Post your improvised knife ideas and pics

That is a gorgeous friction folder in the link. I want that. I want to be able to make that. I own that video by Ron Hood, my favorite part is the improvised jam session they have at the end. Some cool music.

The thing you notice though is that both primitive knife makers have a fairly sophisticated set up. Alot of gear. Tai Goo is removing stock with an electric grinder.

At no point do they show how to put something together with really minimal or found items. In that sense I was really disapointed by the video.

If you ever saw the Hunted with Tommy Lee Jones or now I guess the new Rambo movie (didnt see it) they are able to come up with a knife on site. Hollywood right? But what about this skill as a valid wilderness survival/urban survival attribute? What is possible to come up with the least amount of shop gear, on site, using found materials?

I want to hear what you did. See what you made. Using only your own imagination and brain power and found materials.
 
shipwreck,

Watch it again, looking at Tim Lively's set-up, which uses zero electricity. And Jeff, Tai's apprentice, who improvised a backyard forge. Then, if you have Volume 10, you'll see how they improvised a primitive forge using only what they found in the wilderness, and based only on what they learned in the video. It's amazing. You have to examine the principles shown, and think out of the box. You have to experiment on your own. It's like dirt-time in the wilderness. Everything you need is there.
 
I get that you take the concepts and then you apply them on the most primitive level. An yes I realize Tim did it without electricity but there was alot of set up, alot of supportive gear. I didnt know about volume 10 , in that case I have to buy that because I want to see that.

You see if you set certain rules, like　limit your self to only using what you find on site, then you what do you do for a hammer? What do you use for tongs? what do you use for an anvil? What about a bellows? what do you use for knife stock?

Expand the rules and include anything you can use in your house it gets a little easier. like you use your electirc hair dryer for a bellows. Good way to kill a hair dryer so dont use your wife`s .　
 
shipwreck said:
I get that you take the concepts and then you apply them on the most primitive level. An yes I realize Tim did it without electricity but there was alot of set up, alot of supportive gear. I didnt know about volume 10 , in that case I have to buy that because I want to see that.

You see if you set certain rules, like　limit your self to only using what you find on site, then you what do you do for a hammer? What do you use for tongs? what do you use for an anvil? What about a bellows? what do you use for knife stock?

Expand the rules and include anything you can use in your house it gets a little easier. like you use your electirc hair dryer for a bellows. Good way to kill a hair dryer so dont use your wife`s .　
Click to expand...

Volume 10 will put the pieces you are personally looking for into place.
 
I don't have a pic handy - will post tomorrow - but I do have a knife that I made out of an old, worn out file. I made it years ago, no electricity at all. This is what I did:

1. piled up coals on a hibachi

2. got the coals red hot

3. put the file in the center of the coals

4. kept the coals going for a few hours, kept the knife red hot

5. let the ash pile on the file and the coals burn down to nothing overnight.

Next day...

6. filed off the teeth of the now soft file with a coarse file

7. drew a simple pattern on the blank steel

8. cut it out with a hacksaw

9. filed a rough edge with the coarse file

10. last bit of shaping with some 180 grit wet/dry paper on an old window pane

11. built the fire back up, more coals, knife red hot again

12 . quenched in old used motor oil

13. put it on a rackon the hibachi and heated it up for a bit to destress the thing, took about a half hour

14. sharpened it up, glued a simple wood handle on it (did a lousy job on the handle but it does work well and is still on there

15. cut stuff with it for next four years.

Easy as pie, took a weekend, no power required!
 
I am fortunate to live very close to one of the largest Obsidian flows on the planet. Conveniently, flintknapping is one of my favorite things to do and teach. I have harvested and butchered much game with just stone blades and points, and have crafted leather clothing, wood tools, minor surgery, etc. No need to mention how sharp stone tools can be when worked with some skill (my skill isn't great).
flintknappingjn8.jpg
 
this is some stuff I did before , like a fair while ago , couple years or so ..

Mostly it was not because of knives being banned but because its just near on impossible to find good abuseable knives here in Aus .. at least for my budget it is . I do not usually get along well with stainless ...

anyway , I wanted a longer than normal chopper , specificaly to get goat fodder for our dairy goats .. I could only buy the short soft machetes , chinese knock offs of martinadale jobs , so I thunk about it some and figured a leaf spring would do a good enough job for me , I happened to have a couple packs of 69 ford rear leaves laying around ...

I straightened it by just bending it back against its natural curve , simple , park a truck on it , and lift , move the truck back some , and lift , repeat , check for straightness and reapply as needed

then spent a few hours gently shaping the bevels with an angle grinder ... glued on the handles with urathane ( windscreen glue ) and presto , machete with a hand and a half handle custom fit to me ..

I made this in 99 , it saw 3 yrs daily use doing machete work , then it traveled in my car a while doing lever / prybar duty , now its done the last couple years doing axe / hatchet duty on the wood pile .
improvised1.jpg


this one is just one of the first all hard HSS power hacksaw blades that was recycled into a knife .. I was after a hard edge without the over brittle that can acompany a 60+ hrc blade all shaped with a hand held angle grinder , the handle is shaped with the same grinder but using a sanding disk instead of grinding wheel , result is a knife that a file will not touch , but has a blade that will take some serious flexing .. I put a section of saw blade in the vice and flogged against the flat of it with a small sledge to see if it was going to snap .. nothing doing , the vice came loose in the bench , that was all .

again , the handle is glued on with urathane , this time I wanted a method of fixing the handle that wasnt going to make any stress points , the glue is rubber its got some give , so when the blade is being flexed sideways , its over the full length of the blade .. thats my theory anyway , its about a 5 yr old knife

improv2a.jpg

improv2.jpg


THis one is just an early attempt at bashing one out using my forge and the anvil
I just never yet got around to putting a handle on it , I should , its a pretty solid blade ... one day Ill find a chunk of wood that inspires me to pull the ol finger out and finish it ..
improv3a.jpg

improv3.jpg


last one , I wanted something a bit tougher than the normal knife , a present for my bro .
I chose appropriate blade steel and cut the blank out with a hand held angle grinder

knifeblade.jpg


Glued on some pieces of firewood to make do as a handle :

handleson2.jpg

handleson3.jpg


hit the handle with a sander disk on the grinder and gave it some shape , a bit of sand paper to move the worst of the sander lines , and a splash of vege oil to make it a bit pretty looking

knifedun1.jpg


it worked out to be just what was wanted , a little knife that can do some tough cutting and still keep its edge be thumped thru car panels and still keep on cutting .

knifeduntest.jpg


Its improvised knives kinda ... I wanted knives that I couldnt buy , so I used what I had to hand to make some .

I reckon that Id do the same if I couldnt buy a knife due to govt legislation .
 
Myal, those look nice, I especially like the one you made for your bro, that "firewood" looks pretty good!:thumbup::thumbup:
 
I swear to God, on so many threads here, I look at what many members have accomplished, and I feel like a total wannabe. I am really impressed with the caliber of people we have here in W&S: both skill-wise, and character-wise.

I am so lucky to have started this little corner of Bladeforums, because I have met so many teachers here. You all rock. You make every moment spent here worthwhile.
 
The lid of a can makes a good slicer, cut it in half and use a wooden handle either knife style or ulu style. The by product contents can be eaten and the can used for cooking and as a cup.
 
This was an experiment I had a while ago. After reading all the great reviews of the Buck Hartsook, but thinking it was WAY too small to be usefull I gave these a try.

I had a pair of scissors with a cracked handle. The plastic, Fiskars type. Can't remember the name but they were USA made and stainless. I had broke the handle while cutting some sheet plastic that was a bit much for the scissors.

Instead of throwing them away, I thought I'd take them out to the bench sander and see what I could make of them. The hole was already there for the pivot. I just had to thin the blades, and reshape. One has a slight belly. The other is a wharncliff style.

They're convex ground and are a bit rough in the grinds but sharpened up to little razor blades.

mininecker1.jpg


After using them, I can see why the Hartsook is so well received.

Chris
 
In the book "Fear in a Handful of Dust" the characters are intentionally stranded in the Mojave desert to die.
They have no tools or supplies but the main character uses spent brass shell casings and fashions them into a cutting tool.

The book was by Brian Garfield writer of "Deathwish".
It was published under the name "John Ives".
Heres a plot synopsis of the book-
http://www.foxall.com.au/users/mje/Fear.htm

There is also an inferior movie version called "Fleshburn".
 
StretchNM said:
I'd buy more guns and ammo with all the money I saved not being able to buy knives (before they began banning guns). Then I'd use the lawnmower blades, the leaf springs, etc to grind a few of various sizes.
Click to expand...
Chances are a knife ban would only happen after they had seized/banned firearms.
Look at the situation in the U.K.
:mad:

Blaming inanimate objects for crime is just plain dumb.
Inanimate objects have no will or intent.
Without people to wield them knives and guns would just sit there and rust.
 
i think that a more likely sitation would be the end of the world and all factories would shut down...both pretty far fetched.

fun to think about though.

just for kicks last night i took a peice of that thin sheet metal that they put on the sides of computers (the CPU, not the monitor but the actual computer). i cut out a knife shape with the tin snips and then sharpened with a file, course/fine stone, and finished with a soft arkansas and a strop.

it gave me a very thin bladed knife with a decent edge that could scrape hairs. it would be great for food prep, but that's about it. the edge is about 1.5 inches long, and the handle is about as long. very uncomfy to hold in the hand. it sliced cardboard alright, and it shaved wood poorly but well enough to make shavings for a fire.

i am also have various knives (i call them shop knives, just junk knives to knock around abusing when i need to, scraping paint, light prying etc) ground from worn out recip saw blades, a broken shovel blade, whatever scrap metal i have on hand. they could do for various utility tasks if i needed. i might even be inspired to try heat treating them if they somehow became my only knives.

for defense purposes, i would not go with a knife. i would be more inclined to stick with a hammer on a tool belt or a nice heavy maple or oak club.
 
My brother and I used to make machetes/knives out of mobile home tie-down strapping. Reall low grade steel, good enough to beat back brush and that's about it. Also, I took a wooden baseball bat and ran it through the lathe and made a pretty decent wooden sword-type thing.

Other things that would work: glass (old tv screen is probably the best), cd's, credit cards, wood, scissors, fence pipe, cooking pans, stone, fireplace tools, screwdrivers, files, drill bits, old saw blades, leaf springs, sheet metal, corrugated steel, plexi-glas, braided wire cuts too, boat props...I intend to work this weekend on making some stuff with these kind of materials. I have a whole ton of junk at the ranch...
 
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