Knife From A File

[CanadianMike]

I've been using my 3" belt sander (you know the hand held power tool type) which is great for polishing up the flats, but a little tricky for the bevel I find. Could do with a bench grinder really, as well as the 1" belt sander. Oh well, can't have everything lol.

I have one of those too, really doesn't work well. The belt sander kicks a bench grinder's butt any day, more and faster material removed, slower to heat up. Love it!!

[CanadianMike]

Now that's a knife!!! Laughed when I read your comment at the end, it did look more like a kitchen knife to me as well. Hehe

[Adam Savage]

It'll kick ass in the kitchen I hope haha.

[Ashley Cawley]

... If you enjoy this project, buy a cheap 1" x 30" belt sander, it makes a massive difference in working the steel.

Yeah - that's been on my list of things to get for ages!

It's looking great so far Adam, well done.

... I'm just hunting for a cheap wok to make the forge from now. Will keep you posted with any progress.

If you want something quicker/easier to do that job you could always achieve the same with a blow-torch.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah - that's been on my list of things to get for ages!

It's looking great so far Adam, well done.

Thanks again buddy.

If you want something quicker/easier to do that job you could always achieve the same with a blow-torch.

Would that get it hot enough?

[Ivan]

Hey as anybody seen my old file ? i was sure i left it in the fire !!

No seriously good job Adam looking great mate , cant wait for it to be finished , and see it in the flesh , and if its any good you give it to me , so as i can tell people i made it !

[Adam Savage]

LOL, it may well end up in your hands, as I made the tang quite short, if it's too uncomfortable to use with my big hands, it might be ok for smaller, which means Katie will be stealing it off of you haha.

[tinkers]

love what you've done so far and looking forward to seeing the finished knife, i've always wanted to have a go at making a knife as i've never been able to find exactly what i want, so i think a little more reading up on tempering and different grinds and i think i'll have a go, if you got any links to any suitable reading material i'd be gratefull.

tinkers

[Adam Savage]

love what you've done so far and looking forward to seeing the finished knife, i've always wanted to have a go at making a knife as i've never been able to find exactly what i want, so i think a little more reading up on tempering and different grinds and i think i'll have a go, if you got any links to any suitable reading material i'd be gratefull.

tinkers

The best video for a novice like myself, I found was GreenPete's on the main Natural Bushcraft website. http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/ki...ade-forge.html Which got me off my behind and have a go.

Finished constructing the forge today and hardened the steel (I didn't have any engine oil, so used hypoid gear oil instead), tidied her up, tempered the steel with the trusty blow torch, attached the scales again, bonded them in place, gave them a quick sand over and oiled them with veg oil. here's the finished blade. It's not as pretty as most, but it takes a darn good edge and feels right in the hand.





And here is the BBQ wok I used for the forge, bought from Tesco for £5 and already had holes, even though there were a little too many of them (I had to fill it with charcoal to get it up to temp, as the holes needed restricting)...



And the components of the forge laid out ready (and yes that is a 2200w vacuum lol)...

[tinkers]

thanks for the link crazysaint222, i've just started to download the torrent file for the vid its a touch over 4 gig so i will take a look later on when its finished downloading, by the way the finished knife looks great, love the thickness of the back of the blade, it looks bombproof and it'll be great for splitting wood.