Hi BCS friends, I got the bug to make a knife from scratch. Been watching forged in fire. Is there a blacksmith shop or place that sells equipment and supplies around bcs or surrounding communities?

Thanks!

You doing it by hand or are you trying to buy some kind of press? You need some kind of forge, there's ways of rigging things up. This could get expensive.

I've started building a simple coal/hardwood forced airflow brick forge for the spring steel sword grind I am working on. A few large pavers and a heat gun and piece of steel pipe, and some nice post oak coals should get it plenty hot. I don't need to anneal it, only harden it at 1500F once I have it ground, vertical quench it in warmed old motor oil or veggie oil, then temper it in a pit a couple of times at 400F for an hour and put on a final edge.

I'm cheating and welding on the cross guard and pommel weigh one I have it slotted on the tang. I have the skill and the tools, and there's no need to peen on the handle when you can make it in halves and epoxy it around the tang, then wire or leather wrap it. Going for a 12th century Norman single fuller style blade with some stylistic modifications. Hand grinding the fuller without yet having a bench sander is turning out to be tough. It would probably be easier to heat and forge it with a spring clamping fuller tool and an anvil and hammer...but not really, as that would distort the blade shape from the neat bar I started with.

5160 is a good inexpensive spring steel to use that hardens well.

Pictures?

Unless you are hell bent on forging your own blank, let me recommend you got to HF and get a 1x30 belt sander, order a piece of 1.5" x 1/8"x 12" precision ground 0-1 tool steel from Amazon. You can also order some micarta or G10 knife scales on Amazon. Get a piece of G10 spacer material as well. So far you are about $100 in to this deep deep hole. You'll. Need some 2 part epoxy (Lowe's) and something to make pins (1/8" brass rod from Lowe's). You need a drill / drill press and something to heat treat your blade. I made a simple forge using 4 fire white bricks (eBay) and a MAPP torch. You tube is your best friend. There's some really talented knife makers on the OB. I just make them for family and friends, but it's a great hobby.

If you like the knife, you will soon have $5000 in tools in your garage. It happens.

Yeah, we're going to need more info to get you started.

What do you really want to get going with? Do you want to start banging on steel and making a knife? Stock removal from a bar? Start with a knife blank and add handles? Is this something you think you actually may want to do or do you just want to make a knife?

Budget, space, and goal can really help out with some base suggestions.

This is a rabbit hole that has many turns. The 1x30 grinder idea is great to get started. Combat abrasive sell most of their styles in that size.

I would recommend 80crv2 as a steel to work with. It heat treats very easy and holds a pretty good edge. It's my go to mono steel. I quench it is peanut oil and have had few problems. Disclaimer is that if you read up on it there is a way to heat treat it to maximize its potential but a minimalist approach works. There are places that you can send blanks to get heat treated if you want to get something exotic.

Handle material is something that I did not spend a lot on early and did not know I was making some future problems. Try your hardest to find stabilized handle material. Especially if you are in BCS with high humidity. A soft wood handle will shrink if sent to a dryer climate. This could harm you handle and make it come off the knife. There are great guys out there that have all the exotic stuff. Terry Dunn in La Vernia has some of the best prices and selection around. You can find him on Instagram and Facebook and TNT enterprises. Or you can get into Stablizing your own stuff. Another rabbit hole.

As far as supply store around BCS I don't know of any. But jantz supply has just about anything you want. Also texas farrier supply in kennedale has everything as well. Bastrop has to the point sharpening. They carry a lot of the steel you would want as well as quench tanks and handle material. Also materialmakersupply on Instagram is on this board and has a lot of cool stuff for handles.

If you want to invest in great tools going with a 2x72 with a vfd is a game changer. But be ready to spend 2-4K depending on brands and features. There are cheaper out there but you get what you pay for. Or you can always build your own. I built my first one for around 500$. But it did not have a variable speed drive. I used pulleys and pillow block bearings.

If you want to forge you really would need to know all techniques above with added anvil, forge, hammer. There are budget way but it more expensive by the day. Railroad track works for smaller knives. Alec steel has a tutorial on a coffe can forge with map gas burners. And hammers and tongs can be sourced from the garage, Lowe's, or buys some handmade nice ones off line. My favorite one came from bounty forge on Facebook he is an aggie. Also get on the texas knife makers guild Facebook page. They post hammer ins and have a for sale page when people or liquidating their tools.

Sorry for the long post. You get me talking knife making, show pigs, or back country hunt and I lose my off switch.

Here is the grinder I built. And the new one I bought this summer

Man. She's beautiful...is she a Beaumont?

Yeah. 2x72 is a game changer, but don't do it unless you want to really get into it. I did one knife on a 1x30 and made the jump to a 2x72. I will say I've had as much fun making my tools and jigs as I do knives. Just gives my brain something to think about that doesn't have anything to do with my paycheck job.

Here's my 2x72. I ended up buying a welder to learn to make the stand for this and a porta-band saw. Then used it to make my forge.

We doing belt grinders??

There's a kid in BCS that sells coke for your forge. $25 for 50lbs. He also does classes where you can make your own tools with his instruction. His name is Mark Ling 979-450-3699

I agree that a 2x72 it hugely useful as a shop tool, especially if you do any other metal work. There are cheaper belt sanders for wood applications though.

As Mentioned building up your tools can be part of the fun. Here is my homemade 2x72.



I like the KBAC VFDs digital brother, the KBDA. You can program the belt Feet/min speed for the display with the knob being speed control. Mine is set up for double speed on the motor like the majority of Knifemaker VFDs.

There are tons of tutorials out there for making your own forges, propane or coal, from basic to involved and some decently cheap(ish) forges to buy like Hell's forge. But like everything, knife making stuff has gone up with the past year's BS.

I use Alpha Knife supply for the majority of my metal.

As for knife shops, texas knifemakers supply is in Houston, west side off the Beltway.

I had no idea there were so many DIY belt grinders on Texags....here's mine:











I actually modeled the whole thing in Sketchup first:

Step aside you poors... here are mine, custom made by an Aggie engineer /s

I have a buddy who built about as simple of a machine as you can for a 2x72 and he loves it. He also doesn't do any knife making, haha. HF angle grinder on a router speed control for power.

Holy smokes. That beast looks incredibly well thought out and heavy duty.

310 Forge in college station. Reach out to mike