2nd Knife from a file!!!

V

vermont88993

Joined
Jul 21, 2010
Messages
23
This is my best knife yet:D! very comfortable, and very ergonomic. it is made from a Nicholson 10" general purpose mill file... the file was $7 from the lumber supply yard and i was at my dad's house so i got to use the shopsmith tools (band saw, belt sander, drill press, ect.). the handle is made of cocobolo my dad had around with his shop tools (lightly coated w/ linseed oil when i finished the handle). i think it came out great. the photos dont do it justice.

P.S.
If anyone knows what steel this file is made of please tell me, and Please tell me what i can improve on and what i should do differently!

The knife:
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Spine:
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Glory Shots:
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Nicholson files are made out of either W1 or W2, I forget which one exactly. Great looking knife but buying a file everytime you make a knife isn't exactly cost effective. You can get great steel very cheaply from Aldo Bruno and Kelly Cupples. Plus, you won't have to anneal everytime you work the steel! I guess what I'm saying is that you should keep the file (since Nicholson files are great!), and just buy some flat stock that will yield more blades per dollar. Just sayin...
 
the handle is made of cocobolo and i didn't anneal or heat treat the blade i ground it down as slow as possible so i wouldnt loose the temper (i hope)... im only 15 so my mom or dad wouldnt be happy if i heat treated it in the oven if you know what i mean... more of a practice/ learning my skills kind of knife. great... actually exellent, cutting capability in wood (good bushcraft blade... i think).
 
The knife is a pretty fair first/second knife.
The blade needs to be tempered before the handle is attached. At this point, it is too late to do that. The knife may snap in two if any side bending or heavy chopping is done, so be gentle with it.

Your folks most likely would be glad to help you learn things ( unless you are doing this without their permission....which is bad).
The oven needs to be used to draw the temper down on the blade. It won't make any smoke or smell. You can still do the grinding from a hard file...but temper it first to make it less prone to breaking, and the right degree of hardness for a knife. You do this by baking the file in the kitchen oven for 2 hours at 400F. Take it out and let it cool off a few minutes, then rinse it with tap water to cool it off until you can hold it. Dry it off and put it back in the oven for 2 more hours. This will make the blade tougher and the proper hardness. The rest of the grinding and sanding will be the same as before...and it may grind/sand a bit easier.

The handle appears to be where the sapwood and heartwood meet on a cocobola plank. That was a pretty ingenious use of the wood. I think most folks will prefer a more even match from side yo side, though. Try a solid color piece of wood next time.

Good job on your second knife.
Filling out your profile is something you should do, BTW.

When you are working on your next project, post the ideas here and ask for guidance on the process. You can avoid making mistakes and end up with a much nicer knife.
If you show the proper interest and spirit, some maker here may offer to send you a kit of supplies to make a nice knife; or some local maker might even offer to have you and a parent come over to his shop for the day to make a knife.
 
Thank you bladsmth,
My dad is very supportive of my hobby of collecting and making knives (just cant stand me flicking the knives open and closed:rolleyes:). anyway i will talk with my dad about heat treating in the oven... i wanted to use the too tone wood... thats not all i had. i liked the look of the too tone color. next time i will use just the dark section of the cocobolo wood i have left (1/2" tall X 12" long X 12" wide). i also will be ordering steel and hidden bolt fasteners to make the knife stronger when it comes to sheering force on the blade. the next one i make will be for my first season hunting (VT rifle season for whitetail deer).

P.S.
What steel do you recommend for a bushcraft/ survival/ hunting blade... the blade shape would be like the knife i made that is posted above.
 
Looks nice. I do a lot of working with hard steel, and have made a couple of file knives. If you dont want to bother with heat treating then it works out o.k. if you get some ceramic belts they will cut much better, and you can remove more steel keeping it cooler, allowing you to push your grind lines up and gain a better edge geometry.
 
What bladsmth said is right on target. I will say this though...

The use of 2 different woods makes this one a custom for sure. The dove tail match looks spot on, great work. Although, I too would have gone with a single wood, or something with a bit closer match. But, keep in mind, there are a LOT of collectors out there that look for what you have created, a one of a kind.

Now, about using mom's oven... You will NOT be using her oven for heat treat unless it is nuclear powered or WAY out of the ordinary for kitchen ovens. You CAN use it to TEMPER the steel however.

Tempering brings the hardness down a bit so that the knife is usable, and will still hold an edge, but not be too fragile for aggressive use... I'm sure some of the more experienced guys will chime in soon with more info.

Now, regardless of ALL said thus far! WELCOME TO THE MADNESS of knife making... Prepare for an addiction!

Next knife material, I suggest O-1 steel... Oil hardening, fairly forgiving, and will work for you as a user knife.

I look forward to your next creation and hope we see pics of it skinning a B&C deer!

Charlie
 
CT:
I believe the wood is a single piece that is the junction of the white sapwood and the dark heartwood. It is not dovetailed from two pieces. That is why the "dovetail" goes the same direction on each side.

Tempering is Heat Treatment, as is Cryo, and of course Hardening ( austenitization and quench). Other heat treatments are annealing, normalizing, and case hardening.

Vermont:
1084 would be a good choice, as would 5160. There are a lot of makers up your way who could help you with the HT.
Another good choice would be CPM154. You would have to send it off for HT with Cryo, but that is fairly cheap.
 
bladsmth-
you are correct the wood was one piece, not dovetailed together pieces of wood. i am looking a steels to use for my next fixed blade. what are other sites to get steel other than "knifekits.com" ( i'm sure its been covered before... tried searching it, couldn't find anything)
 
I will tell you what we tell every new maker who comes on this forum -
READ THE STICKYS

The first one says, "Knife Making Supplies". This sticky has a huge list of tutorials and suppliers broken down by category.

There are other stickys up top on making knives, metallurgy, etc.

Seriously, before making a post, any new person should read all the stickies and tutorials. That will take a couple of weeks, but will answer 98% of all your questions in detail.

The older members should take a look,too. There is often new stuff being added.
 
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Did you get this idea from Anza knives? They have some interesting designs, and they are affordable. They even have a video on their website showing a file snapping in a vice, and then after their heat treatment.

Great job, I applaud your effort. I always like when young people try to make things. Most people are just consumers, not craftsmen. Way to go, and keep going!
 
I'm late to the party as usual, but I do have two comments... as long as there isn't huge difference in hardness between the heartwood and sapwood, which could cause problems, I think it looks cool as can be. It's certainly a matter of taste and not for everyone.

Secondly, on a blade that thick, the bevels should go MUCH higher to give a better cutting blade, preferably right up close to the spine. You wil have a rough time getting
a good sharp edge on bevels that thick.

Everything else has been covered especially the most important point, tempering the file back a bit for toughness. I like file knives very much and that's a good effort.
 
That is a very nice looking knife; especially for only your second attempt. Keep up the good work.
 
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