Knives made from carbon fibre..anyone done it?

Irezumi

Irezumi

Joined
Mar 1, 2006
Messages
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Hey guys,

Just wondering if anyone has tried to make a knife from carbon fibre? If so could you share your experiences (did it work out well, worth doing, etc). Also if you have any pics of knives made from carbon fibre I would love to see them. I am learning about knife making and thought it would easier to start with something like a piece of carbon fibre. I can get this locally and it comes set hard, ready for cutting and filing.

thanks in advance
 
The only function I could see for such a knife would be to sneak it past a metal detector and stab someone.Both are illegal in the USA and I would guess in Australia,too.Most of the makers here are trying to make a better grade knife.
Stacy
 
thanks for you reply, mate..but I think you have missed my point...I am trying to work on a easier material to practice my grinds on, and get a finished product that can be polished up nice for practice, without heat treating and all that (my plan is to move to that but I am keen to start making something before I can get setup which will take me a while). I am from Sydney, and to be honest carrying any knife at all is illegal now, you can even get busted for carrying a swiss army knife. Besides, the only time I have walked through a metal detector in the last 8 years is for business trips via plane, so metal detectors arent used a great deal over here. If I wanted something to get past detectors anyway I could get a cold steel zytel number which are easy to get here.

Anyway, back on topic, I got interested in carbon fibre after seeing the hall/pirella lmax prototype with carbon fibre laminated over titanium, and further interested when I saw the Wally Hayes katana made the same way. Ideally, I would like to make something similar way down the track. Plus I really like the look of carbon fibre and would like to make something useful out of a piece I am purchasing. I should have been more clear in the first post..sorry.
 
There are quite a few makers using carbon fiber now. Both stright C/F., and with steel inserts, and or titanium. Neet. Don't let Bladsmth bother you, he's just jealous that you cant mash it with a hammer, If you could forge it, he would be all over it. :p Mike
 
Sorry mate,I didn't intend to sound so bad.There are many young makers who want to make some sort of undetectable knife.
If you are wanting to practice grinding,there are many inexpensive materials.And,yes,CF does make some neat things.To learn on,you might try aluminum to start.Mild steel can be ground and polished,too.No need to HT it.When you do grind the CF,wear skin and lung protection,nasty stuff to breath.(clean up all the dust real good)
Mike,I tried to forge CF once.The hammer kept bouncing back into my forehead.Had to quit before it caused any damage.Probably should have quit sooner.
 
THere are a lot better practice materials than CF. That stuff is a MESS and it's about the worst material for your health to use. Yuck.

Check out the work of Nemoto, a Japanese knifemaker, as well as Warren Thomas. Both use CF laminated to titanium and that sort of thing. Pretty cool stuff.

If you decide to go forward with using carbon fiber, make sure you use proper filters on your respirator, clean it up properly, and protect your skin. That stuff is fun to use, but it's nasty.
 
Man. If your going to use carbon figer to to practice on, What are you planning spend on steel? I have some top secret platinum titanium,Unobtaniun here that I would love to send out at a huge discount. Say 1000. a pound. :rolleyes: Bladsmth, don't ya just hate it when that happens.:D Mike http://www.lovettknives.com/
 
My old mate Lloyd Harding taught me how to hollow grind many years ago.
he cut out 5 or six knife shapes out of 1/4 inch jarrah and got me to grind them with a fresh coarse belt. It was very useful to me I got the feel for the back edge of the grind very quickly. I have seen a carbon fibre knife once it looked good. but i did not see it cut anything. Ceramics were popular for a while. The only ceramic I saw was expensive and getting a new handle put on it after the proud owner was unlucky enough to drop it into a bar -b - q
The blade held up well the handle did not.

The last time I went to see someone off at the air port I put about $8 in chaing in the tray , buy the time the drop kick federal police managed to work out the beep was a support in my shoes they had let someone steal my $8. That gave me a lot of faith in the system. It was a few years ago and things have tightened up now. I still had to pay for the parking they did not refund me the cash I was going to use. %$#$@#%^DS
 
Carbon fiber is pretty pricy but if that is what you want to get used to grinding, your choice.
I have a friend who does knives and letter openers full time.
One item he makes that are very popular are letter openers from Dymondwood. Strong, fairly inexpensive, grinding and polishing are good practice and he gets approx $20 USD for them.
Just a thought.
Edited to add...be sure to use respirator or good mask when grinding carbon fiber....that stuff can be nasty for your lungs....one of the reasons I don't do alot of carbon fiber even though it does look good
and is desireable to alot of colllectors espc. of "tactical" style knives.
 
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