First knife (more of a really big cleaver thing)

[John79]

I just want to see if I understand how to make a knife, a really large blade, cleaver shaped, 18 inches long, 1/2 an inch thick, and 8 inches wide. The steel would be 1095 high carbon annealed steel. Also, where would I find a 1095 high carbon annealed steel plate of that size? Alright I think to make a knife like that, I would need to do the following, please let me know if I left anything out. 1.Cut the shape of the knife out of the steel with a large, heavy duty, hacksaw. 2. Create a bevel with a series of files. 3. Use my charcoal grill and a VERY LARGE pile of briquettes to heat the entire blade evenly to 1450*f-1475*f. 4. As soon as the steel reaches this temp, take it out of the coals and put the edge of the blade in first, about an inch deep in the oil then after like 4 seconds quench the rest of the blade in the oil, keeping it vertical all the while. 5. Within 1 or 2 minutes of quenching, wash off the oil with water and put in the kitchen oven at 400*f for 20 minutes. (Should I cool the blade in water after 20 minutes, or should I just take it out of the oven and let it cool off for like an hour or so in the garage, or am I completly off in everything that I say?) I know that something like this will have very limited uses, but I think it would help me learn some of the basics of knifemaking. Also I have wanted an oversized cleaver for some time now, for reasons that I do not know. The only thing I'm worried about is the cost of shipping that much steel.... I have already asked Scott (great guy) almost the same question and he said that it would be more efficent if I just called him, but he seems like a busy man to me, and Iwould rather get it answered here instead of bothering him. Thanks everyone!

 

[Jared Stenoien]

I think you need to rethink your design...the blade would weigh about 7 lbs... Since you're starting out I'd say start with a small blade. It'll be a lot easier, trust me I know from experience I still have a partially completed machete from .44" steel out in my garage. For the steel choice, 1095 is not a good steel for the setup you've described, you probably won't be able to quench it fast enough. Something like 5160 (what I used for my first 2 knives) would work much better. Briquettes are very bad to use with steel because they contain all sorts of bad things like sulfur and will infuse the steel with them. Try to find lump charcoal instead. I'd decrease the width to something more like 4", make it about 1/8-3/16" thick if you're truly set on making it.

 

[mete]

My HEAVY duty cleaver has a blade 3/16 "x 4"x 8" and that's heavy enough to chop through bones of almost anything !! 5160 would be a better choice. Quench the whole thing not just the edge .Temper two hours .Read some metallurgy before you do all this !

 

[John79]

Alright then!

 

[Keith_H]

as you mentioned, you will need a lot of heat, oil, and filing. don't worry about using 1/8" steel for cutting bones. I would add that a full tang is easiest too.

 

[langchop]

Overall plan is great... just some details are important: you may struggle to get to the required temp without some kind of bellows (channeled fan or hairdryer) I have a feeling the temps will need to be a bit higher (I am not sure but the steel vender should have these temp specs for you). Oil type will be quite important too, and should be preheated to a higher than ambient temp as well.

Because you say you want to use this as an excercise to learn... I would just do it, and move to more exotic steels and tools when you're happy with your outcomes. Good luck

Lang