Your Knifemaking Resource Library
ForgeBrain is Torus CNC’s knowledge base for knifemakers: a growing reference covering knife steels, heat treating, abrasives and grinding technique, shop calculators, and troubleshooting for anyone running a 2×72 belt grinder. It is built to answer real shop questions quickly, whether you are choosing a steel for your next project, dialing in a heat-treat cycle, or figuring out why your belt will not track.
🎯 NEW: The Steel Selector
Thirty-three steels is a lot of chart. Answer four quick questions — what you make, how you feel about rust, your heat-treat setup, your stones — and get your three best-fit steels, instantly. Try the Selector →
Start with a section below.
Knife Steel DatabaseComposition, properties, and heat treat for dozens of steels.Heat Treat LibraryRecipes, principles, and equipment guidance for hardening and tempering.CalculatorsBelt speed, motor sizing, and other shop math tools.Abrasives & GrindingBelt selection, grit progression, and grinding technique.TroubleshootingSymptom-first fixes for common grinder and heat-treat problems.Beginner GuidesNew here? Start with picking your first steel and understanding the ratings.Blade DesignGrinds, blade shapes, and designing a knife that works for the job.MetallurgyThe science behind the steel: alloying elements, steel types, and heat-treat theory.Selling & BusinessTurning knifemaking into real income: pricing, selling, and the business basics.
Damascus & Pattern WeldingForge welding your first billet, the classic patterns step by step, and the etch that reveals them.
Forging & BladesmithingYour first forge and anvil, forging a blade from bar stock, and the hammer skills that make it work.
SwordsThe great historical blades, why they still grip us, and taking your first sword from bar stock to finished on a 2×72.
LeatherworkSheaths that sell knives: leather types, saddle stitch, wet forming, edges and dyes, and strops for the sharpening bench.
Axes & TomahawksPatterns and anatomy, forging your first hawk, restoring flea-market finds, and the throwing sport.
Fantasy & Fiction BladesValyrian steel, Mistborn daggers, the Dragonslayer math – fiction’s blades audited with real metallurgy.
Folding KnivesPivots, detents and locks – the precision end: from a first friction folder to a tuned liner lock.
Damascus & Pattern WeldingForge welding your first billet, the classic patterns step by step, and the etch that reveals them.
Forging & BladesmithingYour first forge and anvil, forging a blade from bar stock, and the hammer skills that make it work.
SwordsThe great historical blades, why they still grip us, and taking your first sword from bar stock to finished on a 2×72.
LeatherworkSheaths that sell knives: leather types, saddle stitch, wet forming, edges and dyes, and strops for the sharpening bench.
Axes & TomahawksPatterns and anatomy, forging your first hawk, restoring flea-market finds, and the throwing sport.
Fantasy & Fiction BladesValyrian steel, Mistborn daggers, the Dragonslayer math – fiction’s blades audited with real metallurgy.
Folding KnivesPivots, detents and locks – the precision end: from a first friction folder to a tuned liner lock.