Thanks to the moderators/Making knives from files W1 W2

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William12

Joined
May 30, 2005
Messages
29
Goodmorning,

First, thank you to the vets that clued me into the enthusiastic rush I made into the forum. I initially came across as a billborad. Not my intention, and I thank the folks who explained to me what was transpiring.

Now, onto the technical stuff. I am using Nicholson Files (new) to try out my first few real blades. Pre heating them to a blue-ish color, then grinding and working them. have not gotten to the heat treating yet.

The reason for the use of te files is the immediate availability and ease of form to begin the initial stack removal. I know there has been a lot posted in the past about this subject, and I also know that a file is not the best material to use, but I am very limited financially. Using a small 1/3 hp grinder, files and whet stones.

Can someone give direction to me on how to do tis correctly. Having a hard time establishing a good solid flat bevel for the edge. Also, the file "markings" are very difficult to remove with the machine that I have, and I have heard from many people that these will cause stress risors and cause a real problem when final heat treating is applied.

One last thing, is water treatment the manner to treat a file and if so, can I selectively treat the piece to form a hard edge and springy spine.

thanks for the help. And thanks for the initial guidance on protocal. (sp?)

William
 
Hi,

I think you would be better of posting this in shop talk which is located here. I am sure one of the friendly moderators will be along shortly to move the post. There is a wealth of knowledge in the shop talk forum and I'm sure if you did a search for files you would find plenty of answers as well. Good luck!
 
William,

I have made some knives from files and find that for easier stock removal it's best to fully anneal them.

If you are flat grinding, you might want to try using your grinder to rough out the bevels and finish them by draw filing for more control. The bevels come with practice. There are some jigs out there, but practice is the real answer.

I edge quenched my file knives in oil with good results. Yes, you can do a differential temper.

I had a lot of knife making links saved on my computer and decided to put them on a web page to help new makers. There are a lot of good tutorials and information contained in those links. You might want to give them a look: http://gbrannon.bizhat.com/

Regards,
Greg
 
About a week or so ago I tried my first 'file knife'. I have inhereted a lot of older tools , some of those were rusted , worn out files.
So I took one and did a bit of research and used my "bbq forge" to anneal it.
Worked like a charm , part 1 completed. Next I ground out the shape I was looking for (small blade a hair over 3.5 inches). I should say my goal here was to make a usable knife in as little time as possible , not in a hurry , just a test. After the initial shape and blade angles were done I did a bit of sanding on belt sander to further wear down the file edges. , then back to the BBq forge , cherry red , non-magnetic , quench in oil and 2 bakes at 375 for an hour each. Thus far I had about 5 hours invested in the blade. After baking it a considerable amount of scale , some more time on belt sander , then I took my scale of Gabon Ebony and made my hole , got the blade pretty sharp , epoxied it into the scale and shaped it from there.
A few sessions here and there of polishing and here is my result with about 10 hours of work off and on for a week or so.
It looks fairly fugly but it's sharp as all get out, at first I didnt like it the ugly little bug but it has grown on me :D
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y157/rebeltf/truckandknives180.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y157/rebeltf/truckandknives184.jpg
 
Being new, it is hard for me to believe that other people are willing to help like they have been. I was bouncing around the internet begging for help, and found the forum. Know one pro personally, but the input from you other "fanatics" is really inspiring. It is also encouraging. I appreciate the input sincerely!

William
 
I made my first few out of files and broke ever one I tied to water quench, then I did a few in vegetable oil heated to 115 and got a really nice edge that has some flex to it.

Good Luck :D
 
Hard that w1 w2 were h2o hardening. All I have made have broken as well. I'll try it your way.

Thanks!

William
 
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