How Our Knives Are Made

How it all Starts

I start all my knives with high quality steel in bar form. The steel is then coated with Dykem (I prefer the blue colored version, but I really like blue!!) and the pattern scribed onto the steel.

Grinding the Profile

The profile of the knife is ground on my 2X72” belt sander.  This takes all the rough edges from bandsawing the blanks and makes them nice and smooth.  There are also areas and curves I can not cut with the bandsaw, the belt sander does a great job with these areas.

Drilling Holes

The holes are drilled into the tang of the knives.  Some of these holes in the tang are for the pins to help hold the handle scales on.  Other larger holes are to help lighten the handle portion of the blade to help achieve the balance in the blade that I want.  These larger holes are also very helpful in creating a epoxy pin that goes from the handle scales through the tang.

Layout Scribe Lines

The edge of the knife is then measured and scribed. This is to help make sure the same amount is ground on both sides of the knife.  Usually I like to leave 0.020″-0.030″ at the edge for the secondary bevel.  Flipping the blade over insures that the lines are centered on the blade.

I grind the 45º chamfer up to the scribe line.  This helps to see how much more I need to grind when doing the bevels on the knife.

Grinding Bevels

The next step in the knife making process is one of the most important, grinding the bevels of the knife.  I like to use a push stick to do this operation on the work rest.  It gives me a lot of control without burning my fingers when trying to remove metal fast.  I like to use end pieces of G10 or Micarta for a push stick.  I buy my handle material in sheet pieces and I usually end up with 1/2″ to 1″ pieces left over.

Creating the Filework

If the knife gets filework, I do that before I heat treat the knife.  I do this with a combination of my Foredom TX and and files.  This is a step that take quite a bit of time and effort to do, but the end product makes the knife really stand out.

Heat Treating the Knives

The knives then get heat treated.  This is the most important parts of the knife making process.  If this is not done correctly, the knife will not hold an edge properly.  If a knife does not hold its edge you will constantly have to be resharpening the knife.  Also, if the knife is not hard enough, you might not even be able to cut what you are trying to cut.

Checking Hardness

The knife is then checked for hardness. This is to make sure the heat treatment of the knife went correctly.  If the knives don’t meet the hardness I want, they get discarded.  My 154CM knives that I heat treat usually end up between 59-61 HRC.

Handle Scales

Now the blade is ready for a handle.  Usually the handles start at either the table saw or the bandsaw.  The different layers are cut to size from sheet material or blocks.  If the handle gets different color liners, those get cut to accent the outside layer.

Scale Glue Up

The layers are then glued together.  I like using some waxed paper under where I am gluing.  This helps to keep your workbench clean and not have any glue drops on it.  Columbus usually likes to make sure I do this process right.  He usually watches me the whole time I am in the basement.

I then take the handles and position them with the knife.  I use blue painters tape to tape the knife to the blade.  This holds the blade in position while I drill holes for the pins.  The handle scales need to be very parallel for this process to work correctly.  If one scale is tapered and the other is not, your holes will not line up correctly.

Finishing the Front of the Handle

Once all the holes have been drilled the front of the handle is sanded to shape.  If this area of the handle is not finished now, it is very hard to finish sand it later and not scratch up the blade.

Clamping the Knife Handles

The epoxy is then mixed up and spread on the pins and handle scales.  The handles are held together with c-clamps while the epoxy cures.  Keeping pressure on all the parts helps to make sure the glue joint is how I want it to be.

First Contours Sanded

I use a 8″ rubber contact wheel to put the preliminary contours in the handles to help make the handles more comfortable in your hand.  Flat handle scales feel good on some knives, but I usually prefer a more contoured handle on my knives.

Rounding the Handle

Once the curves from the 8″ contact wheel are how I want them.  The handle is smoothed out and rounded with a small wheel attachment.  The handles are finished to approximately 220 grit at this point on the belt sander.  Sanding them to 220 helps to lower the time hand files and sanding by hand.

After the knife handle is further refined with hand files.  I start hand sanding with sandpaper.  The knives are usually finished to somewhere between 800-1500 grit and then polished with light grey and white scotch-brite pads.