OT: Recycled a couple of old files over the weekend

Sylvrfalcn

Sylvrfalcn

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Jun 4, 2002
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Time on my hands this weekend, between producing empty bottles for a local home brewer, and plunking arrows downrange with my longbow. So what's a fellow with a couple of old rusty files and a grinder to do? Well, got a "buckskinner" buddy who's a bad influence, so I wound up making an 18th century belt knife and flint striker.
The knife has a six inch, semi-convex blade, and handle slabs of Honduran rosewood, with solid brass pins. Them odd looking bits on the "strike-a-light" pouch are coyote claws, the medicine wheel is beadwork. The flint striker turned out well after some heating and beating. Got the hardness dead on, throws a good, hot, spark.
The files were given to me by a friend, another friend donated the leather, and yet another friend the coyote claws, so I've personally got about five bucks tied up in the whole rig. Good to have lots of hobbies, even better to have lots of friends. Money might make the world go 'round, but friends keep it from tipping over. ;)

Sarge
 
Congratulations Sarge!

Truly great work :thumbup: !

How difficult will be for a “green – completely – immaterial – to – the – subject of knife making” fellow but with tons of willingness to learn, to make a knife like this :confused: ? I live in Athens, Greece where knife making is something no one knows anything about it so; in reality there is nobody who could direct me about this subject.

Any advice is appreciated :) .

Thank you,

George
 
George,
It doesn't take a whole lot of equipment, but it will take you a bit of trial and error your first time making a knife from scratch. Do your research (the internet's a great place for that), figure out what kind of knife you want to make, and how you want to make it, then start scrounging your tools and materials.
The reason I use old files for blades is because they're cheap, readily available, and they're a known quantity. By that I mean most good quality (avoid el-cheapos) metal cutting files are made of high carbon tool steel (W1), hardened to around 69 RC (I temper them down to 58-59 RC).
But files aren't the only thing you can use to make a blade from. Old hand saw blades will work. So will power hacksaw blades (any machine shops around?). If you've got a Dremel with a cut-off wheel, you can even cut a good knife out of an old circular saw blade.
Use your imagination, experiment with whatever you can get your hands on, and for your first few projects start small. A three inch blade paring knife may seem uninspiring, but it's a good way to "get your feet wet" and learn the basic tasks involved. Besides, if it turns out nice, it would make a fine gift for any friends or family that like to cook.


Good luck, and have fun,
Sarge
 
Sarge

Thank you for your reply. I have heard from other people as well that they use quality old files to make knives. However I don't know what is it exactly that I am supposed to do to (like you pointed out) "temper them down to 58 - 59 Rc". In other words, what do "annealing", "hardening", "case hardening", "tempering", "quenching", "selective heat treatment" mean? When would I apply what? These are questions I need to find the answers to. Of course I don't expect you to explain all these terms to me. I understand that I have to do my homework.

I also understand that it has to do the type of steel someone is to use as well as the intended use of the knife to be made; so, to keep things simple and take one step at a time, let's say that I was to use an old file, should that be a metal or a wood cutting file?

After that, how do I lower the hardness and how do I estimate the hardness I will arrive at after the treatment? How many cycles should I apply? Is there like a rule of thumb about how big the file should be in comparison to the blade length of the knife someone wants to make out of it?

Thank you for your time in advance.

George
 
Nice work Sarge...

Bruise taught me how to spend my weekends, so I mostly loafed around.
 
You might try www.anvilfire.com for an overview of metalworking techniques, and some answers. If you're staring out, take a look at Sylvrfalcon's last project, -a nice set of carving tools made with inexpensive works. Before you learn too much, get to hammering on a hot forge, not everyone likes it as much as they think.
 
It's amazing using recycled materials and scrap can be turned into with just a little bit of knowhow and elbow grease.
 
Hammering hot steel and losing myself in the whirr of the grinder is therapeutic for me. Here I am retired, and my squadron, who were training and prepping for another Afghanistan mission, just saddled up a team to go to Louisiana. They'll be using the mobile satellite communications and radios that we normally use for controlling air strikes, to help provide better command and control of the growing number of military fixed and rotary wing aircraft being used in the recovery. The lieutenant who gave me a heads up on the deal made the comment, "Sarge, they could sure use a guy with your experience". Bless him for saying that. Damn :(

Sarge
 
Thanks Cliff,
Yup, Gaboon Ebony, polished to a high gloss, is fairly indistinguishable from polished horn. I bet that's some sweet looking knife, how about a pic?

Let me tell you something about Nicholson files. Mr. Nicholson is one of the, if not the, founding fathers of mass produced metal cutting files. He developed machinery that would produce a far more inexpensive file than the ones previously available, while at the same time insuring uniformity and consistently high quality in the tools he produced. I pick up a lot of different makes of rusty old files at flea markets and such, but you hand me a Nicholson (especially the "holy grail" a thirty something year old stamped Black Diamond on both sides), and I can guarantee you a blade that will cut shavings from a six penny nail and still shave hair off your arm after a light stropping.

I've attached a pic of my latest knife next to my "Shanker" made Kumar Karda for a size comparison. My ham handed photography does no justice to the beautiful grain of that Honduran Rosewood. Knife turned out pretty good. The thin (just a whisker under 3/16") blade slices tomatoes like a breeze, but is still stout enough that I was able to split up some 2x4's (using a baton) into kindling size pieces. Good little belt knife for some old timey "woods running". :D

Sarge
 
I'm lucky enough to have two of Sarge's file knives in my kitchen, and there's not a day that goes by that they don't get used. Got Henckel's, Sabatier and Forschner chef's and paring knives in varying sizes, but they just aren't nearly as handy to use.
 
Great stuff, Sarge. You've certainly got a knack for this.

For those who don't know, one of Sarge's earlier posts (the "Po Boy Puuko") got me interested enough to make a puuko out of an old file. He's got a wealth of knowledge.
 
Kewl! :cool: :D Nice work as always.:D

Man I'd love to have a fire lighter like that one!!!! :D :cool: :D
 
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