/r/Bladesmith
A subreddit for the metalworkers who specialize in forging knives and other blade tools. Swords, daggers, kitchen cutlery, carving chisels, etc. Come in, look around, ask a question, learn, and have fun.
Welcome to Bladesmith! The art and craft of forged blades.
This place is welcome to everyone, from master artisans, to beginners, to people that just like knives and learning and sharing their knowledge
1) Post anything related to bladesmithing.
2) All official AMAs must be Mod approved with verification.
3) Keep comments respectful and on topic.
4) Blatant self promotion and for sale posts are not allowed. You are welcome to make transactions private, but please don't post your website or prices. LINKS TO BLOGS AND WEBSITES ARE CONSIDERED SELF-PROMOTION.
5) Posts that address questions easily searched or answered in the WIKI will be removed.
Click HERE to get to the WIKI.
User Submitted Content:
Kiln Build by meepstah
Large and in Depth List of Wood for Handles
Dirt Cheap Guide to Knife Forging
Useful links and Information:
Heat Treating Tool Box- Kevin Cashen's detailed guide to heat treating
Knife Shop Safety and PPE by Jim Ferguson (Downloadable, Right Click, Save As)
Absolute Cheapskate Way To Start Making Knives (Downloadable PDF)
Bob Engnath Knife Patterns (PDF)
Nick Wheeler- Hand sanding 101 (YouTube)
Steel: The “welding steel” at Tractor Supply/ Lowes/ Home Depot is mild steel and useless for knives Buy new, known, annealed blade steel. It is well worth it. Files, railroad spikes, lawnmower blades and other unknown steels can definitely be used for practice forging but will not perform for a knife. For the work involved, it is very cheap to buy and use known good steel.
1084FG sold by Aldo Bruno is formulated for Knifemaking, Cheap & made for DIY heat-treat. http://njsteelbaron.com/ Phone # 862-203-8160
His telephone service is better than his website.
Kevin Cashen Heat Treating Info
Heat Treating Basics Video (downloadable) Right click and save this and watch it often
Heat Treat services:
Air Hardening Stainless Steel Only A2, ATS34, Elmax, CPM154, 154CM, 440C etc.
Buck Knives- Paul Bos Heat Treating
Oil Hardening Carbon Steels and Air Hardening Stainless Steels Oil quenched O1, 1095, 1084, 52100, 5160 Or air quenched A2, ATS34, Elmax, CPM154, 154CM, 440C etc.
Knifemaker CA (Canadian)
-Be sure to check the Shipping and Price tabs
Quenchants for Oil hardening steel
Forget the Goddard's Goop Quench, Motor Oil, Transmission Fluid
Use commercial quench oil & match oil speed to the steel type Here is a good post by Kevin Cashen with the Explanation and classification of oil speeds
For heat treating yourself with minimal equipment, find a Eutectoid steel 1080, 1084. Grocery store canola oil can work well -if you use clean preheated oil
Brine and water are cheap for "water hardening" steels W1 and 1095, but use fast oils Parks 50 & Houghton Quench K If you use water or brine, expect broken blades!
For more general blacksmithing, check out our friends at /r/blacksmith
Check out /r/ChefKnives for all things regarding culinary cutlery
Gunsmithing /r/gunsmithing
Want a knife made? /r/MakerMesh
A place where both metal bangers and grinder monkeys are welcome /r/knifemaking
Like general knife discussion? /r/knives is the place for you.
Making knives isn't your thing, but the metal still calls? Here ya go: /r/metalworking
Need help with a different type of craft besides steel? Search here: /r/ArtisanHelp
A marketplace for 100% hand crafted goods /r/ArtisanGifts
For equipment and tool buy/sell/trade /r/bladesmithswap
Want to talk about knives and share yours? /r/knifeclub
/r/Bladesmith
144,859 Subscribers
Bringing an old knife to life.
Made a santoku a while back and used the absolute hell out of it in the kitchen, so much so the edge was starting to be a little bit thicker for my taste and the handlescales were bent due a dishwasher incident so i xecided to challenge myself and reprofile it, rebecel it and rehabdle it in under 2 hours. Ended up just below an hour and a half.
14:53 UTC
My beef jerky knife
Made it as a proof of concept.
13:55 UTC
should I use sander and grinder for a 1095 blade ?
I tried to polish a 1095 steel blade with a sander grinder. But it doesn’t work very well.
05:43 UTC
Please rate it! M390
04:59 UTC
Should I use a sander for 1095 steel ?
04:51 UTC
Can Magnacut/S45VN/S35VN be hammered into shape?
03:57 UTC
Full send.
Tweaked the shape a little bit for my first hidden tang knife.
01:47 UTC
Son of a…
The only I can as doing, was straightening the tang! This O1 beast was an old project that just needed some cleanup and a handle. After closer inspection(after the tip broke), there was a hidden crack that wasn’t visible; the grain structure seems fine, so that’s good!
00:46 UTC
Like a glove...
22:57 UTC
I made a little pocket puukko!
Not particularly traditional but I still think it's neat. Let me know what you think :)
22:23 UTC
First knives forged with my boys!
Age 12 and 10 gotta start somewhere.they’ve taken an interest in watching me make knives
22:16 UTC
My work.
some of my work made in stainless steel damask.
20:38 UTC
Mock up of latest design
10:36 UTC
Neck knife
Today I present:
A beautiful neck knife Great cutting power and unique beauty San mai steel blade (420/1095/420) Full flat grinding Industrial micarta handle with faithful pin Cowhide sheath
Dimensions Total: 18.3cm Blade: 9cm Thickness: 4mm Width: 37mm Weight: 120g
A big hug to everyone!
09:51 UTC
Any advice for my first hidden tang
Always have done full tang knives. I love the look of hunter knives any pointers?
01:49 UTC
Video of my latest commissioned ironwood finka. I really like how it looks in dark brown. What wood would also look this authentic in this kind of build?
00:34 UTC
Video of my latest commissioned ironwood finka. I really like how it looks in dark brown. What wood would also look this authentic in this kind of build?
00:33 UTC
Calculating bevel angle.
I'm about to get grinding on a Serbian chef knife & need some assistance in calculating my bevel angle.
Stock is 3.3mm thick Desired height of bevel is 25mm & 38mm
How do I calculate what my angles would be at those heights? I've looked around & couldn't find a formula for this specific issue.
Thank you.
20:54 UTC