Bladesmithing – My Starter Tools, Jigs and Supplies
post any questions or comments on the forum
One of the questions I’m sure you’ll ask is what kind of tools do you need. I’ll tell what I use, and possible substitutes as well. A lot of the equipment is the same as you will will find in other types of metal and wood work, so a lot of it I had at hand. You may to. If not, I will tell you my opinion on what is a must have to start and a nice to have as you go.
A few basic metal working tools and supplies would be hack saw, an assortment of files, wood rasp are handy for handle forming, a scribe at (which can be made). Don’t forget clamps. I use quick grips, Pony spring clamps and C clamps for most of my knife making.
You’ll want to pick up some sand paper and sanding belts. The kind will depend obviously. Flat sheets from 60 to 2000 will be used. Belts for whatever belt sander or grinder you plan to use. If you’re only going to made one or two knives, I suppose it’s possible to do every thing by hand sanding, but I really don’t believe it’s realistic.
For forging I just use a cross peen hammer I bought at tractor supply. I sanded the finish off the handle for a better grip, did a quick polish on the face. This is for general forging. Any type of hammer will work for the stock removal method. Just something to tap pins in and out and similar task.
If you plan to forge you will need something for an anvil. A real anvil is the obvious best choice, but not a requirement starting out. Almost any heavy flat piece of iron will work.
I mentioned a vise in part 1 as well. Every shop will benefit from a good vise. Most shops wind up with multiple vises. You probably won’t need one at first, but you’ll want to keep it on the list. Eventually you’ll want one, and once you have one you’ll wonder how you lived without it.
Mallet. – Make yourself a wooden mallet. It will come in handy and in some cases, a metal hammer is not the best tool for the job.
Pliers. You’ll want a pair of pliers and/or vise grips. I think we can assume if your reading this you’ll have these, if not get some.
After I built my belt grinder, I built the follow jig for creating the edge bevel on a knife. In a lot of YouTube videos a lot of the bladesmiths like grinding the bevel by hand. This just didn’t work for me. If you can start right out of the gate doing a nice job by hand, then do it. If not, build yourself a similar jig. I couldn’t find one online i liked as it was shown. Some were to an extreme I didn’t need nor did i have the metal working skill to make. Some I just didn’t like for multiple reasons. I made this and I haven’t seen one exactly like it, although there may be. It works well for me.
It’s worth noting that a belt sander or angle grinder could be used in place of the belt grinder or even the belt sander mentioned in Part 1. It will take a bit more patience and a steadier hand, but it is completely doable.
I also found that finding the center line speeds up the grind. It allows you to grind almost to the line on each side, which eliminates the alternating from side to side. I made this one in a few hours with some scrap metal. It should be pretty self explanatory, but feel free to shot me an email or post the question on the forum.
Metal Cutting
I also have a metal cutting bandsaw. I have had this a long time, so it comes in handy. However, I don’t believe it’s something you need day one. A hacksaw, or a cut off wheel in a grinder, or jewelers saws, etc. can all be used instead.
Drill press – I think a drill press should be considered a must have. I’m sure you “could” get by with a hand drill. Even a small benchtop drill press would be a great addition beyond a hand drill. Drilling the handle material with a hand drill is not bad, but drilling the handles would be much better and easier (along with safer) with a drill press.
I mentioned the forge in Part 1, and as stated, it’s not really a requirement unless you want to heat treat, and you don’t want to sink the funds into a heat treat oven.
My Propane forge build is here
Heat Treating. – I will do a post about my journey into heat treating in another post, but I wanted to do my own, so I’m still learning and will be for a long time.
Square. – You will want some kind of square. What kind really doesn’t matter much to start with.
Dremel tool. – A Dremel tool is by no means a must have to start. It will come in handy when and if you have one. For those that go on rust hunting journeys, they can often be found at flea markets and second hand shops.
A Dremel tool is by no means a must have to start. It will come in handy when and if you have one. For those that go on rust hunting journeys, they can often be found at flea markets and second hand shops.
Drill bits. – Drill bits are an obvious must have if you plan to pin your handles. To start, you’ll just need the size or sizes of the pins you plan to use.
If you will be making your knives with hidden tangs, you may need to expand the sizes a little.
Taps. – I use tap and dies a lot in Tool making, but for this, you’ll only need them if you plan to use screw to hold your handles on.
Leather working tools. – I’ll cover this more in a separate post, but if you’re going to make leather sheaths, you need to think about leather tools.
Saw. – I use a bandsaw to rough out the handle scales. A coping saw would work just fine. I image you could find creative ways to use almost any kind of saw for your first knife or two, but I’d recommend at least a coping saw to get you going.
Epoxy. – You’ll need epoxy for setting the scales. I’ve tried both the 5 minute epoxies and the slower set epoxies. The shower set is stronger, so it’s what I typically use. I’ve also found the 5 minute stuff can rush me from time to time. I’ll go into more detail in my handle making post, but I am currently using WEST SYSTEM 650-8 G/Flex.
Sharpening. – You’ll need to figure out how you’ll sharpen your knives. There is an endless number of jigs and processes and techniques. If you have nothing today, you can start with sandpaper on pieces of metal. Oil stones, water stone, diamond stones and systems like this all work well.
Scales. – Hard wood scales are probably the easiest for most to have on hand. They work well, look fantastic, and are easy to work with. As of this writing, it’s all I’ve used. The modern composites are worth looking into however and look for a post as I drive into that pool.
Finish. – If you’re going to use wood scales, you’ll need a finish. I recommend tru-oil. It’s traditionally for gunstocks, but I have used it for everything from gunstocks, to hand planes, to knives. It will serve you well. I also like a good hand rubbed BLO finish, but then almost any oil based finish should be fine. I’m typically a “use what’s on hand” kind of builder, and this is no exception.
Layout Blue. – Layout blue is handy to have. Probably not what I would call a must have, but it is something to keep in mind as you want your layout to become more precise. Here is what I use.
A way to make a makers mark. I didn’t mark my first few blacksmithing and bladesmithing projects, and I kick myself for it, especially the ones I gave as gifts. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Think about it.
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[…] This knife shows what can be done with minimal equipment. […]
[…] try to work with materials and equipment at hand whenever possible. Start your journey with some basic tools and figure out what you feel you need most. If you’re only looking to make a few knives, you […]