Installing my new work shop

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I bought this used cute little anvil. Still have to make a stand for it.
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It's a 52 kg Peddinghaus. Bigger is better, but I still want to be able to move it, so this size is a good compromise.
 
Man, great to watch your project! Looks fantastic so far! Always funny that you end up building so many other things before you get to knives! Can’t wait to see how things get on
 
I asked a local metal construction company to make a muffler in stainless steel so I can have a better temperature control in my forge for the heat treatment.
Inside is a thermocouple that can measure up to 1300°C.
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As you can see the isolating kao wool inside the forge is already coated with rigidizer. The pipe is 90 mm but pressed to oval, so about 80 mm x 100 mm and 37 cm long, so about everything should fit in there, from a cleaver up to to a 330 mm suji.
 
Also I picked up the wood for my anvil stand yesterday. I will glue the blocks together and then bolt the threaded rods through so everything is clamped together. Project for next weekend.
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The blocks are 63 cm high, the anvil is 22 cm, so total hight will be 85 cm, just above my knuckles.
 
Finished my anvil stand! I couldn't have done this without my drill press, as the holes in the blocks need to line up exactly. Bolts are recessed in the wood.
The anvil is caulked to the wood stand and held in place with a piece of wood on each side. Two chains clamp the anvil down in the other direction. I added a magnet to further bring down the ring and to be able to check for magnetism while forging. The L-shaped piece of metal holding the tensioning screw was made from a rusty scrap piece, I cut it with my angle grinder and sanded it down on my belt grinder.
The whole assembly feels solid and no ring, I'm happy how this turned out.
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You've spent a lot so far...Ofc, when it is about a hobby, money does not matter that much.
Enjoy!
Thanks! Yes, I've spend some money, but I try to spend it wisely, thinking about the most useful quality tools I can get for a reasonable price. I didn't want to skimp on the belt grinder, because I think it's the most important tool, and it is by far the most expensive tool I bought.
I'm sure many people have spent as much or more on their workshop, the difference is I buy everthing at once. But you're right, it's a hobby and I enjoy it.
 
Finally all of my protective gear arrived
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Leather apron, gloves, dust mask, glasses, hearing protection and a fire extinguisher rated for oil fires.

In the meantime I ordered some smaller but probably useful tools:
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Files, small broaches, conical roamer, peening hammer, digital height gauge and digital caliper, clamps and rubber blocks for the bench vise.
 
I made made a mistake ordering these ammo boxes. I wanted to use them to hold the quenching oil but they are too small for kitchen knives (30 cm ruler inside in the picture below). They hold only about 3 litres of liquid. So I sent them back.
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Instead I ordered gastronorm containers. I don't know if it's universal or a European thing, but all restaurants/caterers use these so they are easily available, cheap and stainless. This is the 2/4 size (25 cm ruler in the picture).
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They hold between 7 an 8 litres of oil, should be fine for my small hobbyist use (I will probably quench not more than 2 or 3 knives in a row).
The oil arrived as well, I have Durixol V35 for the simple carbon steels and Parks AAA for the low alloy carbon steels.

This is how it looks on my new cart with the forge:
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Especially when working with wood I quickly realised how much dust the belt sander is generating. The whole garage (including bikes etc.) was covered in dust.
So I installed this spark-proof PVC curtain to separate the grinder from the rest of the shop:
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Finished my first knife!

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C75 steel, 191 x 51 mm, oak handle (from our former dinner table!) with carbon pins.
It's a bit thick at 204 grams (2,9 mm at handle) so I call it workhorse grind 😉
I'll give this knife to our youngest son, he's 20 and moved out of the house earlier this year. I hope he will enjoy using this when cooking in his apartment.
 
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After almost half a year of knife making I wanted to give an update about my experiences and the tools I bought. I've finished 15 knives now, I've made many mistakes, learned a lot trying to correct them and I feel I am making progress with every new knife I make! Here are pictures of the latest blades I made. Please bear in mind that I have no professional aspirations, this is strictly as a hobby making knives for family and friends.

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So what about the tools I bought?


The drill press. It works very well, I use it a lot and it has a quality feel that makes me think it will last a lifetime. I'd only wished it had more clearance, it is not easy to drill a handle in one piece (140 mm handle + 100 mm drill is 24 cm clearance needed).


The forge. No complaints, it works very well and is up to a high temperature in maybe 10 minutes.
The metal tube with thermocouple inside works well to get an even and controlled temperature.
I started with 80CRV2 (a recommended steel for beginners who heat treat in the forge) but quickly I was confident enough to turn to slightly more demanding steels such as 15N20, 52100 and C130. Right now the thermocouple died and without it's quite difficult. Even with temperature reading it's not easy to keep the temperature between a narrow band for a longer time. An oven would surely make sense (but too expensive for me right now).

The anvil. I did not use it that much yet, as I only made a couple of attempts to forge a blade. It's still very useful even just to straighten a blade. The stand I made works well and the anvil is firmly attached. I believe this anvil is the perfect “small size” for knife making. Sure bigger is better, but I feel this size is a very good compromise.

The metal band saw. The small band is way too slow to cut 3 or 4 mm thick steel. I only used it to cut pins so I ended up selling it. Instead I use an angle grinder to cut the knife blank. So I have to agree @Dominick Maone! Much faster. I'm sure @inferno would approve. I did buy a diamond cutting disc instead of the conventional discs: less wear, but way less dust and no more nasty smell.

Wood band saw. I love it. I use it a lot, not just for knife making. I wouldn't go any smaller, the Makita has just enough power to cut blocks of hardwood. I use the widest saw that fits on the machine with a lot of teeth (24 teeth per inch I believe), cuts are slow but clean and straight.

Belt grinder. Again very happy with the Batko, it's a solid machine. Maybe it doesn't come with all the bells and whistles a Claryx or Volf48 comes with but I don't feel I'm missing anything. I did buy the optional big wheel (25 cm/10 inch) in the meantime. I quickly learned that the belts are very important. I read somewhere: “use them as if they are for free!” and indeed they wear out fast. I would say that they are the biggest cost in knife making, more than wood or steel (mind you I don't use the exotic stuff like powder metal steels or mammoth teeth, just the basic materials).


I mainly made knives by stock removal. My aim is to forge sanmai blades with wrought iron cladding, so I need to practice forging, buy a welder and learn to weld etc. so there is still a ton to learn and a lot of fun in sight!
 
Watching in anticipation :cool:
When i move into our house i also have more space for a "hobby" ;).
 
Very nice! I am (very slowly) re-building my little workshop after we moved (more than a year ago!). I am also planning to use a similar PVC curtain do devided the 'dusty' and 'clean' areas. Please keep posting your progress and your workshop-ideas :)
 
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