Knife making

[CAH]

Anybody ever made a knife? I have been looking at vids on youtube about knife building with just a 1x30 belt sander and a DIY forge. Seems pretty easy to do just gotta buy the tools to do it.

Anybody attempt it? My goal for the year is to build a knife and use it to dress a deer this fall.

 

[Hoghead]

Talk to fenaor he makes some good knives.

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[WoodBow]

I have made a number of knives from old circular saw blades. No need for a forge. Cut them out with an angle grinder. Refine the shape with files or a sander. I would recommend heating them up with a torch to remove the hardness before grinding the bevels if using a file or a 1x30. Get everything profiled and then reheat to non magnetic and quench in oil. Anneal in an oven at 400 for 2 hours. Slap some scales on it and sharpen it up. Old worn out files work good too. Just more material to remove.

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[Pn8hall]

I starting making some using stock removal method about a year ago. Started with an old craftsman 2x42 belt grinder and moved to a 2x72 grinder after 2nd knife. Speed control is a must for me. I am outsourcing the heat treat to simplify things as well. It is a lot of fun for sure. You can see in the pictures my fit and finish has gotten way better on them. For me one of the hardest parts in being precise drilling pin holes even with a drill press. Easiest way to start in my opinion is stock removal method and just get after it. The green canvas micarta handled one is 1st knife I made and you can see the pin placement is off. The last pair are my most recent xmas presents for uncles that are Green Bay Packer Fans.

 

[CAH]

Where do you send it to to heat treat? You guys think I should start with saw blades? I want something that will hold an edge long enough to get through a full deer.

 

[Pn8hall]

I use Jarod Todd heat treating. As for holding an edge there are quite a few variables to consider such as blade geometry, sharpening angle, and rockwell hardness but main one is type of steel used. I personally prefer a stainless blade but many prefer carbon steel. I chose AEB-L stainless to start with for its balance of edge holding and ease of sharpening. Its also very price friendly. This year I was able to get thru 2 deer completely dressed and quartered and part way into a third before edge needed a touchup. There is tons of info out there on steels and I am no expert for sure. I think a lot of people start with files and saw blades because they are easy to find for free and easy to heat treat yourself. If you have any mild steel flat stock laying around you can practice cutting and shaping with that to get a feel for things. It will never make a finished knife but there again its a cheap way to get practicing. You will mess up a few pieces along the way but thats part of fun.

 

[feanor]

I started in the same boat as you a couple years ago. I wanted to make a knife to skin an elk. Then I got addicted to knife making haha. I started like Pn8hall with a 1x36 and suffered through several knives before making a 2x72. I go to Jarrod Todd for HT also. And yes AEBL is an excellent stainless to start with ( if you prioritize stainless). Good info from everybody above.

 

[svivian]

Find a custom knife builder near by and ask to spend a day with them watching how they do their stuff. You will learn alot and get more hands on then watching Youtube. You will also know what tools you'll appreciate and which ones you dont need as much. A 72" belt grinder would be on the top of my list if you are looking into making your own. It makes life alot easier.

 

[Mountainman11b]

It seems a bit intimidating when you first look at it but it’s pretty easy.

You can make due with a cheap 1” belt grinder from harbor freight, and an angle grinder and some files

Steel selection will be where a lot of your edge retention will come in. 1095 will be one of your easiest steels to heat treat at home. You can built a small oven with some fire bricks and MAP torch and you can manage to harden it. Just get it hot enough that a magnet won’t stick to it, try to hold it at that temp for a few minutes, quench it in some oil, then toss it in the oven for a while and you’ll be good to go.

The exact process, times and temps for whatever steel you choose can be found online. If you’re going to send it out to get heat treated, I’d go with one of the super steels. I use s35vn and I’m pretty happy with it, I gutted, skinned, quartered, and butchered three deer this past year and didn’t notice a decrease in cutting. I still hit it with a strope after the third just bc I was putting it up.

 

[Te Hopo]

I have wanted an Ultralight hunting knife for a while now but couldn't stomach the prices for some of them.
It'd been a few years since I had made a knife but I still had a piece of 12c27 so I got the old belt sander cranked up and ground it, used multiple files to hollow the tang then wrapped it in cord.

The plastic sheath is just temporary until I get round to moulding up a kydex one.

 

[Wilderness Spirit]

I have been making knives part time for eight years now .
I heat treat some steels myself and also use Peters’ Heat Treating .

 

[svivian]

I have been making knives part time for eight years now .
I heat treat some steels myself and also use Peters’ Heat Treating .

wow those are nice

 

[Wilderness Spirit]

wow those are nice

Thanks, I appreciate it.

 

[svivian]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

May i ask where you are sourcing your handle materials?

 

[Wilderness Spirit]

May i ask where you are sourcing your handle materials?

Mostly from USA knifemaker and Shadetree composites.

 

[CAH]

Mostly from USA knifemaker and Shadetree composites.

How do you make the kydex sheaths?

 

[Wilderness Spirit]

How do you make the kydex sheaths?

Nothing fancy, just heated and formed in a kydex press .

 

[AKSandman]

Yes, made many a blade. Limited forging, mostly stainless and stock removal. Look up Knife and Gun for materials and pops supply or true grit for belts and consumables. Don’t know if they are still around, but Sheffield supply had the highest quality budget steels (no powder steels) for a long time. If you can get an account with Boss Heat treating you have struck gold. If you are interested in an actual professional resource for learning, look up Jay fisher. People who make knives are a dime a dozen these days and although they may have some experience, learning from a true professional that understands metallurgy will take you up a few levels in quality. For ease of learning, you can’t go wrong with working 440c stainless with a cryogenic quench (Boss HT does this) or 1095 with an at home oil quench and kitchen oven temper.

Good luck!

 

[hereinaz]

Making knives, stock removal with a saw blade is easy enough. If you take is slow and don't overheat the knife, you can do it without a heat treat. You really need to know the steel to know how to do the heat treat. Concrete saw blades are what I have used with many a Boy Scout group.

You can buy the pieces parts from a knife supply place, and starting with a known steel, it will be softer and easier to work, then you can send for heat treatment.

PM me your address and I will send you some pieces of band saw blades and some concrete saw blade pieces if you want something to practice on. I've made some really nice and really sharp blades with it before.

If you are looking to make yourself a coffee can forge for heat treat, I have the wool, burner and stuff for that. When I was in Boy Scouts years back, I had 4 or 5 little coffee can forges going for the scouts, with hammers and Harbor Freight pliers for tongs. We made flint and steel striker knives out of garage door springs.

In fact, I have a partially finished forge made out of a commercial freon bottle as I think about it.

Happy to help you set that up if you want.

 

[CAH]

Making knives, stock removal with a saw blade is easy enough. If you take is slow and don't overheat the knife, you can do it without a heat treat. You really need to know the steel to know how to do the heat treat. Concrete saw blades are what I have used with many a Boy Scout group.

You can buy the pieces parts from a knife supply place, and starting with a known steel, it will be softer and easier to work, then you can send for heat treatment.

PM me your address and I will send you some pieces of band saw blades and some concrete saw blade pieces if you want something to practice on. I've made some really nice and really sharp blades with it before.

If you are looking to make yourself a coffee can forge for heat treat, I have the wool, burner and stuff for that. When I was in Boy Scouts years back, I had 4 or 5 little coffee can forges going for the scouts, with hammers and Harbor Freight pliers for tongs. We made flint and steel striker knives out of garage door springs.

In fact, I have a partially finished forge made out of a commercial freon bottle as I think about it.

Happy to help you set that up if you want.

That is awesome! I am just getting into knife making and am loving the process of learning. Bought a 1x30 belt sander from harbor freight to learn on. I’m having a blast putzing around inmy garage.