Fiddleback University - Knife Making 101 Class - Two Days

Knife Making 101 Class - Two Days - One on One Instruction

NOTE: This is NOT a forging class. We use hammers as little as possible!

What you will make in class:

• 9" or smaller fixed blade knife. You can choose a Fiddleback model, or design your own (with Andy's prior approval of design)
  
  • Handle type will be a full tang style
    
  • Steel will be carbon steel, to guarantee the needed heat treating process can be done within the allotted class time
    
  • Handle material will be your choice of micarta or wood, with micarta liners and G10 pinstripes ... chosen from Fiddleback Forge's current stock
    

Skills you will learn include:

• Use the stock removal method for shaping a knife "blank" to exact specs.
  
• Prepare and glue up handle materials, including scales and liners
  
• Lighten the steel beneath the handle scales and prepare surfaces for attaching handle scales
  
• Properly gauge and mark handle pin placement
  
• Marking the blade for proper edge width during grinding process
  
• Create a desireable texture on the "flats" of your blade
  
• Perform the initial primary grind to match evenly while creating the desired geometry and thickness
  
• Perform a proper heat treat cycle for your knife's steel for optimal hardness and performance
  
• Use pinning and epoxy to properly attach handle scales to the blade
  
• Shape handle materials quickly, efficiently, evenly, and beautifully
  
• Finalize the grinds after heat treatment of steel
  
• Finalize the finish of the handle materials to achieve desired look and/or feel
  
• Final sharpening of your knife
  

...And of course, all the tools and materials needed for all the steps above!

What you get from the class:

• Awesome new skills in knife-making using stock removal methods.
  
• A knife that you made with your own hands, while working side by side with a professional knife maker!
  
• You'll be the envy of all your normie friends who can't make a knife!
  
• A good time, and likely a good story to tell.
  
• First dibs on purchasing the knife made by Andy Roy during the class session
  

What is provided with the class:

• Steel: A bar of carbon steel.
• Handle materials: Micarta handle scales, micarta liners, G10 liners, micarta pins
• Expendable materials: Grinder belts, epoxy, sandpaper, and other one-time-use materials needed to complete the knife
• Equipment access: Grinders, buffers, saws, drill presses, clamps, sanding discs, and other equipment.
• Access to basic safety gear: Masks, eye protection, and ear plugs.

What is NOT provided with the class:

• Travel Expenses
  • Transportation
  • Lodging
  • Meals

What to expect:

• Make a complete functional knife using the stock removal method.
  (Again, this is not a forging class.)
• You'll get plenty of one to one instruction, each class is limited to only 1 person!
• Dirty hands, clean fun. Prepare to get a little dirty! You'll create alot of dust, which is fun. The shop is equipped nicely with a dust collection system and air filtration, and you'll wear a full mask. So, you'll be good to go!
  
• Prepare to start early, class begins at 8AM. If you are a breakfast person, eat beforehand. Expect Atlanta traffic when driving in the area. Norcross is on the south end of Georgia's largest county of almost 1 million people, and it sits between them and Atlanta.
  
• Andy will usually break for lunch around 12-ish, depending on where you are in the process. There are several great restaurants nearby. You can expect a good place to eat, and a good laugh with Andy while there. After you've completed the process, you'll have time to work on any skill area that you found yourself weakest in, or that you need more help with.
  

What to wear, and safety gear:

• You will do alot of grinding. The whole process uses quite a few different grinders and attachments. Don't wear lose fitting or excessivley baggie clothes.
  
• The shop is heated and cooled in the "dirty area" but is in an open warehouse for the "clean" parts. The warehouse isn't heated or cooled, so whatever the weather is that day outside, it influences the inside temp.
  
• Wear shoes that will protect your feet and that you can stand on a hard floor comfortably for much of the day. While the shop is as clean and safe as a shop can be, you are working with shop equipment, hot steel, sparks, etc. Protect your feet. Pants are encouraged as well.
  
• You'll wear a full respirator when in the "dirty area" of the shop where grinders are. Also expect to wear eye protection if the respirator you use does not have it built in.
  
• Ear protection is encouraged, but not required. Electronic ear protection designed for shooting are great because you can hear instructions, while blocking louder noises. But ear plugs are fine.