Six Sturdy Kitchen Knives

Here's a set of kitchen steak knives I made recently.  All the blades are 440-C surgical stainless and were purchased from Jantz knifemaking supply. 
The wood is either pressure treated cocobolo, walnut, or oak that I also bought from Jantz knifemaking supply.  The pins are 3/32" stainless steel. 
I used to cut the stainless steel rod with a hacksaw, but I've found that a sturdy pair of wire cutters is a lot faster and easier.
These are great knives.  I enjoy making them, and everyone who's bought one from me says they're good in the kitchen  There are several that I made my mom four or five years ago, and they're still hard at work in her kitchen almost every day!

Hunting Knives Made In A Stone Carving Shop

 These are two hunting knives I made in my grandpa's stone carving shop while we were at my grandparent's house in southwest Missouri a couple months ago.  Both knives are hollow-ground and made from 440-C surgical stainless steel.  The wood on the knife to the left is pressure-treated cocobolo, and the one on the bottom right is pressure-treated oak.  I used 1/4" mosaic pins and did vine pattern file-work on both knives.  I also put 1/4" stainless steel tubing in the back of each knife.  The sheaths are made from treated leather that I purchased at a leather shop in Custer, South Dakota.  I hand-stitched both of them and formed them to each knife after soaking the sheaths in water for 20-30 minutes.  All the supplies for these knives including the blade blanks, wood, and pins, I purchased from Jantz Supply in Oklahoma.  My knifemaking teacher, Tom McGinnis softened and hardened the blades for me at his shop in Ozark, MO. 

A Cleaver

Here's a cleaver I made recently.  It has cocobolo wood handles.  It's made from 440-C stainless steel.  I made an extra big handle on it so it's easy to keep a grip on.  The pins are 3/32 nickel silver. 

I got the blade, wood, and pin stock from Jantz knife maker's supply.  This is the only cleaver I've ever made.  I'm planning on making some more soon, though.

I'll post more pictures soon.  Check back often, or better yet, become a follower and you'll receive the entries right to your email!
 

My Latest Hunting Knife

Here's the latest hunting knife I've made.  It's made from 440-C Stainless.  I did "vine pattern" filework and hand polished it to a reflective finish.  I also made and hand-stitched the cow-hide sheath.
I bought the blade, wood, and mosaic pins, and tubing from Jantz knifemaker's supply.  I got the leather from a leather shop in Custer, SD while we were there.

(I will post pictures of more knives I've made soon!  I'm still working on getting set up to forge, I'll keep you up to date on what I am doing.)

My Forge, Air Pump, and Anvil

While at the Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, AZ we went to the Superstition Mountain Museum.  We met the blacksmith that works at the old west town outside of the museum.  He was a really nice guy and talked to me for a long time about forging.  We actually went there three times and I talked to him for a while each time.  He owns Iron Grip Blacksmithing.  One of the times we went there he showed me how to make little patch knives for black powder shooting.  I told him what I'm wanting to do and what I need to get.  He gave me a piece of railroad rail to use for an anvil (top left)!  I think it's going to work great.  He also told me how to make a pump blower that is light and portable.  I decided his idea was the best yet so I went back to Ace Hardware and got the stuff I need to build it.  I got a piece of 4" PVC, 1/2" PVC and some kind of sink drain tool that gets bigger when you tighten the nut on top of it.  I still need to get some metal pipe to attach the pump (bottom right) to the forge (bottom left).  Let me know what you think.

     

Getting My Grill Forge and Looking For a Blower

Well, I went to Ace Hardware today.  I bought a little tabletop grill to use as a forge.  I'm not sure what to do for a blower.  I found a little foot pump made for bike tires that I think might work.  I need to find something that's light and easy to take apart.  I want to make sure I get something that is going to blow enough air to keep the coals as hot as their supposed to be.  There was a very nice man at Ace Hardware that helped me out with some ideas and showed me some things that might work for a blower.  He also told me to use fireplace tongs instead of the more expensive forging tongs.  If you've got any ideas for  a blower please let me know. 

Where I'm At

This is where I'm at with knifemaking.  I started out when I took one of Tom McGinnis', owner of Ozark Forge, knifemaking classes.  I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to keep going with it.  I went over to his shop quite a bit and learned as much as I could about making handles and doing filework.  I soon started making knives on my own, the first of which I gave to my Dad.  I also started making sheaths for the hunting knives I was making.  I kept working on improving my filework.  Soon I started buying boxes of blades from Jantz Supply and found that a lot of people would buy a handmade knife even if I wasn't forging the blades.  I started making paring, steak, and fillet knives, also.  I began thinking about learning to forge but then we left!  We've wanted to travel full time for years, Mom and Dad just finally decided it was time.  Well, that put a cork in my knifemaking for a while.  I had to leave all my tools and stock behind in our storage trailer.  Whenever I got the chance I made a few knives, though.  I used my uncle's tools to make a fillet knife while in Florida.  When we went back to Missouri I used a friend's tools to make a couple hunting knives.  Then, while in Arizona this winter, I decided I really wanted to start making knives full-time again.  For Christmas I got a band saw and a drill press.  I bought some sanding drums and used the drill press for a sander, also.  I made about ten kitchen knives.  We were able to cram the tools under our desk in the back room of the camper.  Well, that's where I'm at.  I want to go ahead and start forging while we're still on the road.  I'm gonna take it slow and learn all I can in the process.  I'm going to write about everything I do and purchase on here so you can learn from me and I can learn from you.  Feel free to comment on any of my posts.  Let me know your ideas or how you've done it!