Making knives "in cleanest way"?

[Dan K]

Hi All.

I was wondering, what is he "cleanest" way of making knives.

I have a small woodworking shop, that I dont want to cover in soot and grinding dust.

But I want to make a few knives a year for testing and gifts.

My thinking was:

Buy bar stock and cut it out myself.

Or have it waterjeted by a third party.

Grind in a separate room.

Then heat treat in ovn (even heat or something other)

Im not sure, but I believe a small propane forge would create to much moisture and soot?


The woodshop is 12,5ft x 18,5ft or 230 sq ft, with a smal "storage" area of 70sq ft where I can grind.


If you have other ideas, please share!
 

Edited August 8, 2020 by Dan K

[Dan K]

This might sound stupid, but could I use a Evenheat ovn, to heat the steel, then shape it on a anvil?

A electric forge... :p

 

[Alan Longmire]

Using an Evenheat as a forge would be highly inefficient. You only get 20 to 30 seconds of forging time per heat no matter the heat source.

 

Propane forges don't produce any soot, and the moisture is negligible once they come to temperature.

 

Grinding can be done in a small space, you just need good ventilation and a respirator.  There is also the option of hand filing. 

 

If you go pure stock removal and you have the Evenheat, you don't need a forge.

 

If you want to forge, you can always do it outdoors.

 

Welcome aboard!

[Dan Hertzson]

Cleanest forging is most likely from an induction forge, but that is quite the investment for just a couple of blades a year.  Agree that keeping metal dust down is best done in separate room as Alan advocates.

[Dan K]

Well.. purchased a new Peddinghaus 77lbs anvil and a Heuer 180 vice (for other shop duties as well).

Lets see if I find a use for it

 

Edited August 11, 2020 by Dan K

[Joshua States]

The absolute "cleanest" way I can think of is to buy the blade kits and put them together followed closely by buying  blade blanks and putting handles on them.

 

Alan's idea of stock removal with files is pretty clean, but if you want to grind, it will get dusty. Maybe think about a dust collection system.

If you are really opposed to creating a mess you have to clean up, find a different hobby      

Forging in a small propane single burner is easy, fun and if you focus on small blades or thin ones, you won't have much steel and time to create a huge mess.

Welcome to the madness.

[billyO]

Hello Dan, and as Joshua said, welcome.  

Not sure where you live or how close your neighbors are, but there are a lot of folks that build their forge stands on casters so they can roll the stuff out of the garage while in use.  Your peddinghaus is portable, and a relatively inexpensive tarp/tent cay keep the rain off while working.