Is it possible to make a knife without power tools?

[yoyoma]

I'm interested in making my own knives, but due to living space issues I can't just buy a belt grinder and use it from my residence.

Is there a way to get around this, like using files and stones to make the knife? I'm looking at buying steel blanks and then finding a way to cut out a traced contour of the knife, then using files/stones to do most of the grind, either sending it out for heat treatment or doing it with a cheap amazon forge, then doing the final grinding.

I'm a newbie but willing to learn. Can I do all the grinding of the knife without power tools?

I'm not in a rush as I already have a bunch of good Japanese knives so this could be a slow project.

 

[Vertigo]

I'm interested in making my own knives, but due to living space issues I can't just buy a belt grinder and use it from my residence.

Is there a way to get around this, like using files and stones to make the knife? I'm looking at buying steel blanks and then finding a way to cut out a traced contour of the knife, then using files/stones to do most of the grind, either sending it out for heat treatment or doing it with a cheap amazon forge, then doing the final grinding.

I'm a newbie but willing to learn. Can I do all the grinding of the knife without power tools?

I'm not in a rush as I already have a bunch of good Japanese knives so this could be a slow project.

Yeah of course you can. Be long and arduous and a pain in the rear, but if paleolithic man could figure out a way to make a knife without power tools, I'm sure you can too!

 

[Gshep91]

I think getting even a small table top belt sander would make your life significantly better than trying to sand everything down by hand

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

 

[blokey]

You can, bunch of files and lots of patience

 

[aporigine]

I'm interested in making my own knives, but due to living space issues I can't just buy a belt grinder and use it from my residence.

Is there a way to get around this, like using files and stones to make the knife? I'm looking at buying steel blanks and then finding a way to cut out a traced contour of the knife, then using files/stones to do most of the grind, either sending it out for heat treatment or doing it with a cheap amazon forge, then doing the final grinding.

I'm a newbie but willing to learn. Can I do all the grinding of the knife without power tools?

I'm not in a rush as I already have a bunch of good Japanese knives so this could be a slow project.

Living space issues remove your best manual option: hammer, anvil, forge.

The other good hack would be “a friend with workshop space.”

If both space and money are issues, you might be in hip-deep yogurt.

 

[yoyoma]

I think getting even a small table top belt sander would make your life significantly better than trying to sand everything down by hand

Any suggestions for something inexpensive and relatively quiet?

 

[Gshep91]

Any suggestions for something inexpensive and relatively quiet?

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-in-...54YHt6cc9UqGGiy-kWPLNbwvPLiy-cmxoCO38QAvD_BwE

Not a reccomendation but I’ve been looking at this one for handles. Couldn’t tell you if it’s any good I’d hope it’s good enough to just sand wooden blocks, idk about grinding off steel though

 

[gentiscid]

Knives been around for centuries without power tools lol.

 

[blokey]

Knives been around for centuries without power tools lol.

Yeah but those involved hammer, anvil and large furnace, also water or animal powered large grinding wheels

 

[mengwong]

For the purposes of this discussion, a donkey is not considered a power tool.

You may refer your wife to this thread at the appropriate time.

 

[Vertigo]

Knives been around for centuries without power tools lol.

Centuries?!

 

[chiffonodd]

 

[PolishAvenger]

Wolfgang Loerchner has used no power tools for over 40 years....

 

[Jovidah]

Possible, yes. Fun? Less so...

 

[aporigine]

Centuries?!

thousands of’em!

For the purposes of this discussion, a donkey is not considered a power tool.

You may refer your wife to this thread at the appropriate time.

hold m’beer

 

[Hockey3081]

I guess I don’t really get the allure of making a likely terrible looking knife with a horrible grind because you aren’t using the bare minimum of decent tooling. What is the reward after all of the sweat and hard work to essentially have a kinda sharp spatula?

 

[aporigine]

I guess I don’t really get the allure of making a likely terrible looking knife with a horrible grind because you aren’t using the bare minimum of decent tooling. What is the reward after all of the sweat and hard work to essentially have a kinda sharp spatula?

There’s a basic pleasure in making something oneself. There are worse hobbies.

 

[user 52613]

Large, coarse cut files work surprisingly fast. You can build a file jig quite easily to get nice, consistent bevel angles, check out Aaron Gough's tutorial on YT. The Japanese used sen before the introduction of grinding wheels for centuries. Yes it takes longer but you can create work of the highest quality.

 

[M1k3]

https://shop.kurashige-tools.com/en...de-japanese-blacksmiths-tools-by-kikuhiromaru

 

[Blademaster]

HT?

 

[PolishAvenger]

HT?

Send it out!

 

[blokey]

There are also heat treated blanks out there, much easier these days

 

[TB_London]

I’d find a course and go support a maker by doing a make a knife in a weekend with them.

For the non power route Non kitchen knives are easier as less sensitive to a thin and even grind. You can only go so thin before heat treat, so you’d have a massive thinning project ahead of you, and thinning without power is a labour of love to do in a day what could be done in a few minutes with power.

A way to dip your toe is to start with re handling - woodwork with hand tools is fun and gives the opportunity for skill development and the reward of making something great.

If you want to spend time at the stones- taking a factory knife and stone finishing the bevels before polishing is again a way to build skill and do something that can’t easily be done by machine. If you do a course asking the person running it if they’d be interested in selling you a ground and htd but unfinished blank would let you go from coarse ground to shiny.


Last thing is don’t forget dust and mess - I tried running a small belt grinder in a small flat / apartment. The best bet is to it in a sealed bathroom so you can run the extractor fan in the room and hose the whole room down after

 

[yoyoma]

Thanks for your advice everyone. I'm still investigating options but may try to make things work with files. There seems to be no theoretical reason why this can't work, it will just be much slower.

Still hoping for an easier method but I'll do what I have to do.

 

[yoyoma]

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-in-...54YHt6cc9UqGGiy-kWPLNbwvPLiy-cmxoCO38QAvD_BwE

Not a reccomendation but I’ve been looking at this one for handles. Couldn’t tell you if it’s any good I’d hope it’s good enough to just sand wooden blocks, idk about grinding off steel though

I've seen a lot of these similar machines around, super cheap, but the actual makers recommend machines that are $1000+ minimum. What's stopping this cheap machine from grinding steel, especially pre HT? Maybe 1/3 HP is too weak for the grinding that's needed for steel, and it would just slow to a stop?

 

[Gshep91]

I've seen a lot of these similar machines around, super cheap, but the actual makers recommend machines that are $1000+ minimum. What's stopping this cheap machine from grinding steel, especially pre HT? Maybe 1/3 HP is too weak for the grinding that's needed for steel, and it would just slow to a stop?

I’d assume it’s because you want something with a strong motor like you said. Dont want it to grind to a stop & don’t want the motor to overheat with prolonged use.

Variable speed usually adds to the cost a bit too

 

[aporigine]

I've seen a lot of these similar machines around, super cheap, but the actual makers recommend machines that are $1000+ minimum. What's stopping this cheap machine from grinding steel, especially pre HT? Maybe 1/3 HP is too weak for the grinding that's needed for steel, and it would just slow to a stop?

The other feature of the big machines is repeatable precision.

A small bit of slop, backlash etc. in a smaller grinder can backfire on efforts to grind where you want — and grind where you don’t. There is no ungrinding an oopsie.

They can do the job, but there are more surprise failure modes than with the expensively-engineered units.

Perhaps one can rough out 90% on a cheap grinder, then finish with files, sanding blocks etc.

And then send out for the heat treat.

 

[TB_London]

Rule of thumb is 1hp per inch of belt width minimum to grind steel with ceramic belts.

Yes you can get away with lower power but you won’t be able to apply the pressure that the belts need to cut well without stalling the motor so you’ll take a lot longer and use a lot more belts.
A grinder is buy once cry once, decent belts are where you feel the constant pain.

 

[xsmx13]

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-in-...54YHt6cc9UqGGiy-kWPLNbwvPLiy-cmxoCO38QAvD_BwE

Not a reccomendation but I’ve been looking at this one for handles. Couldn’t tell you if it’s any good I’d hope it’s good enough to just sand wooden blocks, idk about grinding off steel though

I started with something similar for handles. These are definitely intended for woodworking, not metal.

I've seen plenty of folks on some beginning knife maker forum starting on the 1x30 from Harbor Freight. Some had some cool mods taking off the guards, making a new tool rest, and adding a hardened strip of steel for a better platen. Several used this approach to make and sell knives to eventually fund an upgrade. For $50, it's hard to argue with to test the waters. Will it be anywhere close to as good as a grinder intended for knife making? Hell no. Will it be better than doing it by hand? Hell yes.

https://www.harborfreight.com/1-in-x-30-in-belt-sander-58359.html

@yoyoma I'm very much a novice, but I have an Evenheat oven and depending on the steel, I'm happy to heat treat a blank for you. I've mainly done 26c3, 1084, AEB-L, and mystery carbon steel from old saw blades at this point.