Attempting a first knife

R

Riddle

Joined
Sep 5, 2015
Messages
14
Hello all,

Began my first knife yesterday, basic design made from a Nicholson file. I've annealed it, shaped it with a hack saw and file, I will finish my bevel filing jig tomorrow and hopefully be done. It's been a lot of work but good fun. I've ised simple tools only, not even a vice. I did get a toaster oven from the thrift store for $6, so all told I'm about $100 in. If this goes well I may build a simple shop.

It did bend a little during annealing but I will normalize it from what I've read. I don't have steel to clamp it between, so I may set it between two cement blocks???

Also I know the craftsman 2" grinder is the go-to for first timers but harbor freight has their 4" (3/4hp) grinder on sale for $60. Would it be a bad idea to hop on it instead?

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Don't drop that thing on your foot! :eek::D
 
Welcome to Shop Talk. Fill out your profile so we know a bit about you. Age, location, occupation, hobbies, etc. ... all help us give better comments and answers.

You should be able to straighten out any warps while annealed easily. Just bend as needed. Placing a thin piece of wood under one end and hammering on the high spot will usually take care of it quickly.

The stickys has a lot of knifemaking and HT info. There is a section on making file knives there, too.

About your knife.
Notice how the squared off shape id "clunky" looking. This is what we call the "sharpened bar of steel" look. A few minor changes will make it look a good bit more fluid. To see what these changes will make, look at some knife photos in The Gallery and other places.

First. make the spine a continuous curve by dropping the butt about 1/8" and rounding the spine down toward the tip at a more gradual rate than the sudden drop you have now. This slightly curved spine line will look much nicer.

Next, round the top of the but so it does not drop off at a sudden 90° angle.

The handle swell looks a bit fat, but that can be made shallower later on after the bevels are filed in.


Tips:
Don't forget to drill the tang holes before HT. Once the basic profile is refined and done, drill the holes before doing the bevels. The holes are useful for screwing the blade blank down on a work board of jig when filing and sanding the bevels.

Post your plans for HT and let the chaps here help you fine tune them. Errors avoided equal success attained.

Olan your handle so it is rounded into an oval or egg shape cross section. Also, don't make the handle too fat or massive. It should feel comfortable in the hand. These two things will avoids the normal newbie "Blocky Handle Syndrome". BHS is caused by mounting the scales and just rounding the corners in finishing the handle. Just like the blade profile, the handle should have smooth and fairly continuous curves.
My standard mental image is that Victoria's Secret models look better to your eye than Russian female weight lifters because they have continuous curves. If this doesn't explain it well enough, wait until puberty hits and it will make sense later on. To take that one step farther, Dolly Parton may not look as nice to you are Heidi Klum, because her curves are over done. Subtle curves are what makes a nice knife a beautiful knife.

Have fun and think about safety when making knives.

If you use a grinder, wear a respirator. You need a minimum of a half face mask with P100 filters. A face shield is also a very good idea, too. EBay has lots of suitable respirators, as do most hardware stores like Home Depot. A suitable unit can cost $20 or less.
The dust abd grit created in knife making can damage your lungs. I know you don't want to spend the extra money right now, but it really isn't optional. It may not seem to be harming you now, but whe you are older and wheezing, you will regret it.
If you don't want to spend the money, just take the $20 for a respirator and the $60 you were going to spend on a grinder and buy a knife at Walmart.
 
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Just when I thought I was close..! Thanks for the great advice. I will rework, although the my affinity for Russian power lifters will remain unchanged.

I don't have HT plans quite yet. As far as hardening I will heat in coals the way I did for annealing but quench in motor oil. Then 3 phases of 450degree heat, and air cool for tempering.

I have some poplar off my grandfathers farm I will use for my scales, it is soft and doesn't take a stain but it's what I have this weekend. I will probably put some leather between the scale and tang for some color, and use 2 ton epoxy. the finish will probably be Tung oil.

And absolutely on the safety.
 
Stick with Victoria ! Motor oil has bad stuff in it much better [safer] to use veggie oil ! If you anneal you shouldn't have to normalize..Straighten after anneal if neccessary .
Hardwoods make better handles than softwood.
 
Ditto on the oil...Canola is the preferred quench oil for home HT. The file knife sticky has good info on a home HT for a file.

Don't rush the job and use a lesser handle material. Order a set of hardwood scales if you can't find anything useful locally.

Leather spacers aren't a good idea. Spacers are either a contrasting wood or a laminate like Micarta or G-10. Use the slowest epoxy you can find locally.

1Hour curing is the slowest you want. 24 hour is the best. Look for a fiberglass supplier and get either West System G-flex, or System Three T-88. I pretty much guarantee someone in Chattanooga carries one or the other.

I would start by going to the Chattanooga Hardwood Center at 2420 East Main street. They probably have all you need, and if they don't, they know where you can get it. There are a dozen or more places in your town.
 
There were some places open yesterday luckily, there's a good craftsman scene here, they actually had a good bit of knife making supplies. I grabbed some curly maple and roughed them out yesterday. Also picked up the epoxy, 30 min work time.


Heading to the sticky.
 
Slowly coming together (I think). Definitely gained a lot of respect for the craftsmanship behind it, I'm looking forward to learning a lot more about this art.


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It's taken a little while but I finally out the handles on. I joined a local forge so that has taken up some time.

Used my curly maple, and ended up ruining the best section of it. With what I had left I tried a few stains on conditioned and unconditioned areas. Got impatient and liked the way the unconditioned looked best so I went ahead and stained it. Not completely pleased with the handles but for a first knife i didn't want to worry too much. I'll be applying Tung oil, hopefully it brings out the "curl" more.

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