Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop, Revised: Get Started Without Spending a Fortune

I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject of knife making and smithing in general. I have a small home set up useing a scrap metal anvil and various hand bodged tools and a home made gas forge and I've been working away at my skills such as they are for half a year now. On reading his book I find that there is much I could have done cheaper and easier to get the same results when I started up and it has given me more info on how things go together than I was expecting. It takes an afternoon to read cover to cover. In fact in the one day and an evening after receiveing this book, I now have a serviceable long belt grinder built from odds and sods in my garage, an old bandsaw motor, some decent hardwood and a pile of channel section and angle iron were utilised along with a lawnmower wheel and an old turned down pulley. Granted I had an idea prior to getting this book as to how to build it but this book got me started and a rainy saturday in the garage has now provided me a nice 72"belt vertical grinder for stock removal. I figure a little fine tuning over tomorrow will get it to be all I need for some time to come and allow me to return the borrowed one I've had for some months.. The only non stock mechanical part is my drive wheel which is 5"x 2" turned from MDF onto a keyed flange which is driven by a three speed pulley from the motor. This will be replaced when I get a good wheel but atm it seems to work well. Not saying that the book gives exhaustive plans but it does give inspiration and enough info to build your own on the serioulsly cheap. Living in the UK however it will be a challenge to do a lot of what is itemised in here. Finding stuff in the US is a case of spit in any direction and find a supplier. Finding suppliers of anything in the uk is a chore, unlike US sourcing, the internet is very little use and trudging round industrial estates and car boot sales is the only way to go. We do not have the style of scrap yards that the americans have I've been and seen and find the general attitude of UK scap merchants to be so unhelpful where the americans will pretty much welcome you in with open arms give you a coffee then chat about what you want to find - this has been a long standing complaint of mine as I am long eperienced at trawling for "useful" stuff. This book is a guide line and the one brick forge is something I find revelationary. My first forge started as a cut off, dented calor gas can lined with kiln fibre and a home made propane burner. It took time and money to perfect albeit not that much cash. The one brick forge is a mapp gas torch and an insulating brick :D I have drilled out one such brick already and am going to try it out tomorrow. If you have any intention to start learning any sort of smith work from knives to wrought iron I'd recommend this highly. It's a get out and do it book that certainly made me get out and do it.

Interesting book and his project shows more than any what can be done with limited resources very well . Some good ideas and worth the download on that point . Interesting in general from the experience of a master Smith with so many years under his belt it should it be overlooked

A really good insight into knife making through primitive forging,stock removal & shop forging,it really does tell you how to set up a knife shop for $50 or there abouts a brilliant read if knife making interests you

Thanks for very good insight into this hobby. Learned a lot and now I will try my hand at making my own knife. Best regards

Great easy read with tips n tricks for beginners and seasoned knife makers alike I'd recommend people thinking of starting bladesmithing to give it a read

Great find big thanks really very good read well worth the money looks like I will make a knife today

A good book for the beginner - very inspirational

Excellent, worth getting.

Ce livre part d'un bon sentiment. L'auteur fier de ses réalisations nous montre comment avec très peu de moyens et beaucoup de récupération, on peut se monter un mini atelier de coutellerie. C'est très bien mais l'auteur qui s'est formé tout seul n'est pas un coutelier, il n'a pas appris les secrets de la coutellerie, ne connaît pas les tours de mains des artisants français qui jusqu'au années 40 maîtrisaient encore toutes les étapes pour fabriquer une lame sérieuse. On retrouve dans ce livre des techniques issues du monde industriel et réadaptées au monde artisanal. ça marche, c'est satisfaisant, mais il faut bien se rende compte que ce n'est pas de la vraie coutellerie. D'autre part on va trouver plus de renseignements sur différents blogs de forgerons amateurs. Il faut juste savoir dans quel but on achète ce livre. Si c'est pour se lancer en se disant cela ne me coûtera pas cher, oui c'est bon. Si c'est pour découvrir comment nos maîtres artisants faisaient vous avez tout faux.

This book is phenomenal! It is incredibly clear, full of great photos, and clear explanations. This book is a must have for anyone who wants to get into knife making without spending a fortune on a shop. I am very inspired by Goddard's ability of blade-smith with primitive tools and I will be starting myself based on his ideas. Awesome

This is not a good book, it is a great book. I have been making knives for several years and have purchased different books over that time as points of reference. I've learned different valuable things from each of the different books. The $50 Knife Shop is head and shoulders above the rest of the knife making books in my collection (with the exception of Forging and Finishing the Brut De Forge Knife by Joe Keeslar.) Get the $50 Knife Shop first, then Keeslar's book, and you'll likely need no others. The $50 Knife Shop takes you from start to finish on making a knife. It is comprehensive in that it has directions on everything from how to make a Single Brick Forge, to heat treating, grinding, making heads on pins, making a belt grinder and disc grinder, even a section on how to get a tight handle fit with a hidden tang knife using rubber bands. I always used gravity to keep my handles straight, until seeing the color photos in the book. I could go on but you probably won't read any farther, and I'm ready to get out to my shop. There are really good books available on the craft of knife making, but I recommend these two without reservation. With the $50 Knife Shop you will be able to make a very good and serviceable cutting tool. (I wrote cutting tool simply because the "K" word is more than likely offensive to some people, and may soon become politically incorrect to use.)

I bought this hoping for useful guidance for someone starting out in knife making. It is a good book, although it's somewhat dated. It is really is as you'd expect: a guide for those who don't have much cash to splash on their hobby, with tips for building your own tools and equipment. I'm fortunate to have a little extra money to hand so didn't follow up on the author's advice, but I can see that others would find this very helpful.

Das Buch beinhaltet nicht nur einen Leitfaden, wie man einen bezahlbaren Einstieg in die Messerherstellung findet, sondern auch alle wichtigen Informationen zu den unterschiedlichen Techniken des "Heat treatment", sowie Hintergrundwissen und Anregungen, die auch für Fortgeschrittene Schmiede interessant sein dürften. Es wird auf die beiden Herstellungsarten des Schmiedens und "stock removal" eingegangen und zum Abschluss gibt es noch Anleitungen zum Eigenbau von Bandschleifern; immer mit der Low-Budget-Philosophie, aber basierend auf Jahrzehnte langer Erfahrung und Eigenbauten, die ebenso lange durchgehalten haben. Außerdem ist das Buch sehr verständlich und unterhaltsam geschrieben. Ich bin begeistert!