Robert Villina knife maker?

[pitbulld45]

I found Robert Villina on Facebook, his profile says he lives in New York, went to school in the Bronx etc.... I ordered a custom Bowie knife from him, a week later he sent a tracking number that came back from Pakistan through DHL.

I asked why it was coming from Pakistan and he said he lives in New York but his work place is in Pakistan. I really hope I don't get a cheap blade sent to me. He sent a picture and it looks great and said its made from 1095 so I"m hoping its a good one.

If the guy said he lived in Pakistan and was a custom knife maker I wouldn't care or be so concerned.

Has anyone else had experience with Mr. VIllina? When you google him Across Borders Custom Knives
comes up also

 

[pitbulld45]

This is my knife he says he has made and sent

 

[KokomoDave]

If he said he is from Bronks...he isn't.
It's correctly spelled Bronx.
There are hundreds of knifemakers in Pakistan.
Caveat emptor- buyer beware!

 

[pitbulld45]

If he said he is from Bronks...he isn't.
It's correctly spelled Bronx.
There are hundreds of knifemakers in Pakistan.
Caveat emptor- buyer beware!

Bronx is corrected, thank you

 

[Gabriel]

You just got scammed.

I'm in a bunch of knife and knife making groups on Facebook and they are absolutely full of scammers from Pakistan trying to sell cheap knives.

 

[pitbulld45]

You just got scammed.

I'm in a bunch of knife and knife making groups on Facebook and they are absolutely full of scammers from Pakistan trying to sell cheap knives.

Kind of what I figured

 

[pitbulld45]

Update, got.my knives and Im happy with them. Fit and finish are great, they came shaving sharp (leather shealths aren't the best.) I will put a pic.of my bowie knife up later but here is my Damascus skinner.

 

[pitbulld45]

 

[KokomoDave]

I bought a "D2" sword from Wacky Paki that turned out to be nothing but ordinary 5190, the scabbard was wrong as well as the handle from the pictured model. I called them out on the discrepancies and instead of them taking it back offered a generous refund. I of course took them up on it and still have the sword but I'm definitely rehandling it as the balance is all wrong. I might regrind it correctly on my 2X72 Frankengrinder including an appleseed piercing point. I'll have to make a pvc cooling tube as this has already been tempered.

 

[Rookie]

Since you brought up the grinder, I have a question for you. How much pressure do you apply?

 

[KokomoDave]

It depends on blade steel and if the blade is tempered or not. Stellite requires a ton of pressure since it was made as a durable alloy. Most metals except certain stainless will abrade easily. Obviously this is hard to gauge as it requires a certain touch on different belts. The gator trizac belts will hog a bunch of metal without turning the steel blue if you are careful. Another thing you gotta watch is how quickly your platen will wear down. I have some ceramic that is double side taped to mine. Those zircoium belts are a real motherhumper on your backing belt platen. I eyeball my scribe line for center like a hawk so I am able to see if I work harden the metal or turning it blue. Titanium will work harden if you are not cooling it. Tool steel will too. The easiest way to get straight bevels is to cheat and use a grinding jig. It's very difficult to free hand grind blades...I'm not saying it isn't impossible as Tom Krein can do it but he is a true knifemaker. I just screw around and am an amateur at best! I took some lessons from Kit Carson (RIP). He could free grind like a mofo too.

 

[Rookie]

I use air chisels quite often at work. Sooner or later, they need sharpened. I've noticed that the first time I sharpen them, they're never as good as they were and dull quickly. All we have to use are bench grinders. Lately, I've been taking my time trying to keep them from getting hot, but it takes forever. Trying to find the happy medium between quick and not ruining them by getting too hot.

 

[pitbulld45]

My bowie knife.

 

[Frosty]

I use air chisels quite often at work. Sooner or later, they need sharpened. I've noticed that the first time I sharpen them, they're never as good as they were and dull quickly. All we have to use are bench grinders. Lately, I've been taking my time trying to keep them from getting hot, but it takes forever. Trying to find the happy medium between quick and not ruining them by getting too hot.

Grind for a few seconds, then dunk them in water, it will keep you from overheating them and losing the temper in the steel.

 

[Gabriel]

Grind for a few seconds, then dunk them in water, it will keep you from overheating them and losing the temper in the steel.

I dunk them every pass as I have my knife blanks heat treated before grinding. It takes more care and a lighter touch when grinding, but I like not having to stop when the knife is mostly ground and send it out for months to wait for heat treating (if I had an oven, I'd do it differently).

 

[Frosty]

I dunk them every pass as I have my knife blanks heat treated before grinding. It takes more care and a lighter touch when grinding, but I like not having to stop when the knife is mostly ground and send it out for months to wait for heat treating (if I had an oven, I'd do it differently).

I bought a small forage to heat treat mine but I’m just using basic high carbon steel. 1075, 1080.

 

[Gabriel]

I bought a small forage to heat treat mine but I’m just using basic high carbon steel. 1075, 1080.

An oven is on my list, but it's pretty far down. Most of my knives and hatchets are 80CRV2 and the rest are O-1. I have about a hundred heat treated knife blanks in a box I am slowly getting to, so an oven isn't necessary at the moment. With heat treating prices going up a bunch, I'll seriously look into an oven when I start getting to the end of the current stock of blanks I sent out.