First Knife Made With Belt Grinder

H

huntingsgr8

Joined
May 25, 2015
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I would love to be posting some pictures of a finely made knife, but this one isn't one of them. It's a form of throwing knife, made from 1/8 mild steel, it's roughly 1 1/4 inch wide and, 8 1/4 inches long. Thoughts, and tips would be very much appreciated, I'm still learning, so please don't hesitate to post them. Believe it or not this little.....creation took more than and hour to make. I started by scratching out the design onto a piece of steel with the aid of a template, I then cut it out as closely as I could with the coper notcher on the iron worker, and then slowly finished grinding it to shape. I can openly say that a good 20 minutes of the work was just surface grinding, the piece was pitted from rust and I didn't notice, (normally I would use un-rusted flat bar, but I ran out). I know that most throwing knives out there are some form of stainless, but I think mild steel is completely adequate for throwing knives, and as a bonus it's cheaper. Just for the heck of it, I'm going to put it on ebay.
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Looks kinda like a spear tip to me. I'm not big on throwing knives, so I don't know if this is common.

Also, you realize that mild steel is very low in carbon and thus cannot be hardened? If you really do plan on listing via the "Bay" I would strongly advise full disclosure, so they cannot come back and demand their money back once the tip has bent and broken off after the first throw.

I would ask here about what steel would truly be a good steel to use for this type of function. I think it would be a benefit for you. Good luck!
 
I'm fully aware this can't be hardened, and for throwing knives this is a very good thing, the tougher the better. Bent can be straightened, chipped and broken cannot be. In my experience the stainless ones aren't a quality stainless, they're not even 440A, they're 420, I own a few out of 420, only difference I can see with them over the mild steel versions I've made are that they don't get a thin layer of rust in the summer humidity (could fix that id I kept them oiled though). And for the severe lack of quality on that thing, I think [I'm not allowed to discuss the aspect of what] would be my selling price.
 
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Hmm, I'd stay away from taking price at this point. You have neither the membership nor access to the proper forum for selling things here. However, it looks like a promising design.
 
Oh, the last thing I want is to upset the moderators, or breech the limits of my membership, I'm not trying to sneak in a sale here, it was just a figure I sort of threw into the air, Jemblade mentioned that if the knife failed I might have someone come looking for their money back, but for an amount like that, I don't think anyone would bother. And thanks, the design is my own.
 
The actual shape did sadly. I created a template out of the same steel for the simplicity of tracing more out onto the steel with a scratcher, the template is near perfect, not perfect but as close as I could get it. After I trace one out I take the piece of steel and cut out the knife as closely as I can to the lines with the coper notcher on my iron worker, however since I'm not making contact on all the sides of the blade, the material has a tendency to lift upwards, moving the cut 1/32-1/16 inward. It's that excess that I used the belt grinder to take off. My issues with how this knife turned out, are that the section directly ahead of the handle doesn't have the same angle on both sides, and that the steel is lightly pitted from rust. It may seem excessive to use a belt grinder, but my only other option is a file, and that having been my method for the last 6 years or so has given me great appreciation for power tools. Thanks to the grinder this knife took a little more than an hour instead of three........I would like to devise a way to make one every half hour or so.
 
Hmmm. While everything I know about knives says the design is functional, everything I know about sales says you want to change it up some. Function alone isent what sells a knife. I would advise you cmooth out those edges, add a little handle swell here, just make the whole piece more ascetically pleasing.
 
"I would like to devise a way to make one every half hour or so."

So would everyone here, but sadly it just cant be done and produce anything that resembles a quality knife. Making a knife is easy. Making a nice knife is hard and time consuming, even for professionals. Keep practicing and speed, and quality, will come.
 
hellspawn415 said:
Hmmm. While everything I know about knives says the design is functional, everything I know about sales says you want to change it up some. Function alone isent what sells a knife. I would advise you cmooth out those edges, add a little handle swell here, just make the whole piece more ascetically pleasing.
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Well noted, perhaps I should work on trying to make something that looks better, instead of obsessing over how well it measures up to the template.
 
Rookie25 said:
"I would like to devise a way to make one every half hour or so."

So would everyone here, but sadly it just cant be done and produce anything that resembles a quality knife. Making a knife is easy. Making a nice knife is hard and time consuming, even for professionals. Keep practicing and speed, and quality, will come.
Click to expand...


I agree completely. When I did this just for myself years ago, I didn't really care how much time it took, or if I was off a little on one side, but making something that I would sell is a whole new ball game. Mild steel is pretty cheap, and it just doesn't sit right with me that I'd have to charge a lot to make it profitable. For what I'd have to charge at the rate I can make one, I think a better grade of steel would be in order. If I can't speed up the process, then I'll just acquire better steel, having said that I think for the time being my area of focus should be quality. As a side note: the biggest reason it took so long is because of the lack of accuracy in making cuts with the iron worker, punching one out takes about 5 minutes if I do it right. If I can come up with a way to improve the accuracy of the cutting a half hour could be attainable, I'd be happy with just 45 minutes.
 
It is a very simple design,why not just buy a sheet of plate and have them waterjet or plasma cut. Your cost per unit should be fairly cheap.
 
I did consider that, and it would probably be worth it, but the nearest shop that does water jet/plasma/wire EDM, is about 7 hours from where I live, and the cost of having it cut+ shipping wouldn't make it worthwhile.
 
huntingsgr8 said:
I did consider that, and it would probably be worth it, but the nearest shop that does water jet/plasma/wire EDM, is about 7 hours from where I live, and the cost of having it cut+ shipping wouldn't make it worthwhile.
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If you're in the usa, flat rate shipping is one of your biggest deals there is.

Take advantage of it.



$20 for a 40 pound box of something like that ?
 
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