Utility single bevel from file

[mav17]

I want to make a single bevel small utility knife to use at work from a small file I don’t use any more. I was thinking to go for any of these 2 shapes...

I’ll be cutting it tonight, please comment ano pros or cons you see on any of them. I’ll post the final result and comment whether I found it functional or not.

Thanks!

 

[Maineiac1]

I cant see your picture but I have a small EDC blade I make and for myself I tried a chisel grind on it. Started with .125" stock and brought the bevel on one side up to about .50" with a 25 degree microbevel on a .015" edge thickness. I will not be making any more chisel grinds unless requested because I hate the way it wonders during cuts or is always getting pushed one way. The upside is you can lay the blade on the flat side and do some cut flush against what your resting on. If you want a chisel single bevel because you are told it makes the blade "sharper", then I would recommend just double bevels to a more acute angel (overall angel to be the same as if it were single bevel), unless you want a marking knife that is..

 

[Maineiac1]

This is the one I made, the back side is flat, no bevel..

 

[mav17]

This is the one I made, the back side is flat, no bevel..

What material did you used for the handle? The whole knife is gorgeous! Thank you for sharing.

 

[mav17]

I cant see your picture but I have a small EDC blade I make and for myself I tried a chisel grind on it. Started with .125" stock and brought the bevel on one side up to about .50" with a 25 degree microbevel on a .015" edge thickness. I will not be making any more chisel grinds unless requested because I hate the way it wonders during cuts or is always getting pushed one way. The upside is you can lay the blade on the flat side and do some cut flush against what your resting on. If you want a chisel single bevel because you are told it makes the blade "sharper", then I would recommend just double bevels to a more acute angel (overall angel to be the same as if it were single bevel), unless you want a marking knife that is..

At work I mostly cut open cardboard boxes, pneumatic tubings, plastic wrapping, etc...

Right now I’m carrying my Gerber Remix fine edge and I love it, but I also take it hunting and I don’t like to mess with for work, so I figured I could make something that suit for work and keep my Remix for my personal activities.

 

[Maineiac1]

What material did you used for the handle? The whole knife is gorgeous! Thank you for sharing.

They are just listed as a composit. Pretty much like pure alum lite resin with color swirls. I got them off eBay as a test piece when I orders some Micarta. I really like it as it works/finishes easily and is very tough. This knife is on my hip daily and has been for over 6 months. Steel is O1

 

[mav17]

Ok so I went for a cleaver like form.

 

[mav17]

And here it is after cutting and grinding the contour. Ready for bevel grinding.

 

[mav17]

I’m very happy with the result although I ruined my grinding stone

Whatever steel files are made of, it is way more aggressive on my tools than the 1018 I tried last time.

 

[mav17]

Here it is beveled.

There is a ton to do before I dare to say it is finished. But I like the way it is turning out to be.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

" … Whatever steel files are made of, it is way more aggressive on my tools than the 1018 I tried last time. …"

That's because the file is hardened to Rc 65 or more, and the 1018 was probably Rc 40 or less.

If you weren't really careful in grinding the bevels, you probably ruined the temper and it will have soft spots on the edge.

Generally, people anneal the file, grind the shape, then re-harden and re-temper it for RC 60. This is covered in the stickys and in past threads titled "making a file knife".

The procedure for making a file knife is pretty basic:
1)Heat the file to dull red and let cool slowly in vermiculite or ashes overnight. Then you should be able to saw/drill/grind/file/sand the blade.
2) Once shaped and beveled, leave the edge about half the thickness of a dime.
3) It is now ready for HT. Heat to non-magnetic, then a tad higher ( around 1475-1500°F), then quenched in a gallon of 130°F canola oil.
4) After the hardening, it is immediately tempered at 450°F , twice for an hour each, with cooling to room temp between the tempers ( just run the tap water over it for 60 seconds).

Depending on how good your simple HT was (and what the file was made of), the final hardness should be between Rc 60 and RC62.
With a HT oven, the hardness would be Rc62 to Rc63.

 

[Maineiac1]

Very cool! Turning out nicely. As Stacy said about HT, I would have tempered it and then planned on reheat treating it. On a grinder like that it’s very easy to overheat the steel. Looking great though

 

[mav17]

" … Whatever steel files are made of, it is way more aggressive on my tools than the 1018 I tried last time. …"

That's because the file is hardened to Rc 65 or more, and the 1018 was probably Rc 40 or less.

If you weren't really careful in grinding the bevels, you probably ruined the temper and it will have soft spots on the edge.

Generally, people anneal the file, grind the shape, then re-harden and re-temper it for RC 60. This is covered in the stickys and in past threads titled "making a file knife".

The procedure for making a file knife is pretty basic:
1)Heat the file to dull red and let cool slowly in vermiculite or ashes overnight. Then you should be able to saw/drill/grind/file/sand the blade.
2) Once shaped and beveled, leave the edge about half the thickness of a dime.
3) It is now ready for HT. Heat to non-magnetic, then a tad higher ( around 1475-1500°F), then quenched in a gallon of 130°F canola oil.
4) After the hardening, it is immediately tempered at 450°F , twice for an hour each, with cooling to room temp between the tempers ( just run the tap water over it for 60 seconds).

Depending on how good your simple HT was (and what the file was made of), the final hardness should be between Rc 60 and RC62.
With a HT oven, the hardness would be Rc62 to Rc63.

Thanks! I wasn’t aware of that, still I was extremely careful when grinding both the contour and the bevels, I only used hyflex gloves and was able to hold it thought the process. And cooled in thin oil every pass in the grinder, it never turned black or anything I spent some good 8 hr grinding the bevels on an 8” grinding wheel and didn’t applied much pressure to avoid heating.