My knife builds

[NRA4LIFE]

Very nice. That second one with the camo handle would be the hot-damned skinner of skinners.

 

[rifletuner]

Very nice. That second one with the camo handle would be the hot-damned skinner of skinners.

Thanks mate

That knife is living in the USA now, so hopefully it gets some game processing use in the upcoming hunting season.

 

[rifletuner]

Another full tang puukko finished. The blade on this one is 4 inches long, so about an inch longer than the last one I made. The steel is 2.5mm SF100 with a saber grind. The handle is black and orange G10 which I textured after glue up, with G10 pins & lanyard tube. Contrast on the handle colours is not quite what I was after, but it was a bit of an experiment. The texturing turned out pretty well for the first time I have tried it. The black kydex sheath makes it a pretty light weight package for the hunting pack. Should hopefully be a good user in the bush.

 

[MightyMatt]

I've never seen the G10 pins before. I like how it adds another layer of contrast! Great looking work. The red pins on the black handle looks really sharp on that boning knife. I've got a friend that lives in Arkansas that is a custom knife maker. I think he would agree that your putting out some nice work.

 

[808hoghunter]

That second one you made is a great profile… I like how you put your own spin on it and did not try to do an exact copy of hfb.. my HFBs get put to work a lot on axis deer .. I bet yours is killer as well …cheers

 

[MightyMatt]

Also on the topic of G10 pins, Have you noticed they hold up as well as metal pins? I understand that the scales are also glued to the blade and In theory should hold on their own so what is the main reason you chose to use them over say brass? Is it more for cosmetic reasons or is there an actual structural reason?

 

[rifletuner]

I've never seen the G10 pins before. I like how it adds another layer of contrast! Great looking work. The red pins on the black handle looks really sharp on that boning knife. I've got a friend that lives in Arkansas that is a custom knife maker. I think he would agree that your putting out some nice work.

Thanks mate. Appreciate the comments. Those G10 pins have worked well for me so far. They seem pretty strong, and the size and colour choices definitely give some additional variation to the handles.

 

[Chuckybmd]

Wow! Excellent work!

 

[rifletuner]

That second one you made is a great profile… I like how you put your own spin on it and did not try to do an exact copy of hfb.. my HFBs get put to work a lot on axis deer .. I bet yours is killer as well …cheers

Thanks mate I'm a fan of Andy's work, and definitely not trying to rip him off. That knife probably has more positive feedback than anything else I have made.

 

[rifletuner]

Also on the topic of G10 pins, Have you noticed they hold up as well as metal pins? I understand that the scales are also glued to the blade and In theory should hold on their own so what is the main reason you chose to use them over say brass? Is it more for cosmetic reasons or is there an actual structural reason?

The G10 has glass fibres running through it at well as the resin. So the combined package of the pin through the handle, the handle material itself and the G-Flex epoxy I use for the glue up makes for a pretty strong combination.

I once put on a handle I wasn't happy with one an early knife. I decided to remove it and reangle the knife. It took me about 2 hours to get the old handle scales off the knife and get the steel back to the point I could re-glue up the handles. And the old handle ended up in a thousand pieces in the process.

But having said all that, when I make a bushcrafter or something made for potentially really hard use, I add Corby bolts instead of G10. If nothing else, I like the idea of the mechanical lock from Corby bolts in that application.

 

[rifletuner]

Wow! Excellent work!

Thanks

 

[MightyMatt]

I really like the build along threads and would be interested in seeing the step by step as you go. I have been wanting to make it down to my buddies place to see how its done but haven't been able to make it happen yet. He apprenticed under Jimmy Lile when the Rambo movies were being made and actually got to be a part of helping build the Rambo knives used in the movies. I thought thought was sweet to be part of. He also has one of his own that's a tribute to the original Rambo knife. Its a hobby I would like to get into some day but have way too many irons in the fire already right now. Would you mind posting some pics of the different models you make and a little bit about them? I would be especially interested in seeing your bushcraft knife.

Thanks, Matt

 

[rifletuner]

I really like the build along threads and would be interested in seeing the step by step as you go. I have been wanting to make it down to my buddies place to see how its done but haven't been able to make it happen yet. He apprenticed under Jimmy Lile when the Rambo movies were being made and actually got to be a part of helping build the Rambo knives used in the movies. I thought thought was sweet to be part of. He also has one of his own that's a tribute to the original Rambo knife. Its a hobby I would like to get into some day but have way too many irons in the fire already right now. Would you mind posting some pics of the different models you make and a little bit about them? I would be especially interested in seeing your bushcraft knife.

Thanks, Matt

Hey, working with Jimmy Lile would have been awesome. Thats really great experience

 

[rifletuner]

Okay. So at the request of MightyMatt, I am going to add in a buildalong post here. I will Edit it as I get more photos to try to keep is all together instead of it getting spread through this thread. I might have to rethink that as I build it up if there is a limit to how many photos I can add to a single post.

Anyhow, just a word about my background, my knives, and what drives the designs. I am a life long hunter, though mainly self taught. I have a lot of memories of camping trips with the family when I was young, but my interest in hunting was something I developed myself. I started hunting in my late teens, developed a lot in my 20s, and started hunting internationally in my late 20s - early 30s. I have hunted deer in Victoria, pigs and goats in New South Wales, pigs in Queensland, and buffalo in the Northern Territory. I have hunted elk & mule deer in the USA, and also shot some wood chucks & prairie dogs. I have hunted plains game in South Africa, Namibia & Zimbabwe, and Cape Buffalo in Zambia. I briefly hunted deer in New Caledonia.

I began making knives around 2016, but only very sporadically, then started to get more serious in 2019. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and during 2020 we became the most licked down city in the world, so I had pretty much nothing else to do except for making knives. That was definitely one of the main thinks that kept me sane during that period.

When I became interested in making knives, it was really driven by knives in their role as a tool for hunters. Eating the game I kill is a big part of what I consider a lifestyle, not a hobby or a sport. So when I started making knives, I was (and still am) very focussed on the practical application of knives as tools for hunters. Early on I decided I wanted to use stainless steels primarily, just for the ease of maintenance. I have been experimenting with the design of hunting knives and also kitchen knives, and definitely still learning about what works and what doesn't.

I am also still learning a lot of the technical details about making knives, handles, etc. The following is how I currently make a knife from start to finish. This process has changed as I have learned more and added new equipment. And I expect it will continue to change as I learn more and keep adding more new equipment.

Step one: Steel

I dont forge steel, I make knives by stock removal. That simply refers to using commercially available steel, and removing material to get the finished knife. The steels I have used to make knives so far are: Sheffield SF100, Sandvik 12C27, Bohler-Uddenholm AEBL, Bohler-Uddenholm Elmax, CPM NitroV, CMP 3V, CPM S35VN, CMP Magnacut. These vary somewhat in the qualities of toughness, edge retention, corrosion resistance and abrasion resistance. In a general mix of these qualities, the steels are rated along the lines of:

Bottom tier includes SF100, 12C27, AEBL & NitroV. Note that when I say the bottom end, I dont mean bad or inferior steel. These steels make great knives and they tend to be easier to work with, especially during hand sanding.

Middle tier includes S35VN & Elmax.

Top tier includes 3V and Magnacut. Its worth noting that while 3V is more rust resistant than carbon steels, its not classified as stainless. 3V is a very tough steel, and the more abrasion steel I have ever encountered.

I use steels in thicknesses from 2.5mm to about 5.5mm, but most knives I make are in 2.5mm to 3.5mm steel. I use the 2.5mm steels for gutting and boning knives & for light weight general hunting knives. I also use 2.5 and 3mm steel for kitchen knives. I use 3mm to 4mm steel for heavy duty hunting knives, bush crafters, etc and the 4mm plus is for specialist knives like heavy duty camp knives.

So when making a knife, I select steel and the thickness required, then trace out the knife pattern onto the steel. Some patterns I have a wooden template, and others I just have a paper template. I cut the knife out of the steel with a band saw, or an angle grinder. In the photo below there are some pieces of steel and some knives that have been cut out with an angle grinder. I prefer to use a band saw, but I broke the only band saw blade I had last week, and havent replaced it yet.

I do the next bit of coarse shaping of the pattern on the belt grinder with a 50 grit ceramic belt. I do this step at pretty high RPMs until I get right up to the edge. Just trying to take off steel as quickly as possible at this stage. The steel gets pretty hot at this stage, so I keep dunking it in a bucket of water to keep it at a reasonable temperature.

To get into any curves, I flip the grinder on its side and keep shaping with the 50 grit belt.

The edges are pretty rough at this stage, so I clean them up with a 120 grit belt, then a coarse scotch brite belt to polish the finish a little.

During this process a lot of steel gets moved. This is my bench right below the belt grinder.

Edit 6 June to add part 2

Once I have the knife shape ground out, I need to drill holes and do any other steps where I modify the steel before heat treat. Once its gone through the hardening and tempering cycle, it is very difficult to drill a hole, and practically impossible to file it. So I need to think about how I want it to look when its finished and set it up accordingly at this stage.

Depending on the individual design, I will drill all the pin holes in the tang to the appropriate size for the pin I am planning to use, and in many I will drill more holes to reduce weight in the tang to balance the knife. On some that I will taper the tang, I wont drill out more holes as the taper will reduce it enough.

In the below photo I am filing in some gimping on the thumb ramp of the blade. On this knife its the last step before heat treat. The file I am using here is made to file in the pattern, so the line spacing is built into the file.

I often rough grind the bevels at this stage, but sometimes a blade can warp during heat treat. So this batch of knives I am getting heat treated before grinding the bevels and will do the whole edge post heat treat. I will also taper tangs post heat treat.

I dropped off a few blanks for heat treat and hopefully will get these back in the next week or so. I dont have my own heat treat oven, and the guy I use is local to me. Knife makers from all around Australia send their knife to him for heat treating. One of Australia's best knife makers has used him for 40 years and I am luck enough that I am just a 15 minute drive away from him.

Outsourcing heat treat when I first got started was a huge advantage because a good heat treat oven is very expensive, and it meant I could use stainless steel right from the outset.

 

[MightyMatt]

Thanks for diving into the documenting of the process. I would guess this adds a lot of extra work on your part but I find it interesting as hell. I would guess a lot of guys that work with their hands for a living would. I would think you get into the zone and have to mentally make a note to stop, clean up a little and take pics so I really appreciate you taking the time to do so! Do you do your own heat treat or do you send it out? My father-in-law does flint knapping so another form of knife making albeit an older form but I pick his brain all the time too. Again, thanks for taking the time to document the process. I will be following along as well many others in sure. I plan to eventually dive into this art some day.

 

[rifletuner]

Thanks for diving into the documenting of the process. I would guess this adds a lot of extra work on your part but I find it interesting as hell. I would guess a lot of guys that work with their hands for a living would. I would think you get into the zone and have to mentally make a note to stop, clean up a little and take pics so I really appreciate you taking the time to do so! Do you do your own heat treat or do you send it out? My father-in-law does flint knapping so another form of knife making albeit an older form but I pick his brain all the time too. Again, thanks for taking the time to document the process. I will be following along as well many others in sure. I plan to eventually dive into this art some day.

No worries. Its a bit of time to write it up. Hard to know how much detail to leave in. I will cover all the steps, its just a matter of not having too may photos. I did some of the next step yesterday, but was rushed so forgot to take pictures. I will update the post with next steps soon.

 

[Clarktar]

Dang! Makes me want to get a good bench belt sander and give it a go!!

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[Folgrim200]

Have you made any bowies?

 

[rifletuner]

Have you made any bowies?

Hi mate. Only a couple at this stage, but something I will be working on more. The most recent bowie style knife is a modern bowie in post 5 of this thread. I have just started working on another modern bowie last week. Right now its just a profiled bit of steel waiting for heat treatment. There is a photo of that in post 34.

The knife below is a bowie I made about a year back. It is Sandvik 12C27 steel with Richlite handles, a thin red G10 liner and silver corby bolts. I bought the handle material at a knife show because it looked like a nicely figured piece of Birch wood, but once it was ground to shape and sanded, it just looks beige so it was a bit of a dissapointment. This knife not as well finished as some of my later knives, but it turned out okay. The sheath in the below photo was made for me, not one I made myself.

 

[rifletuner]

Update to add part 3 - steel post heat treat

I have all the profiled blades back from heat treat. These have all been heated to temperature, air quenched, and tempered by the ovens. They all Rockwell hardness test around 60HRC. As you can see in the following photo, they have a grey looking "scale" on them out of the heat treat oven that has to be round off. I use a coarse surface finishing belt for this stage, because the scale will dull a good grinding belt.

Now these are back, I need to grind the bevels. I did the rough grind with an 80 grit ceramic belt, then once the edges thin out, I switch over to a 120 grit 3m cubitron belt. I take the edge own pretty thin - typically 100 thousandths. The three below have been ground to that point.

These blades still need a finish grind and then hand sanding, but I have to taper the tangs first. I remove some steel to make the tapering easier which is in the photos below

While I still have square edges on the tang, I need to drill the handle scales. If I try to drill holes once the tangs are tapered, then the holes wont line up due to the angle change. I have already cut the handle material to a rough size and CA glued the liners onto the handle material. I use the knife as a template to drill the holes. Before I glue up the handles, I will show more on the handle shaping.