Shaping by Hand

Ken Cox

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Dec 11, 1998
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I have a water-jet equipped machine shop here in my community that can cut a blade blank from my CADD drawing, and they will do it for a very reasonable amount of money.

This now tempts me to try and shape the already cut blank using a vise and files.
I imagine other people have tried this.
Any comments on the practicality of hand filing a one-off blade?
Will I hate myself half way through the project for ever having started it?
Things I should know?
Thanks.

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Luke 22:36, John 18:6-11, Freedom

 
It'll take quite a while, especially if you have another life to take care of, and can't devote hours and hours every day to work on it. But it will probably be one of your favorite knives, ever.

Surprising how much metal removal is involved in putting a bevel on even 5/32" steel...

My $.02, having done "Amish Knifemaking" since I started a little while back. This is why I'm primarily finishing blades right now, instead of building from scratch. Even working the wood with nothing but hand tools takes some time. But every piece is a one-of-a-kind, that's for sure!


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One little nuclear holocaust can REALLY hose your bowling average...
 
Ah, sir, this is a subject i know of!
smile.gif
I am a maker, part time and low production. 95% of my blade work is pure muscle power, and after several years of doing this I must say that i have gotten used to it, but it is a lot of work; not as many hours as you might think, but concentrated effort that leaves you with sore arms and raw hands. I do FORGE my blades to about 80% finished as far as form goes, so this helps. (If I were doing a stock removal blade I would start with some thinnish stock, no more than 1/8 inch.) Start with profiling the blade with hacksaws, and files. this is the easy part. then start on the flats of the blade with a 12 or 14 inch double cut file. this is where you gert sweaty. Then drop down to a 8 inch double cut file, then a 8 inch single cut file, then a 6 inch single cut file, then stone with coarse side of a cheap two grit silicon carbide stone, then the fine side, then 220 wet/dry silicon carbide paper. Now you are ready to heat treat. After heat treating, back to 220, then 320, 400, and 600. that's as fine as i go, and believe me after all this it will look like a perfect mirror polish to your weary eyes. the up side of all this is that you get to uncover all sorts of subtleties in the blade form that otherwise you would miss. all this sweat sling toil should take about three hours on a small blade, say 5 inches long, stick tang. good luck.
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Ken,
As long as you use good sharp files it shouldn't take you that long to file the blade. My brother, Phillip, has done dagger blades by draw-filing the entire blade. They turned out great.

You might be surprised at just how much metal you can remove with a sharp file.

Barry
 
only advice i can say is, buy the best files out there. don't use those 15yr old files that can't cut anything, trust me it'll take you at least 2 hours longer with a small blade.

[This message has been edited by magnum .44 (edited 17 December 1999).]
 
Based on my experience start with thin stock. I would also recommend just a single edge rather than a double or false edge. I started one by hand - my first knife. It was out of 1/4 inch O1 and double edged. It was a pain in the a@# to hacksaw to shape and alot of metal to remove to get a bevel. Never did finish it.

Regards,
Glenn
 


You mean there are other ways to make a knife other than files?
smile.gif


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KSwinamer
 
I feel strongly encouraged and yet daunted by everyone's reaponses.
Barry Jones very kindly sent me a photo of a leaf shaped short sword or heavy dagger which his brother Philip Jones made by draw filing.
I will post the picture here on Sunday unless Barry protests.
I have begun to think I can do this, and especially so if I have it cut by water-jet first.
I appreciate Fox Creek's description of his process and would like to hear more from anyone who has done something similar, particularly about what kinds of files to use and anything and everything about how to use them.
Thanks.
Pictures on Sunday.

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Luke 22:36, John 18:6-11, Freedom

 
Wolfgang Loerchner files all his blades and
everything on them. I watched him do one when
I was at his Bayfield show this pat august.

Tim

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Tim Herman
visit Herman Knives at:
Herman Knives

 
I am fairly new to knife making and have
done most of my blades by hand. Doing
them by hand is a lot of work but very
rewarding. I think this hand method
helped a great deal when I move to using
machines. My favorite blades are the
still the ones with the most sweat in
them.
 
How do you feel about puukko grinds, Ken? If you get the blade profiled with the water jet, doing a puukko grind on that wouldn't be too much work with a file -- much easier than a full flat grind.
smile.gif


Look at www.bladerigger.com for some inspiring examples of puukko ground blades that are not traditional puukkos.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
why don't you have them cut the edges on the water jet cutter? the'd be amazingly accurate. then hand rub, drill holes and your done.
 
Cougar, I visited the Bladerigger site.
Could you expound on the puukko edge as you mean it?

Magnum .44, I'll talk to the water-jet people and find out how much they can actually do.

Barry, I will.
I have everything I need.
Thanks for the phone number.

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Luke 22:36, John 18:6-11, Freedom

 
sounds good, most likely they can do that. my dad saw a water jet cutter that cut out the harley davidson sign, from a block of aluminum. it would reduce the amount of work you have to do, the flats would be perfectly flat. and your finish would be easy becuase you could start at a pretty high grit, like 220, or maybe even 320.
 
A draw file is a good tool for roughing a blade flat.

I file some of my art blades to shape.


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Take a look!!!
New web at <A HREF="http://www.darrelralph.com

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[This message has been edited by Darrel Ralph (edited 19 December 1999).]
 
For those of you who file blades by hand, what steel do you find is the least difficult to work with?

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For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23


 
Darrel, I especially liked the Wopper Chopper.
Can you tell me something about it?

Philip Jones hand filed the blade in the picture below.
Nice blade and nice photo, too.
View


...and I only had to try five times!
Anyone coming in late will wonder what Phillip's post means.
I sized this down from the picture Barry and Phillip sent me.
It looks even better full-sized.
Who took the photo?
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Luke 22:36, John 18:6-11, Freedom

[This message has been edited by Ken Cox (edited 19 December 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Ken Cox (edited 19 December 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Ken Cox (edited 19 December 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Ken Cox (edited 19 December 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Ken Cox (edited 19 December 1999).]
 
Ken,

The photo shows up as broken but you can right click on it and it takes you to Photopoint.com. Right click it then click "view image".

The blade is 10 inches long out of 440c 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches wide. It took a few hours to get it done but I was sure that I would have screwed it up had I ground it on a machine.
Sometimes the quickest way is not the best way to go.
My advise to you is to not use the water jet method. You will get more satisfaction out of doing it yourself with your own two hands.


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If a man can keep alert and imaginative, an error is a possibility, a chance at something new; to him, wandering and wondering are a part of the same process. He is most mistaken, most in error, whenever he quits exploring.

William Least Heat Moon
 
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