Knife Making with Tormach Personal CNC Mills

Watch the latest episode of Knife Making Tuesdays with Knife Maker John Grimsmo
Sponsored By Tormach

CNC Titanium knife spacers

In this video I share how I make the titanium threaded spacers that I use to make my pocket knives. Normally a part like this would be made on a CNC lathe, but I don't have a good one so I tackled the job on my Tormach PCNC 1100 milling machine. The parts are tiny, so this was a very tricky job, but the results were worth it! Each one is exactly the same width, which is very important for my knives. Plus, I just love machining titanium.

Tormach Knife Making Success Stories

Knife Making: Custom Knives by Will Moon
Milling Custom Knives and Titanium Handles

Although only twenty-two years old, Will Moon has been working with metal, tools, and CNC for nearly his entire life. Over the past few years, Moon focused his efforts into Will Moon Custom Knives, where he uses a Tormach PCNC 1100 to create high-end custom knives and scales.

Knife Making: Custom Knife Makers John and Erik Grimsmo
Custom Knife Makers Embrace Modern Technology with Tormach and YouTube
Meet John Grimsmo. 28. Canadian. Self-taught metal worker. Up-and-coming artisan in the custom knifemaking industry.
Knife Making: Knives from Rock River Iron Knifemaking
The Cutting Edge: Knifemaking with Steve Woods, Rock River Iron

Excerpt from September 2007 Blade Magazine article: Personal CNC: The Future of Knifemaking? -

When Steve Woods is not running his 75-employee Dallas-based catalog photography company, Steven Michael Studios, he is in the shop making his own custom knives, sold through his second business, Rock River Iron, LLC (www.rockriveriron.com).

Knife Making: Handmade Knives from Seldom Seen Knives
The Cutting Edge: Handmade Knives by Steve Hulett, Seldom Seen Knives

Excerpt from September 2007 Blade Magazine article: Personal CNC: The Future of Knifemaking? -

Steve Hulett has been making his own knives for 15 years, which he sells in his own retail craft shop Seldom Seen Knives (seldomseenknives.com), located a few blocks from Yellowstone National Park. “I only have so much time because I also have to run the store,” says Hulett. “I have been probably making 40 to 50 knives a year.”

Knife Making: Randy Williams Custom Knife
The Cutting Edge: Custom Knife Designs with Randy Williams

Excerpt from September 2007 Blade Magazine article: Personal CNC: The Future of Knifemaking? -

Randy Williams of Arlington, Washington is by no means a novice when it comes to CNC. A CNC machinist for the past thirty years, he’s worked many industrial-grade machines. Recently he turned his knife-making hobby into a fulltime job. “The way I design knives is the CNC way – I never did do this with belt sanders and drill presses. I was never a hand-craftsman. All my designs came from the computer.”

Knife Making: Knife handle made by MIL-TAC
The Cutting Edge: Tormach PCNC 1100 Enables Knife Handle Production for MIL-TAC Knives and Tools

Excerpt from September 2007 Blade Magazine article: Personal CNC: The Future of Knifemaking? -

Craig Sword founded MIL-TAC Knives and Tools (www.mil-tac.com) in Wylie, Texas in 2005. MIL-TAC focuses on manufacturing affordable knives and tools for the harsh environments that the military and law enforcement personnel face on a daily basis.

Want to be a part of this page? Show us what you do with your PCNC. Here’s how to submit.