How To Transform saw blade to knife(The easy way)

[KnifeTrapper]

I'm 13 years old and I trap Lynx and Foxes. I needed some knives to skin them and I saw some old table-saw blades. They are small but big enough for a skinning knife. I started planning a way to make myself a knife without a forge(because I don't have one).
Tools:
-torch(small hand held - available at hardware stores)
-grinder
-belt sander(that could resist to metal)
-metal clamps
-small pliers
-gloves and safety glasses
-metal saw
-a drill with a bit the same size of the nails
Materials:
-1 saw blade
-2 nails
-5 minutes epoxy
-any wood
I drew the knife I wanted on the blade and then cut it with the grinder. Step 2, making 2 holes for the pins of the handle. Step 3 is to quinch your knife. It won't work because I didn't forge it. When you forge a knife, you heat it over a cherry red color and it gets your metal softer so you need to quinch it to get it back hard but it gets harder then it was at the beginning. Saw blades are not hard enough to make a knife so we need to quinch your knife but how? Clamp your blade and hold the clamp. Take the torch to heat Your blade. When you get a cherry red, heat it for at least one more minute. After, let it slowly cool down. Now, you are reaty for the quinch! Heat your blade the same way and then quinch it in old oil in a can of soup that you can get after changing the oil in your car or truck. Step 4, the handle!
This is my favorite part. Trace the shape of your handle but a little bigger in case of mistakes. Now cut it with a metal saw. Make your holes in your handle aligned with the ones in the blade. Now it's 5 minutes epoxy time. Put epoxy on each side of the handle part of your blade. Put your wood at the wright spot and use nails as pins, clamp it and let it dry.
24 hours later, cut the edges of the nails off. now form your handle the shape you want with the belt sander. Step 5, you can now sharpen your knife and your'e done.


My first knife ended up like this:

 

[Ken H>]

First of all allow me to say CONGRATS on your first knife. I made my first around mid teens almost 60 yrs ago. A couple of points, you might use a cooking oil called canola oil. Your Mom might have some. It tends to work better than old motor oil - that stuff stinks when heated {g}

You're running a trap line for fox and lynx at 13? My comments on your knowledge and work. What part of the world are you located? Looks cold with you standing in snow.

If you can heat the blade to cherry red, check with magnet to be sure it's actually hot enough (magnet won't stick to steel when hot enough). You've got a VERY good hand held torch (with 1 lb can of propane?) if it will heat the blade to a nice cherry red. If you get it just past non-magnetic, then quench in oil if the heat treating worked, you will feel a file skate without really biting into metal. Then you'll need to heat in oven around 400°F for a couple of hours to temper the blade.

Now, to that table saw blade you're using, does it have carbide tips? If so, the metal isn't very good at all for knife making.

Good luck - I'm sure other folks will chime in with better and more detailed info for you.

Ken H>

 

[Hengelo_77]

Cool knife
Use it fof a while. You may want to round the scales a bit

 

[REK Knives]

Very cool! Great to job on you're first knife, looks great!

 

[KnifeTrapper]

Yes, my mom have canola oil and I know that it's better but where trying to get our motor oil gone.
Sorry i'm not running a trap line for fox and lynx at 13, it's in my dad's private property. I'm located in Canada, Ontario in the north.
I know that magnet trick, I used it for my blade but forgot to tell it in the instructions. My torch is not very special, it just take a lot more time. First time,I made it with the torch but it was so long that the second time I used two torches.
No that table saw blade I'm using does not have carbide tips, It's an older one.

 

[Ken H>]

Sounds like you've got it pretty well covered. Just too cold for me waaay up in Canada. I grew up in north Alabama and it was too cold up there, so I retired to Gulf Coast where it's history making cold if we get snow!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I am with the others in congratulating you.

My first knife was made when I was about your age over 50 years ago. I used a bar of unknown metal from my grandfather's garage, a piece of deer antler, and nails for pins. My cutting, shaping, and propane torch HT was almost identical to yours. I still have it.

BTW, the word for cooling a knife rapidly to harden it is QUENCH (not quinch).

An additional bit of information:
Circular saw blades are generally not great knife steel. As pointed out earlier, the ones with carbide teeth won't harden at all. The steel ones are usually lower carbon chromium steel. This is a good steel for the circular saw blades, but won't harden properly with your HT method.

If you want to make a knife out of good knife steel that will harden properly with your simple method, try 1075 or 1084. I would gladly send you a piece big enough for a new knife project. I'll toss in a set of nice handle scales, too.