- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
- Messages
- 1,528
First practice stock removal 
So, we've been kind of dead off and on in the auto shop at Sears the past few days....no surprise, people are shopping for gifts not working on their cars. Well, the other night, I was bored out of my mind and decided to try to find something to make a knife out of.
After searching the shop, I found a piece of 1/4" thick steel about 1.5" wide and 7 or 8" long stuck in behind a piece of conduit and looked as if it had been there for years. (later confirmed at least 10 years by one of the guys who works there).
I sketched out a quick drop point design and set about my task of cutting/grinding away the excess. No small task considering the lack of appropriate tools. We have a bench grinder, but its a pansy variable speed unit. No drills or drill press, no hack saws....AH, I managed to find an old Milwaukee sawzall with a nearly used up blade. A guy I work with, and I, took turns being shook to death trying to cut away the excess. Then we ground on it some but every time we tried to put any force to the piece the grinder would stall. Well I went home shortly after that and later I got a text with a pic showing the knife had been cut out. My partner cut slits in the steel and broke them out with a pair of vice grips then ground off the excess. Nice
.
Over the next couple of days I worked on it, off and on, with a couple of files I found, draw filing the thickness down, making the preliminary edge bevels, tapering the spine to the point, etc. I cut some jimping into the spine for the thumb to push against. Today I brought it in and another guy I work with helped out by starting the plunge lines and doing more filing. Then he started sanding on the blade (but it was too soon since I needed to finish out the plunges with a round file) So, I did that and took it home with me again to remove stock down to the depth of the plunge.
As it stands now, I have one side filed down, the other side is next. Amazingly, it's nearly perfectly balanced. Or, it was till we started more stock removal on the bevels. Now its a tad butt heavy but should even back up after pin and lanyard hole is drilled and maybe a couple extra for good measure.
The 2nd guy who helped out, has a small forge he built to tinker around with. I'm going to have him heat the blade to non magnetic and then edge quench the blade in oil to heat treat it. Then I will temper in my toaster oven (old one! ) and work on finishing. I figure this is a safe heat treat considering we have no idea what kind of steel it is. If anyone can offer up a better suggestion, I would be very glad to hear it!!
Wood for handle scales will be bocote that was given to me by a forum member (whom, I can't remember off the top of my head).
Pictures are forth-coming as soon as the fiance gets home with the camera. Sorry I don't have pics of the steel when it was first started. This project grew into a bigger deal than I expected...I was just playing around to see if I had it in me to hand make a blade...apparently I do.
So, we've been kind of dead off and on in the auto shop at Sears the past few days....no surprise, people are shopping for gifts not working on their cars. Well, the other night, I was bored out of my mind and decided to try to find something to make a knife out of.
After searching the shop, I found a piece of 1/4" thick steel about 1.5" wide and 7 or 8" long stuck in behind a piece of conduit and looked as if it had been there for years. (later confirmed at least 10 years by one of the guys who works there).
I sketched out a quick drop point design and set about my task of cutting/grinding away the excess. No small task considering the lack of appropriate tools. We have a bench grinder, but its a pansy variable speed unit. No drills or drill press, no hack saws....AH, I managed to find an old Milwaukee sawzall with a nearly used up blade. A guy I work with, and I, took turns being shook to death trying to cut away the excess. Then we ground on it some but every time we tried to put any force to the piece the grinder would stall. Well I went home shortly after that and later I got a text with a pic showing the knife had been cut out. My partner cut slits in the steel and broke them out with a pair of vice grips then ground off the excess. Nice
.Over the next couple of days I worked on it, off and on, with a couple of files I found, draw filing the thickness down, making the preliminary edge bevels, tapering the spine to the point, etc. I cut some jimping into the spine for the thumb to push against. Today I brought it in and another guy I work with helped out by starting the plunge lines and doing more filing. Then he started sanding on the blade (but it was too soon since I needed to finish out the plunges with a round file) So, I did that and took it home with me again to remove stock down to the depth of the plunge.
As it stands now, I have one side filed down, the other side is next. Amazingly, it's nearly perfectly balanced. Or, it was till we started more stock removal on the bevels. Now its a tad butt heavy but should even back up after pin and lanyard hole is drilled and maybe a couple extra for good measure.
The 2nd guy who helped out, has a small forge he built to tinker around with. I'm going to have him heat the blade to non magnetic and then edge quench the blade in oil to heat treat it. Then I will temper in my toaster oven (old one!
) and work on finishing. I figure this is a safe heat treat considering we have no idea what kind of steel it is. If anyone can offer up a better suggestion, I would be very glad to hear it!!Wood for handle scales will be bocote that was given to me by a forum member (whom, I can't remember off the top of my head).
Pictures are forth-coming as soon as the fiance gets home with the camera. Sorry I don't have pics of the steel when it was first started. This project grew into a bigger deal than I expected...I was just playing around to see if I had it in me to hand make a blade...apparently I do
.
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