New England and Pennsylvania, the pioneer
knife-makers created a utilitarian art form that
blossomed for a while, succumbed to mass produc­
tion for about a century, then again fluttered to
life about four decades ago.
Today's knife-makers, many of them working
on home workbenches, are creating some of the
finest knives the world has ever known. Almost
without exception, the most indistinctive knife
today contains steel that would have turned our
forebears green with envy.
The history of knife-making is the history of
mankind itself. The very earliest relics found in