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Author Topic: Making your own knife  (Read 43485 times)

Neiltoo

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Making your own knife
« on: June 07, 2009 »

I have been making knives for fun for a year or 2 now. This isn't a tutorial and I'm a novice with no experience of metal work. I just thought I would post a few pictures to try and encourage those who might think it is difficult to make a useable knife for bushcraft/camping etc.

Basic tools are all that are required - hacksaw, files, a drill and sandpaper. A pillar drill helps a lot - a cheap one can be got for approx £40.

You need some steel, in my case O1 tool steel got from http://www.cromwell.co.uk/category_page/160202


You need to cut out the shape of your knife



Done roughly with a hacksaw and then tidied up with a file or a grinder.

You then need to file the profile of the blade. I mark the height of the grind and then use a file - this step can take a long time. One requirement that I forgot to mention above is patience.  ;D

At this stage you need to sand the knife to get rid of any file marks - once the blade is heat treated any marks will be much harder to remove. The holes for fastening the scales (handle) need to be drilled now before the steel is hardened.

The blade now needs to be heat treated - this seems to me to be a bit of a black art and I'm not going to go into details here but put simply to harden the steel it must be heated to about 800 degC and then cooled suddenly in an oil bath (I use olive oil) You can heat it in a number of ways. I use what is called a 2 brick forge made out refactory bricks and a mapp torch (butane and propane)



You can also use a bbq type forge with a hairdryer and some tubing to increase the heat.

The blade will now be very hard but very brittle so it needs to be tempered.

I wrap it in foil then put it in the kitchen oven. You need to heat it to about 150 degC and let it cool naturally (slowly)

You finish up with something like this



It must now be cleaned up, some of the scale from the heat treatment will wash off then its lots (and lots) more sanding right down to 1200 grit if you want a nice shiny knife.



The handle is made from 2 blocks of wood fastened to either side of the blade. These are cut roughly to size and glued using epoxy and steel pins (cut from steel rod bought in B&Q)

Once the epoxy has set the scales are filed and sanded to shape, then oiled. The blade is sharpened and you have a knife



As said above this isn't a tutorial just a tempter to get you to have a go. I have only made 6 knives, I'm no expert but if I can do it anyone can.

A  couple more





This is a good tutorial : http://www.greenpete.co.uk/?page_id=28

and this is how the pros do it :http://www.britishblades.com/home/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=40



« Last Edit: June 07, 2009 by Neiltoo »
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RedLeader

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2009 »

This is absolutely fascinating - I never realised that knife making was actually accessible to the amateur. I always thought you needed all sorts of specialist equipment.
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666_pack

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #2 on: June 08, 2009 »

Nice lookin knife.

If you ever have too many i'd buy one.
« Last Edit: June 08, 2009 by 666_pack »
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DryBag

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #3 on: June 08, 2009 »

How long d'you keep it at 800ºC?  I reckon the chimnea in the garden would be about that temperature when it's at full heat.

Celt_Ginger

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2009 »

My self and Paul made one reciently. The shape was cut with a grinder and heat treatment was done in a BBQ with a plastic tube blowing air into it. We heated it until it was "Bright Cherry red" (We did have professionsl knife maker Bernie Garland relaying instructions to us on the phone) then quenched in veg oil. On his advice, we heat treated ours to 230 degrees for an hour beofre water quenching tip first. It turned out really well.
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Neiltoo

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2009 »

How long d'you keep it at 800ºC?  I reckon the chimnea in the garden would be about that temperature when it's at full heat.

You don't have to keep it at 800 degC, it just needs to be at that temp when you quench it. Steel becomes non magnetic at that temp so you can test if its at the right temp by [carefully  :o ] holding a magnet to it.

I think the chimnea might need some air blowing into it to get it up to temp, but maybe not, as I said I'm no expert  ;D
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Neiltoo

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #6 on: June 08, 2009 »

My self and Paul made one reciently. The shape was cut with a grinder and heat treatment was done in a BBQ with a plastic tube blowing air into it. We heated it until it was "Bright Cherry red" (We did have professionsl knife maker Bernie Garland relaying instructions to us on the phone) then quenched in veg oil. On his advice, we heat treated ours to 230 degrees for an hour beofre water quenching tip first. It turned out really well.

I don't know much about metallurgy, I just went with some advice I found on a knife making site. I'm sure there are lots of ways of doing it.
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Wolf_Larson

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2009 »

Fair play to you, It is good to see northen ireland,s new knife maker. Keep up the good work !!
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pablo

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #8 on: October 05, 2009 »

nice looking knife dude!

thats something ive always wanted to have a dig at but never got round to.

i dont see any difficulty in doing it , just a lot of time needed and a belt grinder would be handy too.

of course it would probably be along the lines of the generic bushcraft pattern as i think that looks cool and usefull.

i used to own one by alan blade which was a cracker knife,but i sold it for 50 quid (same as what i paid).

actually i like to bring a nice sharp kukuri with me on occasion as i think its a good all rounder.and you can get genuine ones for about 45 quid last time i looked.
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Paul

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #9 on: October 05, 2009 »

Very nice looking knives mate, I have made a couple of knives and to be honest it is made more difficult by advice given by people who make knives for a living and dont want you to find out how. I got some advice from bernie Garland of Berax knives and myself and celt ginger set about the task. i used nothing more than an angle grinder and a file to get the shape and make the bevels and then we heat treated the metal in Garys barbeque followed by the tempering in garys oven. It worked find i slapped on a nice handle and bingo one knife. It isnt up to the standard of some of the knives i have seen but i think its pretty good considering we had no special tools.
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pablo

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #10 on: October 06, 2009 »

nice! where did you get the steel?

i think a price tag of 200 quid is fu*king rediculous for a bit of metal and wood. yeah yeah im sure they have a little piece of the makers soul in em but id rather they kept that themselves and just dropped the prices lol.
i mean,if you have a belt grinder or sander then its a piece of piss to knock em out wholesale isnt it?

if the o1 steel blank costs a fiver then id say youd probably be able to knock one out for about 40 squids.


so whos offering? hmmm?  :D

seriously,someone tell me what i need and i,ll have a go. i,ll even post the pics step by step and sell it for 200 quid ;D
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Neiltoo

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #11 on: October 06, 2009 »

nice! where did you get the steel?

i think a price tag of 200 quid is fu*king rediculous for a bit of metal and wood. yeah yeah im sure they have a little piece of the makers soul in em but id rather they kept that themselves and just dropped the prices lol.
i mean,if you have a belt grinder or sander then its a piece of piss to knock em out wholesale isnt it?

if the o1 steel blank costs a fiver then id say youd probably be able to knock one out for about 40 squids.




I got the steel from here http://www.cromwell.co.uk/category_page/160202. I havnt bought any for a while but they didnt used to deliver to N.I. There is a company based at Queens Island, off the Sydenham Bypass who act as an agent for Cromwell. I dont remember their name but if you phone or email Cromwell I'm sure they can sort you out.
As for the cost of a knife. I never had any intention of making knives for sale. (a) I'm not good enough and (b) I do it for fun. But if I was to add up all the hours that I put into one knife (it takes a lot of filing and sanding if you are doing it by hand) then at your estimate of £40 I'd be working for about £2 an hour and thats before you take the materials into account.
Not much point in that!  As for £200 for a well made knife, well, it's just supply and demand. There is probably a hell of a bigger mark up (percentage wise) on stuff you buy every day.
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pablo

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #12 on: October 06, 2009 »

hmm regarding the price, ive seen the setups some of these guys have and when your sticking a bit of steel into a jig and belt sanding em id say youd have one done in about ten minutes.

obviously they are making a few at a time and would heat treat them in a batch.



i realise the work involved on a single `do it yourself` setup.and cost isnt an issue if your doing it for yourself.

if i get a proper bit os steel im definitly going to give it a go, cant be much harder than grinding and sharpening my chisels i recon.

watch this space...................

ps, i wouldnt say your not good enough either sunshine! i think that wee blade you created looks the business!
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pablo

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #13 on: November 15, 2009 »

right,so ive the o1 flat stock steel on its way to me and i have an electric grinder and files.

i also have a little mickey mouse bbq from tescos and a hair dryer.
all im missing is a vice to hold it in while i work but im sure they are cheap enough from nutts corner stolen tools stall  ::)

should be here on monday so i,ll be giving it a go as soon as ive the time (snowed under with work at the minute fs......but i like it  ;))

the only uncertainty i have is the heat treating but it cant be rocket science im sure.


                                     ****************************************************************

just back from some shopping and priced a wheel and belt sander at B&Qs for 70 squids which should do the business. be handy for my tools for work and my katanas too.
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Celt_Ginger

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Re: Making your own knife
« Reply #14 on: November 17, 2009 »

It's not too difficult Pabs. Remember to drill the pin holes in the handle before you heat treat the knife. Put the knife in the BBQ and blow air onto it to get it really hot. When it is glowing "Bright Cherry Red" take it out of the fire and quench it in vegetable oil, putting it into the oil tip first. When cook enough, brush off any carbon still sticking to the blade and then put it into a hot oven (about 230 degrees) for an hour. When finished, it should have a goldy/straw colour. Quench this in water, again tip first. That's all there is to it.
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