First attempt at a Blade (pic heavy)

[ElectrikHellfire]

Okay, this is my first attempt a making my own blade. I had a couple of goals in mind before starting. First I wanted something big and carbon for chopping (something akin to a Busse which I just cannot afford). Second, I wanted to do the job with mostly what I already had at hand and not spend a lot of money.

The blade started as a 1/4" flat annealed 1095 stock from Jantz. I used simple tools that I have already such as files, angle grinder, drill press and a belt sander to remove the stock I wanted and shape it.

I constructed a forge from an old electrical box, fire bricks, a piece of 2" square tubing with holes drilled in one end and a hair dryer for air. I heat treated the blade to non-magnetic and quenched in heated oil. All of this was salvaged or scrap so the entire thing was no cost. Here is the forge.

And here it is in action.

I used maple that I had already and bolts from Lowes to attach the handles. The coated the blade in a epoxy based bake on spray called Ceramacoat from Midway.
Here is the final product.

Blade is 10.75” and handle is 7”.
Really, the only cost was the steel, fasteners and the Ceramacoat

I learned a lot and made lots of mistakes but overall I am pleased. Feel free to let me know what you think. I appreciate your comments.

Mods, please feel free to move this if I put it in the wrong forum.

 

[eneyman]

wow, I know nothing about forging your own blades but that looks like a damn clean job! Very nice work and you can only get better and more creative from here on out.

 

[chococrazy]

I like the look,but the handle screws are kinda funky .
I like how the blade looks mostly.

 

[Nathan Ihrke]

looks like a damn good first try to me

 

[TyFrameLock]

Nice use of an old electrical panel...lol

 

[T.K.C.]

I think that is a good first attempt. It looks like the wood is cracked around the bolts.

 

[Alanp]

Awesome, i've been looking into doing this as well. Post like this give me hope. Good work man i like the outcome. The handle screws aren't bad at all They work and you can get them off if you need to.

 

[ElectrikHellfire]

Thanks guys. Yeah the handle is what I am least happy with. Its functional and it works. I thought about getting some Micarta and some better screwes/bolts. Maybe down the road I can do that.

T.K.C
No cracks there but the wood lost a few slivers when I drilled the holes. I used blue tape but still happened.

 

[dinozzo]

I dont know much about making knives, but from what i can see it looks really great! Great job man :thumbup:

 

[GRIM 62]

For a first knife,I'd say you did Way better than most could have,right on!!!

 

[Jim L.]

Hell of a lot better than my first-through-fifth (or more ) attempts!

Jim L.

 

[barrabas74]

wow, I know nothing about forging your own blades but that looks like a damn clean job! Very nice work and you can only get better and more creative from here on out.

I dont think he forged it, at least from the way the handle looks already shaped in the pic where its in the forge. I think he used it to do his own heat treat, which is awesome in its own right. I have made many knives using the "50 dollar forge" method with a hairdrier and much the same setup Hellfire has. I had good success with simple tool steels, files and leaf springs.

Thats a great looking blade for a first attempt, handles are a different beast imho all together and for me present the bigger challenge especially if you decide to put a guard on a future knife.

Keep working on knives its great fun and really gets you focused and for me relieves stress. You learn so much doing it on your own.

BTW do you have an idea on the RC of the blade? Did you do a file test or anything to get a round about hardness level? Thanks.