Solid steel knife

[Nathan the Machinist]

Thanks for the response- I really appreciate it. I was checking out this site looking to learn something/read reviews while knife shopping, and never really had any intention of posting (I'm not really a huge knife guy). But I guess I tend to get carried away browsing- and your work just blew my mind and it got me curious how you managed to do it. I've had a little experience in a machine shop for some specific applications, but I've never had a chance to do anything so complex- not to mention the 2.5 axis CNC mill I've used becomes somewhat feeble-minded beyond 2-axis mode, and requires an inordinate amount of coaxing to properly execute a complex CAM program...

Thanks. Personally, I think that integral that Karl forged takes the cake:

I think the transition from the handle to the bolster to the blade is amazingly well executed, as is the overall design and finish.

 

[David Wesner]

Oh my, oh my, oh my :thumbup:

Is that ever a Beauty Karl !!! Fantastic work. All of them !!



And Nathan .................... your Dagger is AMAZING !!

I can't wait to see her finished :thumbup:

Oh..... BTW, .......... when it comes to machining ?? I'm pretty sure you've already forgotten more than I'll EVER know



Charlie & Harry Mathews , GREAT looking Hunter !!



This thread is full of some really beautiful Integrals !! Beautiful !!

I guess the answer to metalmeltr original question, " Has anyone ever machined a knife from solid steel? " would be a great big resounding............. YES !! :thumbup:

 

[Keith_H]

I thought that that knife was a Sfreddo? Beautiful none the less.

how do you get that pattern on your blades? BTW not sure if i have enough patience to get real big into forging.

They are done by folding different bars of steel together. The first one with the 6 pins had patterned damascus welded together side by side to get that effect. Im not sure how the pattern on the second one was done exactly.

It would be tough to do those without really getting into forging. You can buy pattern welded steel in bars, but to do an integral the stock removal way would just be too much imho. Unless you got somebody else to do a rough forging to be milled out.

 

[GHEzell]

Yeah, that's a Sfreddo, I was drooling over that one about a week ago on his site... fantastic turkish pattern, isn't it? I don't think Karl ever implied that he made it, but was simply posting nice examples of integrals by various makers.

I love forging one piece, self-handled knives, I'd estimate at least 1/3 or the knives I've forged were of the one-piece type (likely because I enjoy forging much more than handle fitting, and I can keep the price very low compared to even a simple wood handled piece).

 

[tmix]

Here's one I made awhile back. It started as a solid, 2" piece of D2 bar. It has a hollow handle and a threaded cap(not shown), a-la Chris Reeve. His knives were my inspiration. (yeah I know I copied his idea, but it's such a good one.)

 

[rashid11]

Integrals are cool. However to mill one, you need a decent mill - starting at least with Sieg X3 -> RF 45 -> BP -> 3 ton Cinci . Having a super rigid setup + at least 1.5HP at the spindle helps a great deal, so does ability to plunge mill first and clean up later. Side milling is no fun on smaller mills.

I always leave nuff metal around the perimeter to be able to grab the bar till I am done. Then you can saw it off.

Now if you're good with 3D CAD and have a 5-axis CNC, sky is the limit , most of us are still hand cranking them X,Y & Z , while eyeballing where it is cutting, squirting some cutting oil and trying to avoid hot chips fusing to one's face .