Made my first ever blade today

B

Blackdirt cowboy

Joined
Oct 29, 2015
Messages
301
It was a slow day at work, and while cleaning up the shop, I found a very old, and very wore out bastard file. I tested it on the bench grinder to make sure it was high carbon and not just case hardened, annealed it, then made a little necker blade out of it.

I don’t have any knife making tools, so I did everything by hand. I cut out the rough shape with an angle grinder, then went to work with a bastard file to shape and profile it. I polished it to 220 grit and then heat treated and quenched with an oxy-acetylene torch and a bucket of used hydraulic oil. It’s in the oven tempering now at 425°. I know it’s not perfect, but I’m damn proud of, considering the tools I used and I’ve never done it before. I’m hooked now. Can’t wait to start the next one.

I do have an old forge buried in the back of the shop that belonged to my great grandpa. It’s an old coal fired forge with the hand crank fan. I’m dying to dig it out and forge my next blade.

Here’s a few pics of the blade before and after heat treatment. After tempering, I’ll polish the blade, put an edge on it and build the scales. I’d gladly appreciate any feedback y’all have. Like I said, I know it’s nowhere near perfect, and there’s already a couple of things I know I need to do better, but tell me what you think. Also, I need suggestions as to what material to use for the scales.
 
Hmm. I don’t have a photo sharing account at one of those site. Is that the only way to post pics? All my pics are on my phone, not on a computer.
 
QzlD0xm.jpg


I don’t think that worked right, but that pic is before heat treatment.

CQedGl7.jpg


All you have to do is put [ IMG ] (without the spaces) before the link and [ / IMG ] (again, without the spaces) after the link.
In imgur, when you look at your picture, on the side you should see a bunch of links. Just copy the one that says message boards and put it in your message

This pic is after heat treating.
 
Hey man nice knife! Especially for a first try :)

I probably couldn’t do that on my 100th try, with all the best tools. Kudos :thumbsup:
 
Nice work! Looks like it will be a practical little knife. Two things that came to mind that you can think about when doing your next knife. First, that finger cove is deeper than it needs to be. Second, the knife has a very nice look to it but that straight line going from tip to tail along the spine gives it a "stiff" look. A gentle arc, even just a slight one, will give the look of the knife a bit of grace and flow. Well done.
 
Thanks, guys. Your exactly right, Marc. I slipped with the angle grinder when cutting out the rough shape, and was forced to go deeper on the cove. It’s ok though, because it actually fits my big ole sausage fingers quite well. But I agree, it is a little on the deep side. It was also supposed to have a bit of a curve to the spine, but somehow, that didn’t make it to the final product. Those are the two major things of change.
 
My first knife was made from a file as well. :)
Got me stoked! Haha.
Excellent excellent go on your first try. :D
 
Great looking little knife
Should really look well with a nice handle
Post finished pic when done
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top