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.
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!