"Homespun" knife project

Sylvrfalcn

Sylvrfalcn

Joined
Jun 4, 2002
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Got the hankering to do some real old timey knifemaking, so off to the flea market I go, looking for some raw materials. Picked up an ancient (and highly prized by nuts like me) Nicholson Black Diamond 10" mill bastard file for 50 cents. Much as I like making knives from old files, a feller gets a bit jaded, so I scrounged around a little more, until lo and behold I ran across some old plow bits. Don't know what anybody would want with the rusty old things except maybe as "rustic" decorations, but I bought one, took it home, and stuck it to the grinder to see what kind of sparks it'd throw. Hot dang, high carbon tool steel! Off to the shop I go.

First pic; plow bit next to my new favorite belt knife, 6" blade, 4 1/4" rosewood handle, made from a file and copied after one the blacksmith had tucked in his belt at the Old Spanish Quarter Museum in Saint Augustine, Florida.
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Second pic: the plowshare blade, forged, ground, filed, sanded, hardened, and tempered, blade is 3 1/2" long, 1 1/16" wide, 3/16" at the spine, with a distal taper to the point.
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More to come ;)
Sarge
 

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Sarge, in this part of the country there's so much old plow steel, spring steel, who knows what steel laying around the prarrie; how would I identify the 'best' for knife making?

A friend nearby is making a forge and we're going to pound steel soon.




munk
 
Munk, the three most simple indicators I know are as follows;
1. It rusts (duh ;) )
2. When stuck to a grinding wheel it throws bright hot sparks, that crackle and explode like tiny fireworks (caused by the carbon in the steel, get a piece of mild steel like a large wire nail, and a scrap of an old metal cutting file, alternate sticking 'em to the grinder and compare the sparks and you'll see what I'm talking about)
3. If heated cherry red and quenched, it should attain a "brittle" hardness, such that the tip of a new file will skate across it and not dig in.

Not very scientific or sophisticated, but fairly reliable nonetheless. By the way, lawn mower blades, hay rake teeth, automobile springs, etc., are generally made from a very good grade of high carbon steel. Good luck, and have fun, it really is a hoot and you can't help but get hooked. :thumbup:

Sarge
 
I don,t know if you,d call that a muleskinner or not . It is what I supposed one would look like . No matter what, it looks like it would take whatever a thinking man would dish out .
 
Again, a beautiful and functional knife from Sarge! :thumbup: :D
I love the design and it definitely portrays the knives of days of yore.:thumbup: :cool:

Sarge don't over look any old pruning shears, the ones with the long blades used for trimming hedges the hard way. Their thickness, about 1/8 inch, makes them ideal for the forge and along with the width already there you can get a pretty wide blade out of one, actually the way you conserve steel you might be able to get two small knife blades out of each side.:thumbup: :D :cool:
 
Sarge,

Great looking blade. Did anyone mention old saw steel? I thought it is supposed to be good carbon steel. Been looking online for plans for a forge. What have you got built. Was it hard. I don't know how to weld.:( I can find someone who can help with that. And I'm going to learn myself. I've definitely decided to build one.

Oh and I've got two blades I've been working on recently. Ready for handles. I'll post something so you can see. And I'm much nearer the end of the FF sheath now. Exciting. Thanks for your teaching, I really love this hobby.
 
Nice job Sarge! We have scrounged the steel out of disks as well (BTW,I think that most plow instruments are made of 1060 or 1070).

I once tried to forge a blade from a hedgeshear that I had found, but it was made from some sort of air hardening steel and was harder than woodpecker lips. Too hard to forge, plus I didn't have any specs for the heattreat since it was mystery steel. Just set it aside and used other carbon steel that I had.

I know that I will sound like a broken record with this, but anybody that wants to make primitive knives should buy a copy of http://www.livelyknives.com/knifemakingvideo.htm There is more kami sutra in itthan you can shake a stick at!:D

Building a charcoal burning forge is really easy. I can elaborate if anybody is interested.

stevo
 
"Homespun" indeed, here's the finished knife with a simple antler (axis deer) handle, propped on the plow bit it was made from. Blade is still at a 320 grit, hand rubbed finish, so if you look close you can see the temper line. Sharp, solid little knife, I like this one.:D

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Sarge
 

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comes de revolution, I want Sarge in my encampment.


Looks like what a knife should look like, Greg. Really nice.
 
Looks good! I expect nothing less than sturdy, utilitarian, and sharp from you. You never dissapoint.
Steve
 
Just want to say again, looks great and very practical design!

Sarge, what did you use to cut the "barb" off of the plow point before forging it out? Cut off saw, or did you hot cut it?

Do you have a source you can recommend for axis antler? I have always used domestic antler because it was free and on hand, but would like to try other types in the future. Is it just as pithy inside as whitetail or mule deer antler?
 
Steve?

dunno about pithyness, but axis is at least twice as dense (and heavy) as whitetail. For a lighter knife, use whitetail; for a really substantial feel, axis would be better.
 
Stevo, I just lopped off what I wanted with my trusty hacksaw. The hacksaw didn't want to bite well at first, so I used a propane torch to anneal the spot, explaining the discoloration you see in the pics.

Axis deer is for the most part harder, denser, and less pithy (hardly pithy at all) than white tail. Don't have a source that'll do you any good, been buying mine from old man Schwettman, down in Fredericksburg for years now. He gets 'em off some of the exotic game ranches down that way.

Speaking of antlers, here's a real hoot. My mom and dad are enthusiasic RV campers and amateur Bluegrass/Folk musicians of a sort. Dad told me of a friend they saw on their semi-annual excursions to the Smoky mountains, who loved to whittle. So, Christmas before last, in my usual "bag-o-knives" (oh you ought to see it, "awright, who needs a knife? what kind y'all want?") I included a spiffy little homemade whittling knife for them to give to their friend who whittles. Yesterday on the phone my dad tells me his friend Rex had called him up right out of the blue (apparently odd behavior for that gentleman) thanking him again for the knife, and going on and on about what a fine knife it was, and how he'd never had one better. Rex went on to say that he'd been picking up shed white tail antlers around Cade's Cove for many years and "reckon would the boy that makes them knives like to have him a couple big boxes full?". What do you reckon was my answer? ;) :D

Sarge
 
Almost a "Nessumkish" blade Sarge!:thumbup:

Very nice.

I need to rig up a forge. Old plow points, cultivator tines and car springs all over the hollow.
 
Sarge, I had noticed the gray discoloration near the cut on the steel and was wondering what it was.

My guess for your answer "Uh, heck yes!" I've used sheds from mulies and elk for handles (still have some elk sheds). BTW, what sort of sheath for this new one?

The tines off of elk antlers make good friction folder handles. Have you guys noticed that every once in a while you will get some antlers that have really thick "walls"? And the opposite, too?

My dad has two small sets of antlers from two different species of German deer; he won't part with them though. One set has this funky monkey little fork on the end that reminds me of a pronghorn antelopes.

Kis, is axis the same beast or different from a sitka deer?
 
Antler can be really strange and varies from animal to animal in the same group such as the whitetail deer.
That's all we have here in Oklahoma AFAIK and someone gave me some smallish antlers off of a whitetail they had harvested one year. They were maybe an inch in diameter at the base and not hardly pithy at all. When I carved them and drilled them out to go on the handmade kardas for my 18" AK I was taken aback because they looked almost like ivory!!!!
Almost too pretty to stain but I stained them anyway and then inset them with coral and turquoise.:cool: ;) :D
 
Beautiful land up there in Cade's Cove. I'm sure the handle has some good spirit.

I also thought of G. W. Sears when I saw this.

Good work.
 
awesome thread - love the knife.

I have the Lively video and it is a great video. Sarge - if you'd like to "borrow" it...let me know. ;)


re: spark test

Some steels don't throw a spark hardly at all...but most of those are higher alloy steels that aren't typically found in the "old tools" category.

Basically, (as stated above) if it throws a bright yellow spark, it has a high carbon content. If it is orange, it is medium carbon content.

My experience working with khukuris is that they are medium carbon steel, which is what leads me to think they are something similar to 5160 (common spring steel)
 
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