Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop, Revised

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.)

This is an interesting book that takes a bit of a different tact when it comes to blacksmithing blades and knives. The title says it all. This is the fifty dollar knife shop. So, a whole lot of the material covered in this book is about simple forges, simple tools, and putting together a shop for knife making. So predominantly this is about the tools of blacksmithing. And about 20% of the book is about the actual process of making knives. You get two methods including the forging method and the stock removal method that doesn't require a forge. This 20% is very informative though -lots of pictures, diagrams and explanations of blades, blade shapes blades in the process of being forged and how to do it. If you want to make knives on a tight budget this is a great resource. - well, even if your budget is bigger you should still get this book. It's a great resource.

I refer to this book often. It's a very nice summary of the basics of knife making. It covers all of the options. I did however feel that Goddard spends too much time focusing on his own little customizations. It's interesting to hear about his backwoods ingenuity but a lot of those details don't translate to the modern basement hobbyist. It's not so easy to find a 1950's dishwasher motor and weld it to a rusty fender from a 1950's tractor. I'm exaggerating a bit but you get the idea. Once you decide what technique you're going to use you will need a book that focuses more on that. But overall it's a great addition to any hobbyists library.

Welcome to bladesmithing - collect up your million dollar workshop and start your 20 year apprenticeship.... not what you expected? How about collect up around $200 worth of basic hand and power tools (less if you have good secondhand gear, or own a basic set of tools already) and have a go following easy to understand instructions which give you inspiration, guidance and hints of common mistakes, and how to recover from them (including keep your very first knife to remind yourself of how far you've come over the journey of your experience) This book embodies the second philosophy - the "let's have a go" and "learn in a friendly, easy environment" approach. I have a few books on the baldesmithing arts, and whilst some of the designs are not my style, the techniques and approach is well suited to someone looking for a practical introduction to the art, who is above the hollywood myths of samurai swords cutting tanks in half.

Great book, proves you don't have to be rich to have a good working shop to make knives and other useful objects from metal. This book is high on common sense, something that is increasingly lacking in our high tech world. The book can be used by a beginner who doesn't even have a hammer and by intermediate and advanced craftsmen, who want to try their hand at forging or shaping a knife. I recommend it to anyone of any skill level. Personally, I think he spends a bit too much time in the junk yard, but then that IS the title of the book. He shows you how to collect tools, what you NEED to have to make knives and how to do it on a budget. Useful for both young and old, male and female.

A good book full of useful information. Many knifesmiths will refer you to this book when you're just starting out. Can you set up a knife shop for $50? Probably not unless you happen upon the perfect storm of junkyards, garage sales and gimme items from your buddies. In spite of that, the book does provide a wealth of information about every aspect of knife-making. While you might not be able to pull off a knife shop for $50, the book does give plenty of ideas on how to build your own equipment at a fraction of the cost of new, factory-built equipment. Combine the technical knowledge and the ideas on building your own equipment contained in this book, and it earns a solid five-star rating.

I took a knifesmithing class and was suggested to buy this book as a way to continue my studies and to get started with blacksmithing. I ordered it and began reading through it. While there's useful information, my biggest complaint is how SEVERELY dated this book is. For example, ignore the idea of setting up a knife shop like his for $50. If you, like me, lack even the most basic of tools, you'll be paying a WHOLE lot more to get started. You'll also notice that some of the items suggested aren't made any longer, aren't available at that low price, and you'll need a number of tools to make some of these tools. I spent nearly $200 on just making my first functional forge after everything was said and done. Even with the problems, Wayne Goddard knows his stuff. There's a number of really good tips on finding alternatives to the "essentials", tips for heat treating, and even discussions as to how to strike the metal. It does feel a bit lacking in the "how to forge a knife" department, though. For a beginner blacksmith or bladesmith on a budget, it's a useful book to go reading through. Otherwise, you may just want to pass.

Alternative methods for building great knives with a minimal amount of money, What could be better? Well, having the money to buy the tools you may need rather than dumpster diving for this and that and building your own. As the author points out there are ups and downs for either side. While making a great knife does not require a huge financial investment like building a machine shop for producing industrial parts, is does require the desire to learn how to properly make a knife and Practice. For the individual who has the desire to become a knife maker this book would be an invaluable resource.

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

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.

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.

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!