Make a Knife. 1st project!

M

MattCo

Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Messages
2
Hello there everyone, Pleased to meet you! :)

My Name is Matt and I've recently started to make a knife out of a piece of steel i found in my dad's garage.
I've never done anything like the before and its a bit of an experiment to see if i can actually make one.

What i started with is an 8.5 inch tire tool and about 5mm in width (Like people use to take the tires off pushbikes but bigger for use with cars wheels
I really don't have the correct tools to do this efficiently/properly, At the moment i am just using a straight file to grind out the metal. But as i said this is only an experiment.

What I have done so far is to anneal the metal, where i heated it in a BBQ up to the point where a magnet would no longer stick to it and then left it to cool overnight.
Now i have cut out the blade shape that i want with a hacksaw and have started to grind the blade with my file

003fk.jpg


005uom.jpg


This is where i have got to so far! Looks pretty terrible i know :P

What i need to do it scribe a center line down so i can work out where to file too.

Then i will (attempt to) heat treat it by heating up again to the point where a magnet will no longer stick and then plunge it into warm oil, Followed by tempering for 2hours in the oven (still need to find what temperature to do this at) which i will do a couple of times.

Any way, this is a bit of a project at the moment and i just wanted to share what im doing with you!

If you've go any tips for me that'd be brilliant, I've read most of the How to guides on this forums and other sites but any extra advice would be great!

Thanks very much for reading!

(if this is in the wrong forum board i do apologize and please move it to the correct one!)
 
Welcome to the forum.
Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but what you have will almost undoubtedly fail to harden.
You can stick with it for 'practice' but you wont end up with a knife.
 
One of the most common pieces of advice for new forum users is to fill out your profile, at least letting people know which area you live in. You might find some knifemakers in the area willing to work with you and possibly give you free supplies.
 
Depending on the steel you might be able to get it to harden. If you can find out the company who made the tire tool they might be able to give you the information on the steel that they used. The tool needed to take a lot of lateral force in pulling a tire over the tire rim. It might be a spring steel. If you don't get it to harden in oil you can try different quenches. goggle 'superquench'. I've read that 1018 can get to HRc @ 42 and A36 to the low 50s. Oh, and be careful when quenching in oil. I've read that it can flair up creating a fire hazard if you mess up.
 
It looks like you plan to make some form of "Tanto" style blade???

Plunge Line - A good plunge line says a lot.

Filing the bevel - When you think you've filed enough... you probably haven't. Especially if you're FILING the bevel.

This is your first knife, and that's right up there with getting your first car, It's not going to be perfect, heck it will probably be a POS but it's YOUR POS, and that make all the difference.

Just my opinion, put wood or some synthetic material like micarta on for the handle, not paracord. Please, please, PLEASE don't put paracord on for the handle. This is all part of the learning process, and after filing and shaping steel, wood will seem like butter. It doesn't have to be bubinga, cocobola, or Bolivian Rosewood. Oak, walnut, maple, cherry, is available at many home fix-it places. Personally, I would be satisfied if you used PINE for the handle as long as it isn't paracord.

OK, here's the deal with paracord in my version of the universe. If you use it on your FIRST KNIFE you will forever think that it's OK to use. But if you put a "real" handle on, made of wood or something like micarta, then you've elevated yourself to a higher level. It says that you are not willing to put up with "Phehh,... That's good enough!" type thinking.

Epoxy glue - This is what you will probably use to glue your handle material onto the tang with. GENERALLY SPEAKING... slower curing epoxy holds better than the five minute stuff. Plus, after putting all the time and effort into making a blade, why screw it up rushing to get the handle on.

Learn to slooooowwww dowwwwnnnn. The best way to mess things up is to rush. I'm like that myself. I want to see it done NOW. Making knives has been a good influence on me, even at age 61. If you don't finish it tonight the world won't come to an end. Making a knife doesn't end cancer nor bring world peace. Think zen thoughts. "Its a journey not a destination...",... "Its the process not the product", "Wax on,... wax off."... that sort of stuff.

By the way, heed everything that was said about your selection of steel. If you have even a little piece of it that you could test, that would be better than putting all that effort into something that you HOPE will work out, and then find out it won't.

Good luck. You may as well have fun.

- Paul Meske
 
The shape looks like a shoemakers knife. (they are chisel ground)
But that steel likely won't harden. Tool- or springsteel isn't to expensive, but if you want to recycle a quality old file will be your best bet to make a knife out of.
(see stickies on this forum)

Centre line: Lay the steel on a flat surface (glass/mirror/ceramic tile/etc) and take a sharp drill bit the same thickness or close.
Scribble the steel along the point of the drill bit, flip the steel oved and do it again.
You'll have either one centre line or two paralell lines with the middle inbetween them.
Leave the edge before hardening app. 0.5-1mm
 
MattCo, keep up the good effort. The only way to learn is to try it, and seek advice.

Your already doing both. yes, mistakes will be made, but your subsequent knives will be better from those mistakes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top