File Knife

P

Pikeman

Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Messages
2
I would like to make a file knife. Is there a predrilled and roughed out file knife kit that I can buy. I just can't figure out how to drill holes in a file without heating out the temper and then retempering the blank.:)
 
If you were to heat them a bit too much, it would likely only be in a small area right around the hole, not affecting the blade at all. Generally you will want to temper a file blade a bit anyway. As a file they are quite brittle, not the best suited for knives.

One other idea is to take a pan of water, put a block of wood into that with the knife blade resting on the block of wood. The water should be high enough so that it touches, or perhaps sits just slightly higher than the blade. If the water is cold then that should keep the blade from heating up. I'm amazed at how quickly cold water will draw the heat out of a blade too hot to touch.

Charles
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!

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Two Ideas you might try. Hold the knife blade with a piece of aluminium on both sides of the knife in a vice protecting the blade, leaving the area you want to heat up exposed. The aluminium will act as a heatsink protecting the blade. Or you could try the heatsink paste sold by K&G Knife supply and make a barrier. I tried doing both ideas at the same time but the aluminium plates would work fine by them selves.
Good Luck!!!
 
Files are hardened only in the cutting area. The tang is left either unhardened or underhardened so it will bend rather than break in use. You could always make a hidden or through-tang blade with a pin hole drilled through the handle material and the file tang. I wouldn't try to drill a file in the hardened area unless it was annealed or I was using a drill designed for cutting hardened tool steel (like a carbide machining bit). Most drills (including the cheaper titanium and cobalt coated ones) are around the same hardness as a good file and will either chip or dull. Unless you're willing to drop some serious cash for drills, either do a hidden tang or anneal and reharden later.

Good luck, and post some pics when you get it done!
 
Pikeman said:
I would like to make a file knife. Is there a predrilled and roughed out file knife kit that I can buy. I just can't figure out how to drill holes in a file without heating out the temper and then retempering the blank.:)
Click to expand...

Quality files are usually very good cabon steel, 1095 or w2. If you do not want to aneal go to ebay do a carbide drill search. Carbide bits will cut files easily. I purchased a lot of machine tooling on ebay and saved a ton of money. Be sure to use a drill press as they are brittle and they chip. if the hole is 1 in or more from the blade edge heat that spot very quickly, maybe a #2 tip, to red and let cool that will soften that area. Temper at 375 to 400 dependin on the hardness you desire. 375 wil come out 63rc, 400 about 61.

Good Luck Leon Pugh
 
Rodman Drills makes drill bits that do a great job of drilling hardened steels and I've drilled nicholson files with them while they were still hard. But, they are very pricey and the drill sizes are very limited. I bought my set after watching them drill hole after hole after hole in a hardened file and on a hardened bearing. Both were done without lubricant, but lubricant definitely increases the drills life! You can find them here.

http://www.rodmanandcoinc.com/item.jhtml?UCIDs=1307321|1307323&PRID=1492961
 
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