After over a year of watching “how to” videos and reading forums, I finally found the courage to try to make a knife via “material removal” method. Dad has always said i should try my hand in m knife making.
The knife started life as a flat piece of 1084 carbon steel, 12” long, 1 1/2” wide and .125” (1/8”) thick.
I drew several templates until finally settling on one. After that, it was rough cut to shape via 4” side grinder, hacksaw, a 1” belt sander and files.
The primary bevels were filed by hand, which took approximately 3 hours per side via use of my homemade bevel jig.
Holes were cut into the tang (handle) for the alignment pins, as well as a couple others holes used to give the epoxy a better bond.
The entire blade received an initial sanding at this point.
To make the metal a usable blade, it had to be l hardened via the use of wood burning fire in our chiminea. I had to employ a hair dryer (gives the fire more oxygen) to get the fire hot enough. I heated the knife to non-magnetic, which is approximately 1300 degrees, then went another couple hundred higher, which was a bright red color. Once it reach that point I quenched the blade in vegetable oil that was heated to approximately 140 degrees.
The above process made the knife very hard but also brittle, so I tempered it in our home oven for two hours at 400 degrees for two cycles, allowing the knife to air cool to room temperature between.
Once that was done the entire knife had to be resanded to remove the carbonization and scale - byproducts from the whole heat treating process.
After that, I began working on the handle scales, which I used stabilized mesquite wood from Ezzell, TX. The scales were shaped via files and the 1” belt sander and affixed to the tang via two 1/4” brass pins and a two part epoxy. After curing for 24 hours, the pins were cut down close to the scales and everything was sanded and contoured, paying attention to the overall fit and finish. The last step was applying tung oil to the scales.
I really enjoyed this project, honing my skills further in metal and wood working, while breaking the ice on a new craft. If you’ve made it to the end of this post, Thank You!
Well…after all this typing, I can’t figure out how to post photos…
The knife started life as a flat piece of 1084 carbon steel, 12” long, 1 1/2” wide and .125” (1/8”) thick.
I drew several templates until finally settling on one. After that, it was rough cut to shape via 4” side grinder, hacksaw, a 1” belt sander and files.
The primary bevels were filed by hand, which took approximately 3 hours per side via use of my homemade bevel jig.
Holes were cut into the tang (handle) for the alignment pins, as well as a couple others holes used to give the epoxy a better bond.
The entire blade received an initial sanding at this point.
To make the metal a usable blade, it had to be l hardened via the use of wood burning fire in our chiminea. I had to employ a hair dryer (gives the fire more oxygen) to get the fire hot enough. I heated the knife to non-magnetic, which is approximately 1300 degrees, then went another couple hundred higher, which was a bright red color. Once it reach that point I quenched the blade in vegetable oil that was heated to approximately 140 degrees.
The above process made the knife very hard but also brittle, so I tempered it in our home oven for two hours at 400 degrees for two cycles, allowing the knife to air cool to room temperature between.
Once that was done the entire knife had to be resanded to remove the carbonization and scale - byproducts from the whole heat treating process.
After that, I began working on the handle scales, which I used stabilized mesquite wood from Ezzell, TX. The scales were shaped via files and the 1” belt sander and affixed to the tang via two 1/4” brass pins and a two part epoxy. After curing for 24 hours, the pins were cut down close to the scales and everything was sanded and contoured, paying attention to the overall fit and finish. The last step was applying tung oil to the scales.
I really enjoyed this project, honing my skills further in metal and wood working, while breaking the ice on a new craft. If you’ve made it to the end of this post, Thank You!
Well…after all this typing, I can’t figure out how to post photos…
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.......I don't make any!!
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