Dumb Knife Making Questions...Destroyed!

Pro knife maker takes on the "dumbest" knife questions. But are they really?

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Twitter: @WalterSorrells

[ricardomagnificent]

At the end of the video I knew you were about to mention the Heat Treating Process. I've quoted the line from your website to dozens of people when discussing knife steels, and usually their eyes just glaze over but a few have listened. Great video.

[philochristos]

I remember being at a knife show and talking to this one guy about how cool Johnnie Stout's knives are. He scoffed because Johnnie Stout outsources his knives to somebody else to do the engraving. I thought that was silly because why is a knife made by a single person superior to a collaborative knife made by two people? I've also heard knife makers who use stock removal scoff at the term "blade smith" because they're blacksmiths, not knife makers, which I thought was silly. And then there's the people who forge their knives and look down their noses at people who use stock removal. This all seems petty and stupid to me. It's like people who turn their noses up at at certain delicious foods because they're not "authentic Mexican" or "authentic Chinese" or whatever. I don't care whether it's authentic; I care whether it's good. I just want to enjoy my food.

[chrisjg]

Lies. The BEST steel comes from the leaf springs of a 79 Camaro. Has to be a Z-28 with T-Tops, however.

[paulcrawford]

When you said what's the best knife maker? It made me think of Phil Robertson when asked, what's the best shotgun? He replied "the one where you pull the trigger and it goes bang !"

[rngokuking]

Love your points about knife steels, Walter. I bought a 6 inch camp knife from Boker years ago that is made from D2, it holds an edge incredibly well, but is an absolute bear to sharpen. I mostly work with 5160 and 52100 myself, but that's mostly because they are extremely available in my line of work as a heavy duty diesel mechanic. I think that's really the answer to that question for beginning makers. The best steel is what you can get your hands on, start making, and get comfortable using.

[Mushin-Flowstate]

Hahaha I like your impersonations. Thank you for all of the years of helpful and informative videos

[daveh]

For me the best steels for knives are the ones I know I can confidently heat treat.

[Fulblade]

Endorsed: you’re never gonna get into a knife fight. Totally agree.

[Babymoonblades]

“What is the best knife?”

Whichever one you want to buy from me and if you’ve got one already, you probably need three.

😂😂😂

[louislarose]

A question I get sometimes is, "Can you make me a knife out of my old cast iron frying pan?"

[brysonalden]

I'm surprised the damascus/patterned steel question wasn't #1 on your list! That foolishness just wears me out. Good points on "switchblades, " and I've found that even though they're illegal in my State it's quite possible to obtain them from reputable dealers online. Often they're called "assisted opening" but hey, you push a button and they open. Frankly, my CRKT thumb stud model opens at least as fast, so the laws are monuments to reactive legislative ignorance.

[JakofAllBlades]

Great video as usual. W regard to titanium, there's a couple of makers using very specific grades, forging and heat treatment techniques to make excellent blades from titanium. Mad Science Forge is a great example and Mareko Maumasi has a great interview with that dude on his podcast Artisans of Steel. Generally speaking though Walter you're entirely correct on the limitations of Ti as a blade material.

[MichaelGroenendyk-fjqn]

Yo Wal. Great video mate. Love your point of view as usual.

[billclancy]

I make knives out of "Unobtanium". It's hard to get though.

[mulepowerforge]

Here’s one that’s really annoying. “Forging vs stock removal.”

Do whatever works for you. Here’s another one, freehand grinding or using jigs. I had a guy at a show that was kinda acting like he was a better maker than me cause he didn’t use jigs but after looking at his work I immediately disregarded his comments lol. I’ll stick to the methods that get me the best results.

[unclebobi]

Great discussion! I love the Titanium kids. They confuse Titanium with Mythril! I have a Titanium dive knife, it's impervious to corrosion, but can't hold an edge for anything!

[benchapman]

I do stock removal primarily because I only work in stainless, the stainless' I use are the "simple" HT (single heat, no step, plate quench then cryo with Dry ice or LN2) cycle ones (Nitro-V, 12C27, 14C28N) because my home made HT oven doesnt heat fast enough for temperature steps and I also like low maintenance knives and the strength, toughness and edge retention of these steels are more than I am looking for. I dont forge any more due to nerve problems in my neck and shoulders. I mostly freehand grind as many of the designs I use are not a straight flat bevel, especially hollow grinding and I have found freehand allows you to adjust on the fly. I still use jigs for small flat grinds. I also wet grind after HT with a water mist spray. I do it this way because it works for me, it may not work for you. Do what works for you and just enjoy it.

[benedikts.]

Not a question, but maybe at least a dumb idea:
Could You design a knife that is the most tedious (pain in the backside) to make? I think that would be a very interesting thought process to follow. What I mean are details like a bolster, not engraving and inlaying the thing for 1.000 hours.
A second part could be a very similar knife, but optimised for easy manufacturing.

[JohnFleshman]

LOL I am literally fidgeting with a cheap switch blade as you brought them up. LOL!!! In Nevada you can now legally carry one as long as its not concealed... aka put it in a belt holster thing or get one with a pocket clip and its fine.

[SM-umiu]

The part about titanium blades was interesting. I never new that it had poor edge retention. There is a timascus, titanium Damascus, that I recently learned about. Have you ever worked with it? How does its edge retention hold up? Thanks for your educational videos.