want to make my own first knife but have only 2 types of steel

C

c1328chase

Joined
Nov 21, 2005
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15
Alright, as short as I can say it. I recently saw the movie the hunted with tommy lee jones. I like the part where they made their own knifes in the woods. A friend and I are going to try it. For starters all we have is some rusted steel off of an old tractor and plow. If we are any good at even shaping the blades we can get some 1018 mild steel from metal shop at school but that's about all the metal we have access to. What can I do to make this steel have good edge retention and corrossion resistance for making my fist knife. I'm going to make one similar to the Ka-Bar Warthog and gonna wrap the handle in parachute cord. If there is any recipe like one I saw earlier to quench the steel what is it. Finally what tools will I need. Don't have an anvil, got a hammer and channel locks or linesman pliers and gloves and glasses and that's about it. What do I need. I really would like to try to make this knife so that it lasts so maybe one day i can give it to my son. Please help, thanks a lot.

Chase Cullinan

P.S. Making stuff short isn't my strong point.
 
I made a 125lb anvil with 60-80$- so that shouldn't be a problem.
I'll post pictures tomorrow if you want, as well as instructions.

EDIT:
Stake anvil: $34
100lbs of cement(w/ small rocks): ???
Bench vise: $25
http://www.oldworldanvils.com/anvils/anvilstake_rect.html

I'm not sure how well a water quench will work with a blade... the general rule is stick to oil though.
You give steel edge retaining ability by hardening it, and then strength by tempering it- mild steel doesn't temper or harden in the quench.
How heavy is the hammer?
What are you making your forge out of?
Grinding will be cheaper and will normally yield better results on the first try, and all it takes is a sears bench grinder/sander
Read these links: http://gbrannon.bizhat.com/#top and http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showtopic=3872
 
hey man, welcome to knifemaker heaven. it was cool to see your post because the same movie got me into knifemaking. it's a pretty good 'un. i like the part where Hallum slides down the rope head-first... anyway, it kinda depends on whether you want to forge your design or just grind it. i havn't been able to get a forge/anvil set up so i can't really help you in that respect. but if you want to shape the knife by hand, i'd recommend a 12" bastard file w/ a handle, a 6-or so inch bench grinder, a corded drill and a hacksaw. with just these i made most of the tracker knife from the hunted. eventually i just got fed up with how long it was taking and spent $50 on a cheap 1x30" belt sander from lowes. if you can afford it, i think that the $50 extra is totally worth it.
good luck. :D :thumbup: :thumbup:
Alex
 
Where are you located?

1018, good for other things, NOT knives, I don't even make letter openers out of mild steel anymore. you're thinking of "superquench" and it does help some, but you'll be dissapointed with it. I quench everything in water, it works for me, but isn't for the faint of heart.

As far as making the steel into something that is rust resistant and hardenable, it's about like asking how to make lead into gold, there are chemical differences that won't allow it to happen (okay, so yes you can carbuerize mild steel, but that's way beyond the scope of this conversation, and wouldn't help stain resistance... so there)

Find someone close to you who makes knives, (remember the first question?) I'd be willing to bet there's someone within a comfortable drive, and some time in the shop with a maker will reduce the time you spend hitting your head against a wall.

As far as forging versus grinding, hey whatever floats your boat, I haven't seen the movie, but I don't think I've ever seen blacksmithing depicted accurately in a movie, bladesmithing even less so, don't let what you saw define in your mind what you should do.

oh, and use the search function, questions like this are asked every few days.
 
ok let me add a litlle detail, i don't want to use electric tools, at all, i won't my first knife to be a completely hand made knife, forge, i was expecting a fire with some gasoline for added heat, ummmm, ok then the metal i'm gonna use is just rusted stuff off of a tractor for the first one, and yes i do have a friend or my friends dad who lives about 20 minutes from my home and he is a metal worker and is about to get into bladesmithinging. i am from augusta georgia. um i think i answered most of the questions. umm if i forgot anyhthing repost and let me know.
 
oh hammer i was gonna use either the back of my hatchet or i decided i might get another big chunk of metal from the tractor that would weigh a good bit, umm about grinding, i'm only gonna do that do put the final edge on it how to i get the area right above the edge, uhhh, the part that narrows from the spine to the edge what do i do to narrow that down a little
 
Fire and gasoline... tell me if it works... it'd be interesting to see.

In the links that I provided- there should be forge making tutorials.

Do you plan on making a blood gutter?

Hand tools will also be a pain, but if that's how you want it- you'll need a 2-4lbs hammer, a forge that'll reach the upper transformation range, a file, a big chunk of flat metal, pliers, and some sandpaper. Please note that it'll take a deal of time, and you might not get it right on the first try.
 
gasoline is a bad idea. wood will work, but you'll need an air source for added heat.

Augusta Ga is pretty close to a number of makers, even if they don't do things the way you want to, watching them make knives in any fashion will help your learning curve. find someone who makes knives, not someone who's about to, he's in the same place as you are in this journey.

The plow blade will probably be your best bet for steel, be sure to brush up on heat treatment, most plow blades I've seen where simple carbon steels, and a light oil quench will be the safest, and easiest.

Don't use the back of a hatchet, get a real hammer, they're cheap, and you won't injur yourself.

The bevel is the part above the edge, again, the search function will help you out more than I could

hope this helps.

Tony
 
Crazy kids! Run away while there is still time. Chase girls watch TV, play video games, dont get knifemaking into your systems at this young age! Run away now!
 
Bruce Bump said:
Crazy kids! Run away while there is still time. Chase girls watch TV, play video games, dont get knifemaking into your systems at this young age! Run away now!
Click to expand...

It's great to be young ain't it. I still remember people calling me crazy for camping when it was 10 degrees outside at night. I once camped out in a pasture full of cows.....When I woke up the cows were laying by the fire and I had frost in my mustache.....I think it was frost....It could have been frozen cow chit....LOL!
 
ppl tell me i'm crazy but, i want to be a SEAL when i grow up and being in the woods is just what i love to do, i figure if i could learn to make my own knife by hand in the woods now, it would allow more time to practice and refine it and it would be an added step in training towards my career, i am already in the u.s. naval sea cadet corps and we have all kinds of training from field (which is like survival training) to SEAL training, i figured this would just be a great skill to be able to have, oh and btw, i chase girls, i have a beautiful girlfriend, i love tv, and am addicted to americas army on the PC, lol, i'm not a dork who needs a hobby, i'm just a guy who loves to learn, especially stuff like this and just try to learn to do as much as possible that makes me more self sufficient, check out my myspace www.myspace.com/chasecullinan i swear i'm no dork
 
If you love to learn,turn off the video game,switch off the TV,and get a few books on knife making.Watching a movie won't make you a knife maker any more than watching House will make you a surgeon.By the way,movies ( and video games) aren't real,what you saw was a compilation of a lot of power tool work,just shown to appear that it was done primitively.Read,visit another smith,Join the ABS.Also a search on this forum would have told you that 1018 was not blade steel.Gasoline won't raise the heat of a fire,but it could burn you and the woods down.I am sure in all that training you got on survival they taught you not to pour gasoline on a fire!I was a scout and a leader for 40 years,the reason they make manuals is to learn.I built my first forge from salvaged materials at age 11.With the right knowledge you can make knives with a hammer,something to pound on,a proper forge fire,files,and patience.You can get all of them but the knowledge and patience easily.Read some books.
I don't mean to sound hard on you guys,but if you want to learn a skill that you will use later in like to possibly save your life,then learn it right!
Stacy
 
OK Im convinced that you are sincere and I believe you arent a dork. Thanks for thinking of a military career at your age. Our country is free because of people like you that will fight for us. If you want to make knives just remember to not get obsessed with it like some of us. Remember what the most important thing in life is for yourself and concentrate on that. I also saw that movie "The Hunted" and thought it was cool that they made a knife in the woods but it was almost imposible to do that way. its just a movie. Stacy just gave some great advice on how to get started for real. Just make a couple of them and use them and be proud of them for a lifetime and then pass them down to your sons. Please hang out here, these people are among the finest you will ever meet. Welcome
 
Hey Chase!
Welcome to the forums. I got a good idea of how to start making knives from this link on Jerry Hossom's site.
http://www.hossom.com/tutorial/jonesy/
It really gets down to the basics and you can make a pretty good knife this way without lots of equipment.

Also get Wayne Goddard's "$50 Knife Shop". It has a lot of good information for making something out of next to nothing.

Give it a try!
 
About 15 years ago I watched some 16 year old boys making knives and swords both in a massive campfire and a backyard bbq as well using coal and coke they picked up along the RR tracks. They managed to find an old truck leaf spring and were using it. They had and old chunk of metal...dont know what it was...using it as an anvil. They used a big draw file to finish profile and also just regular stones...flat river rocks.

The blades were pretty neat...except that I couldnt convince them that they needed to harden and temper them....they looked at me like I was crazy!

Of course as a side note...neat as this sounds...these two were about the equilvalent of Beavis and Butthead...no kidding.....and one of them got busted grave robbing (with his sword) at the local cemetary. :barf:
 
The scenes in that movie involving knifemaking are THE MOST UNREALISTIC I COULD POSSIBLY THINK OF!!!!!

When I saw that I just shook my head in disbelief. The whole idea of what they did is just ridiculous.

Don't want to rain on your parade...but you need to disregard everything you saw in that movie if you want to actually make real knives in the real world.

Keep in mind, fat ugly guys always have skinny, hot wives on TV too. ;)

Use the search function here, and you'll learn a hell of a lot more than you need to get started with. :)
 
Nick, I bet I could make a knife in the same fashion Benecio made his :). I couldn't do it as quickly without my disk sander though ;).

Personally, you'll be much better off if you find a local maker who is willing to show you the ropes. Anybody can make a knife, it just takes a little determination. I think you should stick with a simple 4" drop point hunter for your first attempt, you're much more likely to have some success.

Good luck on your project.
 
Can we start a post/sticky with the hundreds of links on it? The master list will belong to the poster, and anytime some one posts another link- it get's added to the master list at the top?

Anyway

When forging a working knife, there are only a few neccessary things:
1. a heat source
2. something hard to hit with (normally a hammer)
3. something hard to hit (normally an anvil of sorts)
4. Hardenable steel
5. Something to sharpen the knife with
6. A quenchant

I've never seen the movie, but you can forge a knife using a fire, a source of air (bellow, a pipe that focuses your breath, the wind), a rock, another rock, and something to sharpen with. African metalsmiths used to do this.

Almost anything can be done with enough knowledge, will power, and common sense.

Edit: on a side not- the seach isn't working for me...
 
ok what should i use to as a quenchant, i want to forge my knife and that'll be my first approach, i was plannning on quenching in the creek, what should i use in lieu of the water
 
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