I've only been making knives for a few months now and don't have a lot of good tools to do so. I just recently got a KMG 2x72 belt grinder with variable speed controller and 2hp motor and I love this thing. I only do stock removal as I don't have a workshop to do proper blacksmithing in and the wife would kill me if I burned down the house. I made a simple single burner propane firebrick forge I use for heat treating and I quench in Canola oil and use a toaster oven for tempering or my in-house oven for larger blades. I've only made maybe 6 knives so far, this being my 7th. I am making this one for my Brother-In-Law as a christmas present. I also dabble in leatherwork and inherited all of my grandfathers leather working tools so I may make a sheath for this one as well personalized with his initials.

This is made from precision ground D2 tool steel. This piece started out 2.5" wide, 18" long, and 1/4" thick. I cut it out with a 4 1/2" angle grinder and cut off wheels then ground to final shape on the KMG. Bevel grinding done on the KMG with Norton Blaze ceramic 60 grit belt. I am almost done rough sanding by hand on one side...It is 10" blade and 15" OAL. Thinking some Padauk wood handle scales for this one. It is ground with a flat/convex grind and should hold a wicked edge.

Got the pics to show now. I think it turned out pretty good so far for my 7th knife.

Looks like it will be a serious tool when it is complete. Nice!

Why in the world did you pick some D-2 steel? D-2 requires some very specific heat treating methods.I'm not going to get into how, do a search! If a gas forge is all you have, you should be buying some 1084, it's very forgiving.

I have some 1095 and 440c and I’m familiar with heat treating D2, oxygen free, air quench, the works.

Looks good Brandon, I love seeing the progress pics

Good work. Thanks for sharing your progress with us!

Looking good. I would recommend considering grinding a top cutting edge for the first half of the blade length. Sure makes it easy to go straight into the heart without much thrust behind it.

That will get the job done.

It's a hard use knife where failure could have serious consequences. Don't rely on anything but a mechanical connection to fasten the scales to the tang - bolts, flared tubes or rivets. Pins are not mechanical connections.

Keep up the good work and have fun.

I like to see people that have a passion and go for it.

Didn’t get any sanding done last night, just didn’t feel like it. I should get this one finished up this weekend and start on something new. Will post some pics as I can

For your 7th that's pretty darn good!

Sanded with 100, then 150, then 220 grit. Not sure I want to go any further...

That knife is a beast. It looks great Sir

Can I have it?

It looks great.

And it’s pretty much done except for putting an edge on it. Even tried my hand at some file work. I need a little more practice, but only 2nd time I tried file work on spine.

Nicely done.

If you keep this up you will need to start adding some kind of maker's mark!

WOW really nice. I like the file work.