Debunking Toxic Lies told to Beginner Knifemakers
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- The article mentioned, by Dr Larrin Thomas:
knifesteelnerd...
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Due to failing health, I've parted with my handmade knife making equipment, and I'm thrilled that a young friend got it, and uses it to make beautiful blades. Thanks for the video, as it addresses a very needed issue. Once again, we'll done.
Back when I co-hosted The ForgeCast Podcast I set people a challenge to gift or pass on something like some materials, or an old tool, or something of the sort, to a young up-and-comer in the field, to remind us of just how amazing it was to receive something like that when we ourselves were first starting out. It led to me hearing a lot of really wonderful stories, and it sounds like yours was one of them - despite it being out of your control, and I'm sorry to hear of your failing health - you can at least know that you lit the spark that may well burn for that young person's entire life!
Thanks for the encouragement!
The recipient uses my homemade anvil for finishing work, since it's so clean and smooth.
Great video my friend. Most appreciated.
I think the idea of reducing waste, reusing materials, and then producing a high quality, durable item at the end of the process is huge, and cannot be overstated. As a society, we need to shift our habits to keeping and maintaining items, and not just producing single use junk.
110% agree
Nice one. Another one you hear all the time is to NOT start with folders. I started with three different folder designs (one a lefty) and the sky didn't fall. Make whatever floats your boat.
They're definitely more difficult to start with, but I'd never say its a rule to not do it!
I used to quench in pig fat. Worked well for a long time. I eventually did move to commercial quenching oils. I also use spring steel and old files when \i started and as \i gained more experience I started using commercial knife steel. We evolve as makers. Also forging is fun, but not necessary. It does save material but you sacrifice time for convenience of stock removal.
Man, your forge must have smelled AMAZING on heat treatment days, though
I started watching this early in the morning when it was still dark, and thought my rooster had gotten out of the coop! Then, after I came inside and restarted the video you said it was YOUR rooster. What a relief! As for your message, couldn't agree more. I've transitioned into using an Evenheat and Parks 50, but still make most of my knives out of 1084, or 1084 and 15N20, and don't feel less of a man, or less of a bladesmith, for doing so. My earlier knives were quenched in canola and my HT was in the coal forge. Are my current knives more pleasing to me? Of course, but I needed to get where I am by starting somewhere!
That's exactly right! Sorry about Freddy 😂 he really likes to join in on my videos!
@@ValhallaIronworks Let's establish a new criterion; only REAL bladesmiths have chickens! I am sure Sam would buy into this.
100 % this. Thank you for saying this on camera.
You're very welcome!
Good video, it was good to hear that I’m not wrong for doing my stuff my way. Thanks.
Glad to help!
Great video mate. And you are right about the toxicity. I encountered a lot of it when I first started out. The mistruths and the nose turning of the "traditionalists" definitely was the hardest hurdle to get past
Good vid, covers a lot of good points. The closest things to blades I've ever made, were made via stock removal. I never thought that was an issue tbh. Glad to hear that it really isn't.
I teach Design and Technology at high school. I've had students say that they aren't very good at say woodwork for example. I responded to them that no one is born a carpenter, it takes time to learn that's all. In some possibly off topic way, I think that relates to this vid.
I agree! It's good to hear you're starting them off with the right message!
..Thanks for these thoughts and linking to the article. i learned a lot on the grain structure as well as the carbides and what to look out for...
Fantastic video! Thanks for making it!
Love the conversation! Thanks for the great video! 👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Always enjoy a good anti-elitism rant from you mate haha
Always 😉
Always hits the nail on its head 👌👌
REAL bladesmiths hit the nail on the tip. 😂😂😂
Thank you for your wisdom it makes me feel a lot better for trying to be better at bladesmithing and for explaining all these points with the amazing knowledge you have. Thanks again
You're very welcome
Woohoo great video Alex!!🎉
Hey, thanks Jenna! Good to see you on the tubes!
I’ve never understood the “don’t use jigs” argument.
I’m a builder. We make jigs all the time at work to make things more repeatable and speed up processes.
Yet with knife making it’s seen by many as a negative.
It's an excellent point. Almost all trades use jigs and other various tools aimed at consistency, and they do so without shame.
Thanks Alex, great video. I find the back handed comments are from people with good intentions who compare a knife made by a hobbyist to a factory made mass produced knife. They expect to see the same level as a blade being sold after many prototypes failed to get the factory blade to finished product. I find easiest just to not sell to them.
Great video and message mate!
Thanks mate!
Great advice, thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Personally I think one of the biggest toxic comments is towards anyone that DOESN'T own or even want a 2x72 grinder, if you want a 2x48 you'll still get sneered at but if you're using a 1x30 then you're wasting your time and not investing in proper equipment. Well I own a 1x30 and in the last 18 months I may have only made about 20ish knives and it may take me a lot longer but I love my little 1x30. Best wishes from here in the UK.
Actually I've decided (due to popular demand) to continue my series on "why your stuff sucks", and the next video is going to be "why your grinder sucks" - and in it I plan on covering this very issue, because it's a very common one!
Great vid!! Keep it up my friend
You know I will! haha
Have you considered how hard the store bought chef knives are? My cheap blades need to be sharpened almost every time I cook.
Haha its a bit the same with most store bought knives honestly. I've never found better blade durability than in the customs market
Great video! But propane is the Lord's fuel! 😂😂😂😂
How in the world did you become so wise at such at young age?!? I appreciate you creating/sharing this content.
Haha I've done a lot of living in the last 36 years. More than I should have had to for someone my age! Glad you enjoyed it!
Quenching and hardening scale? Few years ago I was to lazy to prepare everything for "proper" quench in oil and I just put it in pool... I dont actually have separate space for making knife I have just small "box" forge( as gas forge its simple, small and easy to use) so I keep it in garage cabinet... steel is still hard as hell and I use that knife in kitchen. I love it even if it look like crap :D
As for Steel? I have better advice: Dont read ANYTHING about steel on discords or forums or even articles about it. Yeah, Im not kidding. Knife steel discussions are filled with snoobs that are retarded audiophiles of knife, they think the more expensive something is = its better. And its not only about making knifes, the same is with brand knifes. Hell, most of types of hand work jobs/hobbies will get such people that think they are better because they spend more on it or have fancier materials. Get any steel, sooner or later you will just get overall idea of what to use and what results you get.
I have a video planned about that!
I've never got the whole guild thing I don't need their tick of approval to know i made a good knife.
It has value as a unified education and community facility but that's about it. Some people like myself prefer learning things our own way on our own terms!
100% agree, im in the Sheetmetal trade so I already have my way of doing things .
NO! NO! NO! If you're not using Apex Ultra or pm alloys you're a fraud!
(My sincere apologies to those with burnt out sarcasm detectors)
lol to be fair, though, ApexUltra is an incredible steel
A lot of it has to do with favoritism imo. People who are blacksmiths, tend to look down on knife makers.
Also, established knife makers don't want more competition. And seem to want a modicum of mysticism to surround their craft.
For my first three years or so I used soybean oil and had good results. Plus it smelled like french fried potatoes. I have switched to Parks 50 for carbon steels and haven't looked back. I do not like the smell though LOL
Great video! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
I’m just trying to get started in the craft of blacksmithing, got to say that your series of videos are great for the information I need, and also very confidence building for a newcomer. I’m more interested in tool making rather than knives or weapons. My main passion is jewellery making, and I love making my own tools for it, like specialty hammers, custom stamps and dies, stakes etc. It’d be interesting to incorporate some smithing into the jewellery itself too, just for something a bit unique!
That's really great to hear that my content has helped! I've got a few more educational videos in the works, so stay tuned!
Me personally i have my own preferences on what i like doing to satisfy my expectations of being a bladesmith but thats where it should end. And if people like what i do then shweet!
But there's certainly no need for me to force that on others expecting them to do the same. If ya made a blade? Hells yeah! More power to ya.
Great video and even greater maker.
Thanks mate!
where is the love button, you are a fantastic human being. honestly well done with all that you have achieved over the last few years. I will be following slow and steady
Thank you so much 😊
Great video,as a hobbyist and full time heat treatment tech,I make all mine from Scrap and aim for 58hrc for a hard use blade. If your watching this then your on the right track. Test your work enjoy and remember do it for yourself have fun. Don't worry about the negative, love your work Alex forge / stock remove on haha or just be a Maker.
Thanks for the vid and advice from a beginner myself needed to hear this 🙏🏾
Glad it was helpful!
Morning Alex,
Great topics and thanks for debunking so many things.
Your work speaks for itself, so there's that.
Have a great day n forge on my friend
Thanks, you too!
Fantastic video! Does well to everyone to watch this!
Glad you think so!
Even water can be a good quench, as long as normalization and the steel has little-to-no alloys in it. But yeah, you can quench most things with a lot of things. 56-62HRC is quite a big variation, but I think it makes a plenty strong knife and would probably be ideal, that the customer would be able to perhaps sharpen it, or the smith himself possibly more easily. I read an old book about Puukkos, late 1800s by a guy that was writing about them. And he noted, whilst there were pretty hard knives made by smiths and the buyer could brag about them, that knife could also easily get chips upon it's edge, as the knives back then had a very utility use with puukkos.
One thing I've noticed about making knives, with some of the forgewelded ones, is that you achieve high hardness with them by quenching it to be cherry red. The edge itself would be fine and hard, however it can create a Hamon-esque line, though less pretty, to mess up the damascus pattern that you were going for. Probably functionally better, but you have to take into account those kinds of things as well. For mono-steel, it would be perfect, and more structurally better.
The final lie is the biggest of all toxic lies told within knifemaking.
100% agree. We all have a different journey!
Well done mate. Well said.👍
Thanks 👍
Excellent video mate. Well done. Great points.
Very good video.i think people just take knife making to seriously personally.but sadly as a community that is generally focused on helping each other learn how to do things right,there is a mountain of misinformation out there.
I enjoy listening to you Alex, cause many of your words and thoughts are exactly the same as mine. It's just cool to hear that someone think the same way.
A few thing I would add/explain/expand:
- Jig have one very specific advantage. It's FASTER, because it require less attention/focus while you grind the bevels. It's got limitation and this cause many people consider it as a noob tool. I don't use it, cause most of my bevels are beyond jig functionality, but I've made a few knives using a jig, and I don't see any lack of experience in it.
- The canola oil, motor oil, and other quench liquids are just fine - like you said (well explanation btw) you just won't achieve perfect result. On the other hand, you won't achive it with perfect oil if you don't know how to prepare knife for the quench (affect the hardness same way).
- "you make bad knives because you don't make it like I am"- those who think that way, should speak with Lin Rhea MS (X-Rhea design), David Lisch MS (D-guard), Bob Kramer MS (custom alloys), Bob Loveless (hallow grind bevels) ... Those are the first names that comes to my mind. There are more... much more.
- I would be very careful with using unknown steel if you are beginner, and there is few reason: 99% of Beginners don't have HT oven, they don't make tests- it's natural and I think it's very correct. Start making knives (even bad one, but enjoy it). After you start loving it, you naturally start to looking for the knowledge. Scrap and Unknown steel is a great, but after you have some experience and knowledge. Agree with the correct name "blade from the leaf spring- not blade from 5160".
It would be very cool to have a small talk about those things- maybe someday I'll visit your place :)!
I actually have a video coming which is all about how to HT unknown steels! Should be helpful to all the scrap rats 😂
See, this is the kind of video that you're so good at. Loads of good info, no BS and all delivered without talking down to anyone no matter their knowledge/skill level. The only tiny quibble I'd have is not mentioning that quite a lot of steels are not practical to forge because their high alloy content makes them harden even under air cooling. The only real choice there is stock removal so clearly sub-standard and knives in things like many stainless grades or the famous Magnacut or other powder-met steels must be rubbish ;)
😂 That's a good point!
Thanks fella , spot on, its a shame when someone trieds to tear someone down to feel a little higher. I think for many the courage to strive and try can be hard work. Thankyou for suporting the courage of others. There is nothing quite like recieving encouraging advice from a renound maker you respect on a forum.
You're very welcome! Keep that fire lit!
Great video! Through sharing your skills and time you have help a beginner like me and i am willing to bet my anvil a whole lot of others aswell.
I hope so! Thanks for watching!
I agree with everything you said, except for canola oil. i personnaly wouldnt recommand it to a beginner for really low hardenibility steels, i mean if it's just about high speed quenchant cost and we know its a thing when you're beginning and have to buy lot of stuff.. I would just say "just fuck with the ballsy water quenching stuff" even if it might be frustrating you can learn a lot from there. But that's my experienced pov so it might be irrelevant for a beginner progression stance . But yeah, canola oil is not bad either. And if you wanna go for it, just go.
And now, something i would say to experienced knifemakers, those who already made various stuff, i wanna say : no one forces you to always aim for more complex stuff making. If you don't wanna make complex mecanisms and geometry , its totally ok. I mean 1 knife : full tang , 2 scales, 3 rivets. You can already shine with this. There's beauty in mastering the simple stuff.
But again that's just my pov.
So... You DO agree with what I said about canola oil then... In the video I say its not great but it kinda works so if you wanna go for it go for it, which is exactly what you said here...
Something like 1095 is pretty hard to get ideal without a water quench.. fine grain size makes quench speed need to go up as well.@@ValhallaIronworks