Pillar drill

The first power tool a knifemaker must acquire is a pillar drill. The ability to drill holes accurately is the first step to making a quality knife. When you buy a pillar drill, include a drilling vice.

Buffing Spindle

Safety Warning: All buffing spindles are possessed by a grab and throw demon. Wear your eye protection!
Mine is an old bench grinder with a rat's tail fitted to the left.

Belt grinder

Next is a belt grinder. There are a number of commercial made machines available. Most of the USA made machines uses 2” belts. I use a 1” belt for most of my grinding. A good quality belt grinder should have a facility for swapping between contact wheels of different diameters as well as a platen attachment.

Metal Cutting Band Saw

By the time you have cut 20 or thirty blade blanks from 440 c sheet stock with a hacksaw you will realise that this little machine is a gift from heaven! You can buy ready made blades, or a roll from which you can cut and solder your own blades, very economical, despite the high inital cost. Use bi-metal blades, 24 tpi is suited for most applications.
Safety warning: Use a push stick, especially when cutting small parts.

Disc grinder

A disk grinder is invaluable for truing and finishing flat surfaces. It can also be used to shape chisel and flat ground blades.

Compressor

Compressed air is invaluable for cleaning fine grain belts, blowing lint and dust out of pocketknives, workshop cleaning and to inflate the kids’ bicycle tyres.

Other power tools

A Dremel or Foredom type pencil grinder.

Once you have these three basic tools, you can start buying items according to your own wish list. These will include a second or third belt grinder, surface grinder, metal cutting lathe, milling machine, mechanical or pneumatic hammer, etc.