Want to make my first knife

S

Shadow44

Joined
Mar 5, 2019
Messages
19
so I stumbled in this forum 2 days ago and decided I would like to make my own first knife something simple
Any advice ?

I just picked up a chunk of steel goi g to go home and carve something out
Will post what I come up with.
I don’t really have any experience with metal. So if there is any starting point point me there. I watched a bunch of YouTube videos now I’ll try and have some fun
I’ll post what I come up with for the first cut/shaping.

Thanks
First post first knife :)



Edit:
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Edit:
After the first cut failed due to mild steel. The oroject shifted to a file knife until the 1084 steel arrives from knifemaker.ca and I figure out the entire forge situation

Here is the file project pics
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Yea either that or maybe attaching pics might be a perk for paid members, I can’t remember. Post your pics if you can. Flickr usually works well for me.
 
Shadow44 said:
I do not
I have Post Reply & More Options ...
Maybe I’m to new of a member :)
Click to expand...
Basic membership does not grant photo posting access...you will have to use a photo hosting service like"Imgur"...you can get a paid membership which will allow you to upload photo files...Paid membership has it's benefits!
 
open
I am trying something. Does this link to an image of the blade of a bowie knife? If it does then it is possible to use google drive to link to images.
 
Ok postimages.org is simple enough
this is the first cut @80 grit
A lot of improvement left
Should sand/polish out a lot better
I’m happy for first time working with steel
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Ok for heat treating
Why can’t I get anything heated up with 2 torches ?
Please help

Edit: I am able to heat a random peace of metal in this case I had a smaller bolt and it heated up in 3 minute
The knife blade was j there for 20 min and not a dent of colour change.
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Looking good for a first attempt. What kind of steel are you using?

As far as the heating goes, move the torch nozzles in and out of the hole until you find the place that heats up the interior the best.

Take another brick and close up some of the front if your forge, not all the way, but maybe 3/4 of the way. Let it heat up first, then stick the handle end in first. Let it heat up till it’s red hot (or close), then turn it around and heat up the blade.

Heat the blade up till it’s non-magnetic, then a shade or two hotter, then quench in oil. Canola oil ( or other veg oil) heated to 130 will work.

After the quench take a file and scrape it across the edge, if the file skates off you are good to go. Wash off the oil with hot soapy water and then temper 2 times for two hours at 400f.

Oh and before you do any of that, clean up all the scratches and and sand the whole thing up to a clean 400 grit before you bother to heat treat it.
It’ll be easier before you harden it.
 
The type of steel is unknown. I have ordered 1084 steel and it’s in the way.
This first knife however is just something I grabbed from princess auto
It’s flat peace 3/16 thick and all it said was cold rolled steel. I have a feeling that a smaller blade would have been a better choice for first project :)

Do I need to normalize before doing the quench?

I will attempt again tonight
Btw this is the finish I got it down to
After the first raugh cut in the pic above
This is at 600 grit.
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it is probably mild steel, and may not be able to be hardened. if you have any of the cut off pieces left from the original bar, you could try to heat treat/quench it and see if you can snap the piece in half in a vise cleanly with a hammer. even if it doesnt harden, its good to practice once before you get the real steel.
 
Even mild steel hardens a little bit and it's good practice for heat treating good blades
 
You must be in Canada if you are shopping at princess auto. The steel they have is mild steel. It won’t harden to useable knife hardness. 1084 is the best option you have in Canada. Rob and Marilyn at knifemaker.ca are a pleasure to work with. They have everything you need to make exceptional knives. For more speciality steel, I use Alpha Knife Supply. Let us know where you are. I’m north of Edmonton Alberta. Local smiths are typically quite generous with time and teaching.
 
My suggestion is to not over think and finish it then make another and another and another and learn to pin and do scales ect

As time goes on you will pick up stuff you want to look better.

The most important I could say for someone brand new is to make something and finish it
 
If you use brine for your quench, you MIGHT, get a tiny bit of hardness... maybe.
 
Yes I’m in Canada
I already order the 1084 from knifemaker.ca while that’s shipping I’m scrapping the first knife and making one from a file
It’s already shaped I’m currently fitting the handles from some oak.
I decided to make it in the hardened state. Took about 2 hours of grinding as the file is 7mm thick
 
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