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Knifemaking

Knifemaking is the building of a knife, which includes the blade, handle and other accouterments. Blades are made by either removing metal from a steel blank via a grinder – known as stock removal – and the forging to shape of hot steel into a blade in the process known as bladesmithing. Other parts, including bolsters, guards, pommels, etc., are needed to complete the finished knife.

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American Bladesmith Society Announces 2014 Hammer-In Schedule

Joe Kertzman
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American Bladesmith Society Announces 2014 Hammer-In Schedule

One of the things that makes the knife industry such a pleasure to be involved with is artisans, bladesmiths and knifemakers in general sharing their knowledge, teaching people their craft and passing down the handcraft from generation to generation. 2

Some of the best at this are the members of the American Bladesmith Society, as well, of course, as those in the Knifemakers’ Guild and countless other knife clubs and organizations. The ABS claims to have had record attendance at its hammer-ins across the country in 2013, and has already announced its 2014 Hammer-In Schedule. Click here for a Complete Knifemaking Collection of books and digital downloads to get you started in your knifemaking endeavors. And without further ado:

ABS Hammer In Schedule for 2014

March 7, 8, and 9, 2014
Spring Great Smoky Mountain Hammer-In
Haywood Community College, Clyde, North Carolina
ABS Contact – Bill Wiggins (828) 226-2551 or Email [email protected]

April 26 and 27, 2014
Spring Piney Woods Hammer In
Texarkana College – Moran School of Bladesmithing, Washington, Arkansas
ABS Contact – BR Hughes (903) 838-0134 or Email [email protected]

June 2014
ABS Youth Hammer-In
Smoky Mountain Knife Works, Sevierville, Tennessee
ABS Contact – Houston Price (865) 397-0053 or Email [email protected]

July 11, 12, and 13, 2014
New England Hammer-In
New England School of Metalwork, Auburn, Maine
ABS Contact – Mace Vitale (203) 457-5591 or Email [email protected]

August 22, 23, and 24, 2014
Mid America Hammer-In
Miami County Fairgrounds, Troy, Ohio
ABS Contact – Butch Sheely (419) 832-5801 or Email [email protected]

September 13 and 14, 2014
Fall Piney Woods Hammer-In
Texarkana College – Moran School of Bladesmithing, Washington, Arkansas
ABS Contact – BR Hughes (903) 838-0134 or Email [email protected]

October 4 and 5, 2014
Heartland Hammer-In
Washburn Institute of Technology, Topeka, Kansas
ABS Contact – Steve Culver (785) 484-0146 or Email [email protected]

October 2014
California Hammer-In
College of the Sequoias, Tulare, California
ABS Contact – Mike Vagnino (559) 636-0501 or Email [email protected]

October 18 and 19, 2014
Smoky Mountain Fall Hammer-In
Haywood Community College, Clyde, North Carolina
ABS Contact – Bill Wiggins (828) 226-2551 or Email [email protected]

Video: How to Grind a Forged Blade

BLADE Staff
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Video: How to Grind a Forged Blade

American Bladesmith Society (ABS) master smith Jerry Fisk explains how to profile a forged blade on a grinder in this video.

Pay special attention to Fisk’s tip at the beginning of the video. Wear earplugs while running a grinder for best results. That way, you’ll be relaxed throughout the entire process.

“If you’re tense, you’re not going to get smooth operating,” Fisk says in the video.

Fisk also recommends wearing a face mask while grinding if a ventilation system is not present in the shop. Not doing so will turn your lungs into “canteens,” as Fisk says.

Learn More About Knife Grinding

How to Grind a Knife Blade
Learn how to grind a knife blade in this PDF download from BLADE.

For even more great information about grinding knife blades, don’t miss BLADE‘s Knife Grinding Secrets PDF download. It’s packed with helpful instruction in these knifemaking areas:

  • Profiling a Chisel-Ground Blade
  • Grinding the Bevel of the Kwaiken Model
  • The Finesse of Grinding
  • The Feared Flat Grind
  • Shaping the Tip
  • Two-hand pass
  • Tapering the Blade Tang

Video: How to Make Mosaic Damascus Steel with Ed Caffrey

BLADE Staff
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Video: How to Make Mosaic Damascus Steel with Ed Caffrey

In this video from the American Bladesmith Society, master smith Ed Caffrey details how to make mosaic damascus. This technique yields stunning steel for beautiful blades.

How to Make Mosaic Damascus: The Billet

From the video:

First, I built a 4″x4″x6″ “can” and plugged one end with piece of 3/8″ place, then laid out a stack of 1080 & 15N20 diagonally. I filled the remaining space in with 1/4″ W1 rods, then took up all the air space with 1095 powder, to which I added 10% nickel powder.

Caffrey wound up cutting the billet in half after forging for a bit. This made the halves easier to work.

How to Make Mosaic Damascus: Two Becomes Four

From the video:

Next, I forged the two halves down to about 1 1/2″ square, anneal, and mill off the can, then cut each in half again.

That will give me four pieces to decide how to orient and 4-way. Depending on what I come out with, it go to an 8- or even 16-way.

I then performed a quick clean-up of the ends with a 220 belt and an etch so I could orient everything.

How to Make Mosaic Damascus: The Trick

The “trick” to getting what you want is being able to visualize in your mind how the pattern will look after welding and accordion cutting/folding. You might be surprised at just how different a pattern will look from where it is now.

How to Make Mosaic Damascus: Welding

Finally, I face mill off the mating faces of each piece. Then it’s just a matter of placing them together and forge welding. It can be wet welded, dry welded or whatever you’d like. Each method will have an effect on the finished product.

Watch the video for full instructions on how to make mosaic damascus.

Keep Learning with This Great Download from BLADE

How to make mosiac damascusThis video was only a taste of the richly rewarding craft of making mosiac damascus. Once you get going, you won’t want to stop creating these incredible designs.

For only $4.99, you can learn much more in this excellent download from BLADE on how to make mosiac damascus.

 

Innovative Knives

Joe Kertzman
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Innovative Knives

Congratulations to Michael Vagnino for winning the 2014 Wooden Sword award, given out to one custom knifemaker each year on page 7 of the KNIVES annual book. The yearly prize (no trophy, just recognition via top placement and imagery in the book) is awarded to a knifemaker for his or her work that stands out from the thousands of images that pour in annually for consideration. 2_Convertible

As noted in the book where his innovative knives are pictured:

“Michael Vagnino has busied himself most recently with “Convertible Lock-Back Push Daggers.” Yes, that’s correct, he’s fashioning handmade knives that convert from a lock-back fixed-blade position to a locked push dagger and back again. The models shown here sport 3.875-inch blades, one in CPM-154 stainless steel and the other Wootz steel, the former combined with an antique tortoise shell handle, and the latter in black-lip mother-of-pearl. The maker engraved the 416 stainless steel bolsters, and since the push daggers covert to fixed blades, Paul Long sheaths were necessary as fashionable carry options.convert tort1 convert tort2

 

 

 

 

 

For all he has brought to the knifemaking table the past few years, his innovation, talent, all-around good vibes, and for these particularly striking examples of his work, the Knives 2014 Wooden Sword Award goes to Michael Vagnino. Congratulations, Michael, and keep up the good work.”

Click here to reserve your copy of KNIVES 2014.

Cutlery Hall Of Fame: Buster Warenski

Steve Shackleford
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Cutlery Hall Of Fame: Buster Warenski

Any discussion of the greatest custom knifemakers of the modern era must include the late Buster Warenski, a member of the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame.

While best known for his reproduction of the King Tut Dagger in the late 1980s, Warenski’s influence on custom knives, knifemakers and the Knifemakers’ Guild was immense and, in many ways, continues to this day. One of the early Guild voting members, he was considered among the best custom makers from the get-go. He excelled not only by the example of his workmanship but also by his leadership, serving on the Guild’s board of directors for a number of terms, including as president (1977-79).

No mention of the greatest knifemakers is complete without mention of Buster Warenski. (SharpByCoop.com photo)
A member of the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame, Buster Warenski was one of the greatest knifemakers ever. (SharpByCoop.com photo)

The workmanship of his knives pretty much spoke for itself. He could make just about any fixed blade, folder or sword, and make it extremely well, though it is his art daggers for which he is most remembered. He taught himself how to engrave and although he may not have been the best engraver, the early examples of his engraving held up among other knives of the time.

But then it always seemed that Buster found a way to make his knives the best—and one way was marrying Julie, who learned how to engrave and became one of the best, lending her talents to Buster’s knives and making them even more fabulous. (Julie Warenski-Erickson continues to engrave today and is married to knifemaker Curt Erickson.)

Perhaps the greatest tribute to any knifemaker is one from one of his peers who also happens to be one of the world’s best makers—in this instance, Steve Johnson. As Steve noted, “Putting myself in even the same sentence as a ‘fellow knifemaker’ with Buster makes me uncomfortable. No one will ever attain the skill and ability as a knifemaker as this great man did.”

For the latest knives, knife news and much more, stay tuned to www.blademag.com.

 

Sharp Knowledge: 3 Knife Steel Basics

Steve Shackleford
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Sharp Knowledge: 3 Knife Steel Basics
How the knife will be used, edge geometry and heat treating are all key to deciding which knife steel to choose.
The knife steel you choose depends a lot on what jobs the knife will perform.

One of the questions knife enthusiasts ask most is What is the best steel for a knife? Before you can answer such a question, you must first know exactly what it is you need in a knife.

1) Will you use the knife to cut meat, or paper, or rope, or plastic, or a little bit of everything? Much depends on what you will be using the knife for, and just about any knifemaker or knife manufacturer who knows his stuff will know which steel he has on hand will be best for your purposes.

how-to-make-knives-knifemaking-book
Learn more about selecting steel types and how to make knives in the third edition of “BLADE’s Guide to Making Knives.” The classic is back and better than ever!

2) The steel is just part of the equation. The blade’s geometry is also important. By blade geometry is meant how the blade is ground and tapered from the back (spine) to the edge. If too thick, it won’t slice or cut properly; if too thin, it may chip.

3) How is the steel heat treated? As BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Wayne Goddard has written, “A knife of the very best steel may not perform any better than one made of an inferior type steel unless it is heat treated to bring out the full potential of the alloy content.” He also writes, “The reasons for a maker to turn out incorrectly heat-treated blades are too many to list. However, the most common is not having the correct heat-treating specifications from the steel maker.” If you find the maker does his own heat treating and does not go by the heat-treating specs provided by the steel maker, that’s an immediate red flag. In fact, many makers simply have professional heat treaters do their heat treating. Goddard is among them.

These are just three basic things to know about knife steels. There are many others.

 

 

Art Knife vs. Cutting Tool Debate

Joe Kertzman
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Art Knife vs. Cutting Tool Debate

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The art knife versus cutting tool debate of whether knives are, or should be, works of art or cutting tools has always intrigued me. There are those who are a bit “put off” by art knives because they prefer utilitarian knives made to be used and employed when needed. That is certainly understandable, and thank goodness there are companies and makers out there fashioning good, sturdy, sharp serviceable fixed blades and folders.

But the notion that art knives are a modern phenomenon ignores the countless officers of world armies who historically carried dress daggers, kings and queens of countries gifted with jewel-encrusted, gold-inlaid, sculpted and carved swords and other edged weaponry, and the “average joe” who saved his pennies in the 1960s and ’70s to buy a Buster Warenski, Bill Moran, Jim Schmidt or even Bob Loveless (many considered him a maker of art knives on occasion) art knife. newton knife

And one other argument I’d make is this—the debate doesn’t need to be debated at all. There is plenty of room in the knife industry for both art knives and more utilitarian hunters, soldiers’ knives, blue-collar fixed blades and folders, and many more. Look at it this way, just because one guy prefers his three-blade stockman for ranch work doesn’t mean he shouldn’t welcome the collector of high-end art knives into the industry and market with open arms. Collectors who appreciate that artistic nature and handcraft of knives help drive the industry forward and ultimately expand its offerings. And that’s just good for knives and knife enthusiasts in general!

To see and read about as many well-crafted custom knives, both utilitarian and artistic, as humanly possible, the Knives 2014 book is a must-have for your library. To keep updated on factory, custom and semi-production knives 13 times a year, subscribe to BLADE now!

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