Drilling and tempering.

Tyrkon Lawson

Tyrkon Lawson

Joined
Oct 31, 2003
Messages
8,583
Hello. I know this might sound real basic but I need help with a few things here and any advice is more than welcome.

(1) I am trying to make a small blade that has a finger hole for grip. So naturally the size of the hole needs to be that of an average man's finger (I will do custom sizes upon request). I want to use something like 440C stainless. To make the hole do I simply start with a small drill bit and work my way up? Do they have drill bits that size? And do I need a certain type of drill bit to drill into 440C stainless steel?

(2) Once I have the shape finished and its time to temper what are my options? Does a blow torch temper work? If so does any one have a good tutorial for me on this? If I have to take them to be tempered, as I do not have my own oven yet, can someone reccomend an affordable company?

(3) Finally, I need to make a jig or something to be able to get the angle right on the knives each time.

Again, these knives are real small. I guess you could term them as being more of a ring knife or a claw. We're talking about a 3" by 2" piece of metal here. Two friends of mine came up with the design based on a Filipino short knife fighting system but the maker has moved on and doesn't even make knives anymore. Thus, I would like to try to pick up the torch for our group. I am limited in equipment but I know I can do this if I can work out the above details. Thanks for any help you guys/gals might have.
 
Here's a thread on drilling those big holes:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=269004&highlight=finger+hole+drill

Regarding 'tempering' (I think you meant hardening) there's a number of places you can send the steel. Paul Bos is the norm. Also texas knife supply will do small batches.

PS You are going to go to all the work of a handmade knife and you want stainless and you're going to send it out anyway, don't bother with 440C use ATS-34. Better all around steel and doesn't cost much more.

Hope that helps Tyrkon,

Steve
 
That helps a lot. So I need it hardened not tempered. O.K. So what I do is basically order the ats34, cut out the blade, shape it, send it to be hardened, put the handles on, and sharpen it (I don't mean to simplify it i am just trying to picture the steps). What do you suggest I use to cut the blade out and then shape it (we're talking low budget for now)? Thanks.
 
Hey Tyrkon, that's basically it, if you don't have the tools you can start out with a hacksaw to cut out the shape and files to smooth it down, and then sandpaper to finish it off. You do not want it sharpened or too fine of edges before you heat treat. After hardening it is tempered...

I too am fairly new to the world of making knives...I used to hate it when I asked a question and the first response was to use the search button, however there is an incredible amount of information in just this forum and if you read a few days worth of threads you may not have all the answers but you will know the right questions to ask!

(Edited for accuracy and spelling)
 
Yup, you got. Just like Bruz said.

For cutting out, invest in a high tension hacksaw and bimetal blades. It's suprisingly fast on annealed steel.

Use a file or a cheap angle grinder to finish the shape.

Steve

PS I didn't mean to mislead you. When we say heattreat it includes hardening and tempering.
 
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