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Top Ten Rookie Knife Making Mistakes
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- Published on Apr 15, 2026
- Want to be the best knife maker you can be? Blade smith Walter Sorrells tells you his top ten rookie mistakes. Avoid these and you're on your way to making top quality knives!
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I've made every one of these mistakes just today lol
These are not just rookie mistakes. As a maker with an eye for flaws I’ve noticed a lot of these issues on pretty much all custom/handmade knives I’ve been able to handle and inspect in person. Even with “experienced” makers that have been doing it for 10+ years.
Excellent video! I have made at least 9 out of 10 of those mistakes but could never describe it as well as you have!
You missed one of your belt loops ! It's like leaving number 36 grinding marks.
This is an instant classic! Every newbie needs to see this. I’m gonna link this everywhere. My goodness, the turd polishing is such a thing in newbie hangouts. It’s so true.
I bought the Sorrels brick last week. I love it.
I've done ALL 10 ! Lol. I've learnt a lot from Mr Sorrells thank you sir!
Walter, no apoligies needed. This video fits in perfectly with my theory of "It's good to learn from your mistakes. It's better to learn from other peoples".
Excellent video, BTW!
Such great advice. The Damascus one made me laugh because I saw a Damascus knife with a nice pattern with the bevel ground like a machete and a toothpick handle.
I'm only 2 months in on making knives, and I've made every one of these mistakes already. I'm currently working on my 5th practice knife, and following through with "finishing" them has taught me so much. Thank you for all of the knowledge you bestow upon us 🙏
I have to pay a leather guy for my sheaths. One time he told me he really liked my work. I looked at him and said you only see the successes. You haven’t seen the scrap pile of failures.
I am a knife guy and a leather guy. You probably will never see his pile of leather failures either. We all make them, but that is part of the process and how we learn.
I've got an entire tote full of failures. I keep then and use them as beaters, test knives and design templates. But they certainly serve as a good reminder of how far I've come as I honed my skills.
It'll be fun to consider how many of these rookie mistakes can appear on a factory knife. Probably all of them but I'm only two errors in (or three if we count the jig ;)
Good advice. Can't wait for the follow up.
I'm guilty of so many of these but I am new. Then the last thing you said spoke to me the most. Cause I do finish the knifes and try my best to learn from it. I don't plan to do anything with them but it's just for myself and the learning. My latest was the best I made yet. The video did make me think I was doing things wrong till that point.
I’ve been guilty of all of these at one point or another. The only one I’ve hung onto is polishing a turd, but I view it as practice for some other part of the build. I just treat it as a test piece where I’m free to screw something up so I try an ambitious embellishment. But I don’t put my mark on those. They go in the canister pile.
Really good advice. Fundamentals are so important. Practice makes perfect. Keep it simple.
Mr. Sorrels…you’re the man! Thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge. Your brick is awesome by the way.
Fit and finish! if you did it right, you get more excited as you get closer to the end. It turned out better than you imagined, if not it's a turd. follow your heart
Thanks Walter.
Super helpful!!!!! Definitely have done all these.......
I’ve made every one of these mistakes, except the Damascus I did eyeball the log splitter for awhile but I’m luckily not that foolish 😂 God knows I really just need to grind some mild steel practice blanks 😩
Re: #4. Several years ago, I was watching Pawn Stars. Someone brought in a large knife that at first glance I thought was a Rod Chappel one. A better view of the handle later on showed simple flat sides and top with corners slightly rounded off. Their finishing/polishing and general style was good, but the handle shaping was very basic.
Miles Davis played the standards before improvising. How many jazz masters have played My Funny Valentine? Great Point!
been avoiding the damascus like the plague. not a huge fan. ended up with a 3 layer flat bar as it was cheaper than the good good steel with a nice hardness core (turned out the outer was damascus 😂🤦🏼 it will not be etched)
Great video
As a total rookie (fewer than 10 knives, no junkers yet, but that's due to good instructors) this list was useful.
And, yes, I *am* finishing up my first Damascus knife. (But again, in making the billet and forging the knife, I had 20+ year professionals watching over me. Taking classes helps!)
But I will say, I do think, based on *other* skills I have where I'm not a rookie, sometimes breaking these rules is worth your while... if you do it with your eyes open. Maybe overly ornament a trash knife as practice. Maybe try out your oddball design idea because you're the kind of person who learns best by doing it yourself... and ending up making something awful yourself. (I will say, most of the mistakes listed in this video are just things you shouldn't do, e.g. never make an asymmetrical knife intentionally.)
Very cool! Nice addition to what he is speaking on! I’m making a 1080 stock removal blade with a mini forge for heat treat (two fire bricks carved out with a torch in the side) this weekend. I don’t know how far I’ll go, I just want to do it to do it. I sharpen a lot so I figured I’d just make one with an angle grinder and harden it. Looking forward but nervous, cause once I get in it, there’s no stopping. Anything worth doing is worth doing right!
I use to not care too much about how sharp it was. I’d get it all perfect, then just run a few quick passes at 25 degrees, it’s kind of silly looking back..why did I forge a knife and go through all that just to crap out in the end. I wound up taking a few knife sharpening classes, bought myself some whet stones and now they are really sharp.
I've made all these mistakes... and still do. I've found for practice blades making a basic blacksmith's knife lets me experiment with a lot of different blade shapes and grinding in a shorter period. They seem to sell pretty cheap, but quickly.
Great video brother!
"Sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something."
^^^^exactly 😂🤣😂
I do my bevels with a hammer and anvil. Then use the files to clean everything up
7-8' kitchen knife with a zero grind edge, edge isin't strait and has at least 3 crocked spots making almost an "S" shape along the edge. PLEASE show us how to fix this! My guess is to slightly regrind the edge back to 10-20/1000" thickness (depending on how crocked , then regrind the bevels. Thank you Walter.
Mistake #1: starting your first knife
Hi Walter. I sent you a message on your web page. Just wanted to give you a heads up.
Question: should you leave the edge thicker before heat treating and thin it out afterwards? Or does it matter?
That's a good question, if be interested to hear Mr. Walter's opinion on that. I have heard from another maker on RUclips that it could become an issue if the apex is tooo thin causing to overheat compared to the rest of the steel which could change something to do with the metallurgy, which goes way above my head
@MatthewHerrin14I heard the same thing. Im just leaving them thicker for now. Best
I haven't seen a video of yours come up in a long time
0:43 I'm a rookie and before watching the video I'm really hoping Walter goes over why I keep grinding my tip off
Start with a more rounded tip so after grinding the bevels you'll have a sharp point.
@B.W.Broom-xc6gsI'll try that, thanks!
Stand back further from the grinder. 😂
😂😂😂😂aaaaa si abre lanzado cuchillos y pulido caca😅
Rookie mistake #11 Mystery steel. This steel came off of of a T72 tank in the Ukraine. No idea of composition, no idea how to heat treat it.
😂😂 gotta get me some of that tank steel….btw know how to heat treat Toyota cv axel 😂
Starting with junk steel should be on your list.
I focus on knives that people will use. Simple, not to large, not pretty. Sharp +. Just a handy tool.
But also, don't get hung up on the latest and greatest super steel. 440C and 1095 are fine steels for the beginner
@tracyelsinger1088totally agree. Also 1084
@:23 rookie mistake in putting on your belt😂
I love you man!
Your wisdom is always appreciated.
I'm sorry to say that all these "rookie mistakes" are because they are rookies and they are going to happen as the person leans what works and what does not. not everyone has a mentor or teacher and needs to learn a lot of this on their won. I thought this would have been a list that was a " hey if you do this instead of that, you will have better success" instead to me it just pointed out what we all know, we will screw it up as we learn. should have been more of a imparttation of knowledge of you have been doing it for as long as you have you should suggest how to correct it. I know you did Plug your own product with the sanding stick but there are so many other things you could suggest. Like, hand sanding techniques, when to switch to the next finer grit what handle material are more forgiving than others to avoid the "flat handle" that sort of thing.
Sounds like a good video idea.
why does there have to be absolute ear rape between every tip?
Not the best advice. Finish every knife to the best of your ability. Quitters never finish anything. Polishing a turd is part of the beginning process. Finish and save them all so you can see your progress. Take out a knife from a couple of years ago and see how you have progressed.
I dont know this guy, but I dont think any of his advice is helpful. Typical RUclips stock removal guy, just trying to sell his crappy gadget, while another one of his vids says he freehand grinds everything. Freehand is the way to go, jigs are a crutch Grind a Kris or Kukri on a jig. My advice, find helpful people that do not belittle anything and offer humble advice. Neil Kamimura comes to mind.
This guy can pound sand with his unhelpful arrogant, belittling advice.
Forge On!!!