Making knives: CNC Knife Milling
northarmknives....
This is an early video we did showing our Blade milling process at the time. That was over 3 years ago, time flies! We plan to film some updated videos about our process soon.
We get raw sheet stock from our steel supplier. CNC milling is the first step in the process of turning the plain sheet of steel into knives. First we drill accurate locating holes at the center of the sheet. This allows us to very accurately flip the sheet halfway through to mill the second side of the blades. Once both sides of the bevel are milled, we do the final milling step which is to cut the knives out of the sheet.
From there the knives must be buffed to remove the burrs and milling marks. Then heat treat, more hand finishing, sharpening and assembly. Then finally, shipping to the customer! Check out the other videos in our "shop tour and process playlist" to get more details about our processes! • ( Early days) Shop tou...
For knife related articles including care and sharpening or to purchase a North Arm knife visit our website! northarmknives....
Пікірлер: 38
Great video. I am not into knife making but- obviously people are so dumb as not to understand that CNC milling is an art. Yes on a machine, but : learn to draw in 3D, design, decide toolpaths and tools, machine, then finish by hand. Actually i made my first knife in a day after 1 week reading metalurgy and forums. And needed half an year before i started making cuts on my CNC. And a couple of years to learn to draw well on CAD, still learning CAM
@northarmknives
8 жыл бұрын
+Boyan Silyavski Thanks Boyan! There will always be trolls and people who think they can do something better than you, even though they have no experience. I feel like I'm pretty proficient with the CAD/CAM programs I use but I still learn things frequently. Machining itself is a whole other challenging area! Good luck with your learning. -mike
What kind of increments did you do to tape the blade? x,y and z?
@northarmknives
2 жыл бұрын
Hi Todd, Not sure what you mean. Please clarify a bit and I will do my best to answer your question!
Hi guys great set up you guys have there. Are you guys using the same process of bevels first then profile to be to mill your kitchen knives? How thin is your edge after milling the bevels? Would love to know you guys are very switched on keep up the great work! Would love a video of the making of a kitchen knife.
@northarmknives
7 жыл бұрын
Thanks! The process have changed a bit since we filmed that video close 4 years ago! We do cut the bevels first, both sides. Using vacuum hold down. Then we turn off vac and drill handle holes. The knives are then screwed down to the fixture using those holes. Then we profile them out leaving a small tab at the tip of each blade. Edges are about .015" after milling. That is reduced a bit during finish buffing. We are planning to make some new process vids soon, just been super busy moving to a new shop in the last month!
@jamesm3268
7 жыл бұрын
North Arm Knives thanks for the reply mate very generous. We chatted before on insta, my insta is nyatiblades haha. If you ever need some tips or advice re kitchen knife geometry, sharpening or steel choice let me know pretty knowledgeable on kitchen knives. Appreciate sharing some of your process would love to see one getting cut out sometime. Take care
@northarmknives
7 жыл бұрын
Thanks! I may well take you up on that in the future :) We'll be trying to do some new videos in the next few months here!
Hey bro! Love your work, quick question. We are just getting into CNC knife making and I am just wondering what steels work best for milling the blade and the grind onto the knife? I've heard that 1095 doesn't work very well but wanted to get your opinion.
@northarmknives
8 жыл бұрын
Thanks! I haven't milled any 1095. All w use is CPM S35VN stainless. It is quite difficult to machine as far as steels go. As long as it is annealed I don't see why 1095 would be harder to mill than S35VN. It is a fairly simple low alloy steel which usually means it is easier to work with than the high alloy steels. I could be wrong on that, like I said, I haven't worked with 1095. Good luck!
@toddpick8007
2 жыл бұрын
High speed steel endmills, insert carbide endmills or solid carbide will probably work best depending on material.
What end mill bit size/type did you use to cut the bevels on this?
@northarmknives
9 жыл бұрын
This was a 3/16" 4 flute TiAlN coated carbide endmill with a .015" corner radius. That being said we also use square endmills without a corner radius and get very similar results
so you don't grind any of these knives?
how long does it take to machine the bevel on one side?
@northarmknives
8 жыл бұрын
+Red Dog just for the bevel itself it takes about 20 minutes per side, per knife. One side of a sheet of four of the model shown in the video takes about 2 hours. That includes engraving and a few other operations besides the bevel machining.
@razmataz275
5 жыл бұрын
@@northarmknives do guys use a ballmill or flat endmill to cut the main bevel?
How much oil is in that coolant ?
@northarmknives
5 жыл бұрын
Tramp oil or coolant? We use a refractometer to monitor concentration coolant concentration so I don't know exactly what the ratio is but if I remember correctly it's 20:1.
Where I can buy this machine?
@northarmknives
3 жыл бұрын
Tormach.com
Thats no fun whats fun is getting out in the shop and cutting out and shaping then beveling each knife there is making knives then there is putting knives in a machine and letting a computer and machine do every bit of work for you
@andrewphillip8432
8 жыл бұрын
Yeah I hate mastering an art an then expanding production so more people can afford my product and also earn me more money
Ah, the slippery slope... where the craft ends and profit (laziness) begins
@northarmknives
9 жыл бұрын
I can assure you making a knife the way we do is not as easy as the video makes it look. This is a very simplified glimpse into the milling process. Each knife undergoes a lot of hand work to achieve the final look. If you have any further comments or questions don't hesitate to email me at info@northarmknives.com
@BelnapCustomKnives
8 жыл бұрын
+North Arm Knives What is wrong with these guys. They don't make anything but they somehow are experts. Great work and sweet profile.
@BelnapCustomKnives
8 жыл бұрын
+zargnot It is a simpleton that thinks what he did was easy. It takes serious skills to do what he did in the video. Minecraft and Miley Cyrus videos? Your channel is telling on you.
@northarmknives
8 жыл бұрын
+Belnap Custom Knives Yea I hear ya. There are a lot of trolls and keyboard warriors out there. I usually just ignore them, but once in a while it is fun to poke some holes in their arguments ;) Glad you like our videos! We've been neglecting the channel lately. I wish we had more time to make videos. Hopefully in December we'll be able to do some. cheers, mike
@helsinki
8 жыл бұрын
+zargnot Ah, the slippery slope... talking about a subject one has no knowledge about.
make one from hand on a anvil from scratch and fold the blade your self then tell me how not easy it is to use the $40,000 machine that takes u 10 mins to to what i do in a day just with that fact that you have a sweat shirt on wile your making the thing makes me laugh at the its not easy comment but in all fairness they are dam pretty.
@northarmknives
9 жыл бұрын
+motherchucka1 We don't claim that each of our knives requires the same amount of work as a fully hand forged knife, by any means; That is also not the intention, we make high quality highly functional knives at a much lower price point than hand made customs. My comment below simply stated that the video simplifies the process and makes it look easier than it is. Glad you like the look of them. PS. Maybe throw some punctuation in next time! I almost didn't justify this with a response because I had to read it about 10 times to piece together what exactly you were trying to communicate.
@scottsherman5947
9 жыл бұрын
+motherchucka1 What in hell are you talking about?? It's like you're answering a question that no one asked. But while you bring this topic up, I would like to point out that there is a reason why over 90% of modern makers (I made this stat up) use the stock removal method rather than forging. Trying to forge CPM S35VN would actually do nothing but weaken it. And even when we're not talking about super high-tech powdered steels, the vast majority of makers choose stock removal with 01, 1095, insert your manly old-school steel here....forging just isn't needed anymore as steels come in the correct thicknesses and they are so much cleaner than they have ever been in the past, and we have the tools to remove stock until we've got a knife shape...then we use fire - but only for heat treating! - forging is cool for only two reasons: 1 - you get to say you own a hand-forged knife & 2 - you get to point at your blade and say "hey bra, look, those are real hammer marks!". Please do not reply trying to state that forging gives any usage advantages at all, it does not...again, it can easily reduce the effectiveness of modern steels, but it does not add anything to them beyond aesthetics - which depending on the type of knife we're talking about, can be a huge factor. So motherchucka, let me be the 2nd person to ask you to please take another look at the English language & employ it....I don't know, better, in the future...I mean come on man, you don't even capitalize your own fake name - is that you being dumb or just lazy? And btw, if you happen to be bigger than I am AND you live close to me AND you know where I live, THEN I sincerely apologize for everything offensive that I've said to/about you. Now that you've had someone read this to you, I'll let you get back to making fun of "sissies" and "queers" and guzzling cheap beer while you lament every decision you've ever made....sorry man, that last part was more about me.
@BelnapCustomKnives
8 жыл бұрын
+motherchucka1 Post a video of your sick forging skills. I am guessing that you are being generous to yourself to think you could produce anything close to what he did in minutes even if you had weeks.