Is it possible to make a knife without power tools?

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yoyoma

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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.
 
yoyoma said:
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.
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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!
 
yoyoma said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
Wolfgang Loerchner has used no power tools for over 40 years....
Wolfgang-Loerchner-2.jpg
 
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?
 
Hockey3081 said:
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?
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There’s a basic pleasure in making something oneself. There are worse hobbies.
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
Gshep91 said:
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
Click to expand...

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?
 
yoyoma said:
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?
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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
 
yoyoma said:
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?
Click to expand...
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.
 
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