04-17-2017, 02:11 PM
I don't know how seriously you want to take this, Wade. I was interested enough to know that I wanted to make incredible knives for a living, so I had no qualms about investing heavily. Most middle age people would rather have an interesting hobby, so they go about things at that level.
It doesn't matter what I want to do, I just want to be the best in the least amount of time. I don't know how else to do that without learning first hand, from the best teacher. I would never have time to try to study through every aspect on my own. There's always more to learn than you can possibly imagine, and great plenty of details that you will have to work out for yourself.
There are some obvious things you need, but you're already learning how difficult it can be to choose the right equipment. A guy might think that a big belt grinder should be easy enough to come by, but the more you learn about them the more difficult it becomes, eh?
You know you'll need a forge and an anvil. Those are more straightforward than grinders, but I know neither are easy to acquire.
I know I can walk you through making a nice forge on whatever scale you'd like. I'll take some pictures of my first forge to give you an idea of what I consider minimal. You should study Rex Price's website here, and Ron Reil's website here. That's all you'll need to know about forges.
I invested $2k in my anvil, while I'm sure I could have welded up some RR track for free. I know I made the right decision for me, but YMMV. It would be worth checking Craig's List. You could get lucky.
Take a hammer with you. Good anvils have rebound and ring. They cost more, but as long as you're kind to it, it won't depreciate.
It doesn't matter what I want to do, I just want to be the best in the least amount of time. I don't know how else to do that without learning first hand, from the best teacher. I would never have time to try to study through every aspect on my own. There's always more to learn than you can possibly imagine, and great plenty of details that you will have to work out for yourself.
There are some obvious things you need, but you're already learning how difficult it can be to choose the right equipment. A guy might think that a big belt grinder should be easy enough to come by, but the more you learn about them the more difficult it becomes, eh?
You know you'll need a forge and an anvil. Those are more straightforward than grinders, but I know neither are easy to acquire.
I know I can walk you through making a nice forge on whatever scale you'd like. I'll take some pictures of my first forge to give you an idea of what I consider minimal. You should study Rex Price's website here, and Ron Reil's website here. That's all you'll need to know about forges.
I invested $2k in my anvil, while I'm sure I could have welded up some RR track for free. I know I made the right decision for me, but YMMV. It would be worth checking Craig's List. You could get lucky.
Take a hammer with you. Good anvils have rebound and ring. They cost more, but as long as you're kind to it, it won't depreciate.