/r/Bladesmith

Photograph via snooOG

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)

Hype Free Blades FAQ

Buffing Wheels and Compounds


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

Texas Knifemaker's Supply

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.

Peter's Heat Treat

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

/r/blacksmithtooldeals

Want to talk about knives and share yours? /r/knifeclub

/r/Bladesmith

144,863 Subscribers

3

Three sisters

Please enjoy this three sisters. All in san mai construction, and all going to the same kitchen in Tennessee.

It must be nice to have a boss who's buying handmade knives for Christmas 🎁

0 Comments
2024/12/02
18:58 UTC

82

Multi bar twist damascus build. Full length video on YouTube. Thanks for watching 🙌

1 Comment
2024/12/02
17:43 UTC

6

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.

0 Comments
2024/12/02
14:53 UTC

36

My beef jerky knife

Made it as a proof of concept.

6 Comments
2024/12/02
13:55 UTC

1

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.

7 Comments
2024/12/02
05:43 UTC

19

Please rate it! M390

3 Comments
2024/12/02
04:59 UTC

3

Should I use a sander for 1095 steel ?

2 Comments
2024/12/02
04:51 UTC

1

Can Magnacut/S45VN/S35VN be hammered into shape?

0 Comments
2024/12/02
03:57 UTC

20

Full send.

Tweaked the shape a little bit for my first hidden tang knife.

2 Comments
2024/12/02
01:47 UTC

64

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!

13 Comments
2024/12/02
00:46 UTC

39

Like a glove...

8 Comments
2024/12/01
22:57 UTC

76

I made a little pocket puukko!

Not particularly traditional but I still think it's neat. Let me know what you think :)

2 Comments
2024/12/01
22:23 UTC

12

First knives forged with my boys!

Age 12 and 10 gotta start somewhere.they’ve taken an interest in watching me make knives

1 Comment
2024/12/01
22:16 UTC

31

My work.

some of my work made in stainless steel damask.

0 Comments
2024/12/01
20:38 UTC

4

Mock up of latest design

2 Comments
2024/12/01
10:36 UTC

53

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!

4 Comments
2024/12/01
09:51 UTC

21

Any advice for my first hidden tang

Always have done full tang knives. I love the look of hunter knives any pointers?

16 Comments
2024/12/01
01:49 UTC

23

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?

0 Comments
2024/12/01
00:34 UTC

138

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?

13 Comments
2024/12/01
00:33 UTC

7

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.

3 Comments
2024/11/30
20:54 UTC

Back To Top