first attempt homemade knife?? HELP!!!

Spydie Man

Spydie Man

Joined
Dec 19, 2001
Messages
83
This used to be a leaf spring from a Mercury Bobcat Wagon. I'm beginning to wonder if it might have been better off left as it was. I'd like some constructive suggestions on how to go about completing this missing link between a knife and a shank. I've thought about reshaping it. What would be the best way to put an edge on it? The tools I have available are: Oxygen & Acetylene, an anvil, 2 lb. hammer, bench grinder with coarse stones, Makita handheld 1" belt sander, vise, mill bastard file, welder. My father once told me that if I heat it to cherry red and quench it in motor oil it will align the molecules in the steel. True or incorrect? If so, why? Is this like hardening or is that outside the scope of the tools I have available. If so, what do I need and how do I do it? :confused: Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I'm new here, so hello to everyone!

knife.jpg
 
Welcome to the forums..
Looks like you have a good start on the first..
You can heat treat the blade with the torches you have.Just heat it evenly on both sides until it reaches non magnetic and quench it in your oil,yes this is hardening the blade,now you will have to draw it back some to take the brittleness out of it by putting it in the kitchen oven for 2 hours at 350 degrees,do this last part twice,This is called the tempering cycle.
The tools you have available will work to make you a knife as long as you don't give up.Allot of us started out with no more than files and sandpaper for our first ones...
If you look back in the archives here you can learn allot of what you are asking,or else just post the questions and we will try our best to help you out..
Bruce
 
I just made my first knife too so I can't offer very much help right now. But one thing you might want to remember is if you heat it up in tha day time and the sun is shining it is hard to tell if the steel is cherry red, when I treated my knife I could barely see if it was red but when I used a magnet I could tell for sure because the magnet would not stay on the steel even though it was hard to tell the color.
 
Try doing a search of the Shop Talk using:5160

This is most likely the steel you have. You will find alot of info.
 
Bruce pretty much summed it up for you. Knife making and the first knife more so, is as much mental as physical. I expect you are going through the "hurry up and finish stage". Ignore that feeling. Use your files with the blade held in the vise by the tang, to bevel the edges down and give a long, flat taper. Remove all the "DEEP" pits and scratches with the file first and then sandpaper. Start with coarse and go to say 180 grit. Do your heat treating and polish with finer grits of paper.

Put the thing down once in a while and get away from it. You do not need to finish it in one session.

After you make the blade go on to the guard and then the handle. Look at a lot of pictures here.

You have a good start, build on it and good luck!:)
 
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