My wife got me a Man Crate's Knife Making kit that came with a nice pre-grinded blade, handle material that needs to be filed, sheath, a vise, files, etc.   Pretty much everything you will need to make a knife.  She also got me a second knife kit with just the blade and handle material, and sheath.

Has anyone made one of these before?  Any advise to heed before giving it a go?   I'd rather learn from others before ruining mine the first go.   Since the blade is pre-ground and shaped, it won't be too difficult.  But I do have to manually file the handles and shape them.  Then stain it, stain the sheath, and polish up the brass accents.

Here is a link to the kit if anyone is interested in a fun project for themselves or with their son's/grandson's.   Link to kit

I've made a few knives. Several from bar stock and two from a blank. I'd go and get a 1x30 HF belt grinder and order some 60-600 grit belts from amazon. That will help you out IMMENSELY. Then hand sand the handles to 1k or so. I use Tru oil to finish the wood. Follow youtube videos for proper application.

Those look gorgeous!  The hardest part for me will be getting the scales the same shape on both sides.    You did some great work on yours and the inlays really make it pop!

Its actually easy. You pin the scales together and sand them pretty even, then epoxy onto the handle with the pins and let it cure. After that you can file, sand, or use a belt grinder to bring flush with the handle and shape to fit however you want. Then its just sanding progressively finer making sure you sand the metal too. Going slow and not moving up in grit until all the scratches from the coarser grit is gone is the tedious part.

When I use a belt grinder I always sand it flush with a 400 or 600 grit belt so I dont put a ton of scratches in the spine.

Oh, WRAP that blade in several layers of masking or electrical tape. One slip at the sander and you will either be bleeding OR leave a ton of marks in your blade face.

Awesome mosaic pins; did you make those or buy them?

purchased. those are the first 3 (4 really cause i made two identical of the first) knives i made.

Nice stuff billth777!

I just recently got a power hammer operational and am figuring out some pattern-welded billets.

I second the 'do not move up a grit until ALL scratches are gone' mantra.  But be prepared to find scratches when you do you have to go back and fix.  A buffer wheel on a grinder or drill will really speed up polishing and help you find scratches.

Also get the bolsters done and then mount them on the knife.  If you mess with their faces much make sure they are square or you will play merry hob getting the scales to match up.

Very important!!

If you have to go back and fix them not only will you be paying catch up evening them out, but youll also run a high risk of scratching the ricasso in the process.

Also, when epoxying, get a little bowl of acetone and some qtips to wipe up all epoxy that seeps out. The more you get when its wet the less PITA cleanup after it cures.