# Installing my new work shop



## PineWood (Jul 20, 2022)

So I have a small collection of knives, a small collection of knives, I enjoy sharpening, next step: making my own knives! I have never done this, so I believe I can do this (some people will get the reference here ). I am handy, I have patience, I can work meticulously and I think it could be a great hobby.
The sensible thing to do would be to start with hand tools and start from there, but I know (from other tasks) that it's so much easier if you have the right tools for the job, and I've always wanted some kind of work shop, so...
I cleaned up the garage, spent a few months reading on this forum and other sources about what tools to get and how to use them. I would like to take the opportunity here to thank all the members who shared their wisdom! 
My aim is to get quality tools that will serve me for years without the need to upgrade. Of course within the limits of budget and space, I have just a few square meters in my garage and a limited budget. I though I'd document/share what I ended up with. Comments are welcome, just don't say I've bought the wrong equipment, everything is paid for already...


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## PineWood (Jul 20, 2022)

The first tool arrived last week, a drill press. I't a dutch brand, made in China, but they seem to have a good reputation. This is their smallest model, but built like tank, weighs like 40 kg. It turns nice and slow, quiet and without wobble (no play) which is the most important I think.

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Cobalt drills for steel and long drills for hardwood to drill tang holes.


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## PineWood (Jul 20, 2022)

I also got a machine vise and a bench vise. I thought a small one would do for knife making.


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## PineWood (Jul 20, 2022)

Yesterday I went to pick up my belt grinder. This is the most expensive piece of equipment I bought, the crown jewel of my work shop so to speak. I chose for Batko, they are around for many years and seem to make quality products. I got two hours of explanation about the machine, they were really helpful.
It is a 2x72 except here in Europe it's called a 50x2000, although the belts that are more widely used are 1650 mm. I still have to make some kind of table or stand at the proper work height .


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## icanhaschzbrgr (Jul 20, 2022)

Nice tools! One advice: don't start making anything until you setup dust collection and acquire face mask, glasses and hearing protection.


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## PineWood (Jul 20, 2022)

Yes, you are absolutely right! Don't want to shorten my life inhaling metal and wood dust. I have thought about that as well and ordered items for personal protection. For dust collection I have to test if an industrial vacuum cleaner works. And metal sparks will be caught in water of course.


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## Se1ryu (Jul 20, 2022)

Nice, maybe you can make custom saya for the knife also. A lot of people looking for regular or custom saya. Also make a custom handle while continue making knives.


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## TB_London (Jul 20, 2022)

PineWood said:


> Yes, you are absolutely right! Don't want to shorten my life inhaling metal and wood dust. I have thought about that as well and ordered items for personal protection. For dust collection I have to test if an industrial vacuum cleaner works. And metal sparks will be caught in water of course.


An extractor going through a dust bong is a decent way to catch the crud without too much risk of anything catching fire. The more suction the better. If going vacuum they tend to be high pressure- low volume, whereas you really want high volume - low pressure, commonly described as HVLP.
Don’t skimp on the coarse belts either if you’re going the stock removal route. 36grit ceramic makes the roughing out stage much more tolerable


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## ITKKF (Jul 21, 2022)

Good luck! Looking forward to seeing your work!


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## Bensbites (Jul 21, 2022)

PineWood said:


> Yesterday I went to pick up my belt grinder. This is the most expensive piece of equipment I bought, the crown jewel of my work shop so to speak. I chose for Batko, they are around for many years and seem to make quality products. I got two hours of explanation about the machine, they were really helpful.
> It is a 2x72 except here in Europe it's called a 50x2000, although the belts that are more widely used are 1650 mm. I still have to make some kind of table or stand at the proper work height .
> 
> View attachment 189371


A proper belt grinder is a wonderful thing. I always wear ear, eye , and lung protection with mine.


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## ian (Jul 21, 2022)

I find I often don’t need ear protection with the grinder unless I’m doing really high pressure high speed stuff. It’s nothing like operating a circular saw. My shop vac is much louder than the grinder, so I wear ear protection when I’m doing wood (and hence dust collecting). I don’t usually have the vac on while grinding metal for fear of sparks. Just use a full mask and have an air purification system running.


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## PineWood (Jul 21, 2022)

Se1ryu said:


> Nice, maybe you can make custom saya for the knife also. A lot of people looking for regular or custom saya. Also make a custom handle while continue making knives.


Seems like you have some work for me already  . Patience, after everything arrives and is installed (which will take at least 5-6 weeks) then I can start learning to use my tools! Looking forward to it.


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## RonB (Jul 21, 2022)

For working with wood, I suggest a pair of bench vise pads.


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## PineWood (Jul 21, 2022)

TB_London said:


> An extractor going through a dust bong is a decent way to catch the crud without too much risk of anything catching fire. The more suction the better. If going vacuum they tend to be high pressure- low volume, whereas you really want high volume - low pressure, commonly described as HVLP.
> Don’t skimp on the coarse belts either if you’re going the stock removal route. 36grit ceramic makes the roughing out stage much more tolerable


Thanks for the dust bong tip, could be useful. I will have to find out what works best. Belts: I bought 15 different belts with the grinder (AlOx, ceramic in different grits, Trizac, scotch brite and cork) so I can try them all.


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## PineWood (Jul 21, 2022)

RonB said:


> For working with wood, I suggest a pair of bench vise pads.


I can replace the pads on my vise with rubber ones, but I didn’t know the magnetic ones, that’s even easier. Thanks!


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## WilliamDallas (Jul 23, 2022)

Wow man I’m super jealous of your workspace. I’m currently woodworking out of a 10x15 shed


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## PineWood (Jul 23, 2022)

My place is not that much bigger really, I have to think to use the space efficiently. I will manage to put everything in place I wanted, but only just.


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## PineWood (Jul 24, 2022)

Next item: bandsaw(s). When reading about the topic I could not figure out what was more indispensable: the metal bandsaw or the wood bandsaw. I guess it depends on the knife maker’s preferences and way of working. What was clear however is that you can’t have just one bandsaw for both metal and wood. You would have to be able to adjust speed, and change the saw as well, not convenient. So I got two bandsaws.


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## PineWood (Jul 24, 2022)

My metal bandsaw. Most bandsaws are horizontal, so knife makers seem to use a portable band saw like this and make it work vertically. I made a table/stand in wood, not completely happy with it but it works for now. Probably I'll ask a friend who can weld to make a more stable design in metal. I the US you have the SWAG table but those are not available here (or very expensive to import).


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## PineWood (Jul 24, 2022)

Then the wood bandsaw. I smallest ones are benchtop bandsaws with typically around 300W, and I suppose these are good enough for cutting handle material. However if I would want to cut a thick block of hardwood (e.g. to make a saya) those would be underpowered. So I chose something more heavy (literally, 81 kg!) 12" wheels, 2240 mm band, 900W. 




Mind you, this is still small in the world of bandsaws. For some time I was looking at used bandsaws, but mostly it's very old small hobby stuff, or very heavy industrial machinery working at 400V, and I don't have the space and the power supply for such heavy tools.
You may notice both saws are from Makita. I am in no way sponsored or anything like that, it's just I already had some Makita tools, I am happy with them, and I have a little OCD side that wouldn't want me to mix up different brands/colors.
I mounted the 16 mm saw with 14 tpi at 800 m/s and its running smooth, good for straight cuts in hard wood.


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## Dominick Maone (Jul 24, 2022)

If you wait to have all the tools you need, you will never make a knife. 

I’ve been making knives for 4 or 5 years and need 10-15 more pieces of equipment. 

Get some metal and an angle grinder and start cutting out blanks. You have all the tools you need to do everything before heat treating.


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## ian (Jul 24, 2022)

Looks great! Hope you don’t get bored with knife making after 6 months.


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## PineWood (Jul 24, 2022)

Dominick Maone said:


> If you wait to have all the tools you need, you will never make a knife.
> 
> I’ve been making knives for 4 or 5 years and need 10-15 more pieces of equipment.
> 
> Get some metal and an angle grinder and start cutting out blanks. You have all the tools you need to do everything before heat treating.


I know what you mean, and as I said in my introduction, that’s the sensible way to go, but it doesn’t work for me. When I want to do something I think about it for a long time, overthink it maybe, and then do it as I planned it in my head. That’s just me.
Anyway, I’ll get there soon. The grinder is not branched yet, the variable speed control needs to be in a dustfree cabinet, this will arrive next week. Also waiting for my PPE, delivery times are a bit delayed right now because of holidays.


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## PineWood (Jul 24, 2022)

ian said:


> Looks great! Hope you don’t get bored with knife making after 6 months.


Good point! But I don’t think so! So many tasks that I have done in the past would have been so much easier with the band saw and the grinder, should have bought them years ago


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## PineWood (Jul 25, 2022)

I feel I should mention these books to, ordered these a couple of months ago. Not tools, but certainly part of the project.


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## PineWood (Jul 25, 2022)

My forge just arrived! Devil forge with two burners. I know one burner is enough to forge, but I'd like to use this forge for heat treating as well, and 40 cm depth and two burners will help to do that. I know a heat treat oven is better but that's out of budget right now. Also I mainly want to work with low alloy steels (80CrV2, 15N20, 1095) that should be fairly easy to heat treat. I will probably put a metal tube in the forge when heat-treating for a better heat distribution.


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## northside (Jul 26, 2022)

PineWood said:


> My forge just arrived! Devil forge with two burners. I know one burner is enough to forge, but I'd like to use this forge for heat treating as well, and 40 cm depth and two burners will help to do that. I know a heat treat oven is better but that's out of budget right now. Also I mainly want to work with low alloy steels (80CrV2, 15N20, 1095) that should be fairly easy to heat treat. I will probably put a metal tube in the forge when heat-treating for a better heat distribution.



Absolutely do get a baffle for heat treating. A high temperature thermocouple in a ceramic shroud is also highly recommended. 
I'll actually be building a heat treating furnace soon that I will use for all hamon work in place of my electric kiln. You can build one for very little money and achieve very stable and even temperatures with very little decarb and scale. Look up "Don Fogg 55 heat treat drum" on Google to find plans, etc.


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## PineWood (Aug 8, 2022)

Blacksmith tools arrived: a 'beginner set' of tongs and a few different hammers ranging from 450 g to 1500 g
(The tong on the left seems pretty useless but it's the one that came with the forge.)


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## PineWood (Aug 9, 2022)

Last weekend I finished the work bench for my grinder and made all the connections







Unfortunately I can't get it to work. The variable frequency controller keeps giving an error, too low voltage. According to the seller it has to do with my electrical installation at home. Anyone has an idea?


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## PineWood (Aug 9, 2022)

I also made a rack for my belts. A bit over-engineered maybe, but I consider it practice with my wood band saw.


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## PineWood (Aug 9, 2022)

I bought this used cute little anvil. Still have to make a stand for it.





It's a 52 kg Peddinghaus. Bigger is better, but I still want to be able to move it, so this size is a good compromise.


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## MowgFace (Aug 9, 2022)

Man, great to watch your project! Looks fantastic so far! Always funny that you end up building so many other things before you get to knives! Can’t wait to see how things get on


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## PineWood (Aug 10, 2022)

Yay! The issue with my grinder is finally sorted out. It was me who made a stupid mistake in the wiring. It's running so smooth now. Well, a bit frightening also at top speed.


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## PineWood (Aug 10, 2022)

I asked a local metal construction company to make a muffler in stainless steel so I can have a better temperature control in my forge for the heat treatment.
Inside is a thermocouple that can measure up to 1300°C.








As you can see the isolating kao wool inside the forge is already coated with rigidizer. The pipe is 90 mm but pressed to oval, so about 80 mm x 100 mm and 37 cm long, so about everything should fit in there, from a cleaver up to to a 330 mm suji.


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## PineWood (Aug 10, 2022)

Also I picked up the wood for my anvil stand yesterday. I will glue the blocks together and then bolt the threaded rods through so everything is clamped together. Project for next weekend.




The blocks are 63 cm high, the anvil is 22 cm, so total hight will be 85 cm, just above my knuckles.


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## valdim (Aug 10, 2022)

You've spent a lot so far...Ofc, when it is about a hobby, money does not matter that much.
Enjoy!


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## PineWood (Aug 15, 2022)

Finished my anvil stand! I couldn't have done this without my drill press, as the holes in the blocks need to line up exactly. Bolts are recessed in the wood.
The anvil is caulked to the wood stand and held in place with a piece of wood on each side. Two chains clamp the anvil down in the other direction. I added a magnet to further bring down the ring and to be able to check for magnetism while forging. The L-shaped piece of metal holding the tensioning screw was made from a rusty scrap piece, I cut it with my angle grinder and sanded it down on my belt grinder.
The whole assembly feels solid and no ring, I'm happy how this turned out.


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## PineWood (Aug 15, 2022)

valdim said:


> You've spent a lot so far...Ofc, when it is about a hobby, money does not matter that much.
> Enjoy!


Thanks! Yes, I've spend some money, but I try to spend it wisely, thinking about the most useful quality tools I can get for a reasonable price. I didn't want to skimp on the belt grinder, because I think it's the most important tool, and it is by far the most expensive tool I bought.
I'm sure many people have spent as much or more on their workshop, the difference is I buy everthing at once. But you're right, it's a hobby and I enjoy it.


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## PineWood (Aug 31, 2022)

Finally all of my protective gear arrived




Leather apron, gloves, dust mask, glasses, hearing protection and a fire extinguisher rated for oil fires.

In the meantime I ordered some smaller but probably useful tools:




Files, small broaches, conical roamer, peening hammer, digital height gauge and digital caliper, clamps and rubber blocks for the bench vise.


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## PineWood (Aug 31, 2022)

I made made a mistake ordering these ammo boxes. I wanted to use them to hold the quenching oil but they are too small for kitchen knives (30 cm ruler inside in the picture below). They hold only about 3 litres of liquid. So I sent them back.





Instead I ordered gastronorm containers. I don't know if it's universal or a European thing, but all restaurants/caterers use these so they are easily available, cheap and stainless. This is the 2/4 size (25 cm ruler in the picture).




They hold between 7 an 8 litres of oil, should be fine for my small hobbyist use (I will probably quench not more than 2 or 3 knives in a row).
The oil arrived as well, I have Durixol V35 for the simple carbon steels and Parks AAA for the low alloy carbon steels.

This is how it looks on my new cart with the forge:


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## PineWood (Aug 31, 2022)

Made my first handle in burnt oak. In fact it looked cleaner befure the burnishing process, this has rounded the edges a bit.
I'm happy I succeeded in giving the handle some taper.


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## PineWood (Aug 31, 2022)

Especially when working with wood I quickly realised how much dust the belt sander is generating. The whole garage (including bikes etc.) was covered in dust.
So I installed this spark-proof PVC curtain to separate the grinder from the rest of the shop:


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## PineWood (Aug 31, 2022)

First knife designs are being made...


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## PineWood (Sep 11, 2022)

Last (for now) but not least: my maker's mark


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## PineWood (Sep 11, 2022)

Finished my first knife!






View attachment 001_01.JPG











C75 steel, 191 x 51 mm, oak handle (from our former dinner table!) with carbon pins.
It's a bit thick at 204 grams (2,9 mm at handle) so I call it workhorse grind 
I'll give this knife to our youngest son, he's 20 and moved out of the house earlier this year. I hope he will enjoy using this when cooking in his apartment.


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