Knifemaking

[DaveBr]

So guys what kind of knives have you done so far? What methods have you used?

pics would be great

Dave

[dave budd]

I ticked the 'from scratch by smithing' since that's what I do full time :lol: Though I have (and occasionally still do) make from scratch by stock removal and on one very early occasion have handled a bought in blade.

it's evolution, not rocket science ;)

[Tony1948]

The kind of knives I make I call Bushcraftknives.I started with files, heat them in a wood fire over night then grind them flat then the work begines,when you are satisfied reheat your blade in a forge to the rite temp. To see some of my atempes go to WILDSTAR3 PHotos on flickr or click on my forum picture and follow the links.

[Ashley Cawley]

I ticked the Made from scratch by smithing as it's something I have done recently; however not successfully :(

I was inspired by a lovely little whittling blade Matt had; made by Dave Budd I believe. I saw it's merits and liked that it was smaller than my normal Mora carving knife, so I thought I'd have a stab at making my own.

I took an old file, heated up the triangular tang that normally goes into the handle and then cut it off, I beat the blade and tang, shaping it until I was happy. Had a bit of Eucalyptus lying around the garden so I decided to burn the tang into the wood, later fixed with epoxy and the handle shaped nicely to my hand, sharpening on the waterstones I had it near to shaving-sharp, when... crack! The blade snapped and I was enlightened as to what an amateur I still am at knife-making. :ashamed:

Balls'd up the heat treatment (too brittle), you live and learn!

It'd been a good while since I'd tried my hand at knife-making, reminded me nicely that I need to pay more attention to the heat-treating :( .. I'll post up some photos if I get a chance.

[bigzee]

I've played about with 3 or four attempts over the last 15 ish years,thinking it would be simply woodwork "with a metal bit", but with no decent success. You need to be properly genned-up on mettalurgy to have satisfactory results, and all I can remember from school was quenching in water for hardness, or whale-oil for toughness, and a bit about tempering.

No you can't see pictures - they're awful!

[Notredame11211]

I have handled a few Mora blanks, but that's about it

[dave budd]

:evilgrin: heat treating is easy:

1) get it hot
2) get it cold
3) get it warm

simples ;)

although the more accurately you do those steps, the better the results :happy-clapping:

[Realearner]

I have just started with a file in the fire and annieled it. Made basic shape then been busy on other bits so there it awaits it's completion. Will post pictures when finished regardless of state, even if in various bits.

[CanadianMike]

I've made about two dozen knives so far, most from flat stock and used stock removal, but I did actually forge a couple knives from files by hammering to shape, then cleaning up. One turned out great til I tried to reheat from tempered and quneched it again, amazing cracks formed, then learned from Dave Budd here the trick to it, anneal three times then heat treat. Hehe, thanks again Dave! Did it to one knife I knew I heated too much then tempered, a few months later redid it and it turned out just fine.

[bigzee]

:evilgrin: heat treating is easy:

1) get it hot
2) get it cold
3) get it warm

simples ;)

although the more accurately you do those steps, the better the results :happy-clapping:
Aha -exactly, how hot is hot? And what shade of red for each application (cherry/orange etc.) Trial and error - if you've got plenty of stock, or if you haven't then get someone like you to teach I suppose?

[dave budd]

that's why I run courses mate ;) Although you can cheat and use a thermocouple and base the temperature on the spec that the steel manufacturer gives you :happy-clapping:

[stemo]

I started making knives using a home made forge, or should i say a firepit and my wifes hairdryer. I have now cut the top off a 7kg gas cylinder, drilled a hole in the side and welded a short piece of tubing onto that. I lined the cylinder with some ceramic blanket andmade a shelf with fire brick. A weed burner that runs off a large gas bottle is placed through the hole on the side, and there you go. The heat generated in no time at all is fantastic. I intially bought some 01carbon steel from ebay, expensive but the guy who sells them provides you with a colour chart and temps so you can more acruatly judge when you have the correct hardness on areas of your blade. Anyway i will send some pics soon.

[Tony1948]

I thought the thing was to heet it up till the magnet dosant stick to the metal ,then put it in your warm oil.Then cook it in the oven for 2 1/2 hours Done.

[stemo]

Yes true for the first but in order to get a fexible and hard at the same time it is good to heat your knife during tempuring to a purple colour and then a wee bit more until you let it cool slowly, i find this really works well, but if you are forging keep your out for the colours because they come and go fast.

[stemo]

check out swc knives he is selling an e book with knife models from his woodlore days, very good templates. only 3 quid

[CanadianMike]

I do it, heat til dull red and non-magnetic, then quick quench in oil a second or so each dip fo about three, then submerge the blade fully and move around til it stops complaining, let cool, wash with dishsoap to get the oil off (read to not let the blade fully cool before moving to the oven, but if it's covered in oil when you to temper, it's a serious pain to get the cooked oil off, so likely they were using a water cooling steel), then temper for an hour at 375F in my shop toaster oven, let cool fully, then temper again for another hour. Makes the knives really tough and managable (since I prefer to finish the bevel when hardened and tempered, better finish than when working it annealled), without being too brittle or soft.

Regarding the "purple temp", Wayne Goddard and others use a torch to soften the back til blue while keeping the edge cool, makes for easy differential hardening of the blade. Havent tried it yet, but my approach makes tough blades, enough to baton through hardwood logs without issues, so figure that's good enough for me.....so far! ;)

[stemo]

I really like the idea of just heating the back of the knife with a blow torch, think i will try that next go round. Mike what do use to create your bevel and dont you find it hard to work after its hardened? This is a great thread guys, really interesting on how others go through the process.

[CanadianMike]

I have flat and thick chunks of wood that have had sides cut at angles (half the total bevel I want), then screwed in steel cups to hold 3/4" rare earth magnets. I just slide the blade along the belt grinder table and take off steel perfectly.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/251510_117672514983953_117036668380871_154745_4010 278_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/252912_117912991626572_117036668380871_156511_5602 464_n.jpg

I do about 2/3 of the bevel before heat treating, but I find the annealled state of O-1 to be kinda soft (like sanding aluminum) and I don't get teh sharp edges or control I feel I get when hardened, so sometimes I just do half the bevel depth then HT.

[Adam Savage]

Seems a lot of people get confused between hardening and heat treating/tempering. I've only made a couple knives myself, both using from stock removal (they are posted somewhere on the forum), but the second was mild steel, so had to attempt case hardening. I must say it didn't seem to turn out completely successful. A little soft still.

[CanadianMike]

Hardening is making the steel hard and brittle like a file, tempering is heating at a lower temp and making it softer by a bit, and controlling the hardness. Seen a guy (on a website) actually make blades from a fresh file without annealling first, he doesn't use gloves so when it's warm to his hands, he quenches in water and continues, after all the belt grinding to shape and bevel, he actually goes straight to the oven to temper, because the steel is already heat treated (hardened). Quite the opposite of all I've read and practice, quite fascinating though!!!

[Adam Savage]

That does sound interesting. Not sure if I would try it though. I'd probably end up just making life hard for myself lol.

Here's what the ever knowledgeable wiki says...


Tempering is a heat treatment technique for metals, alloys and glass. In steels, tempering is done to "toughen" the metal by transforming brittle martensite or bainite into a combination of ferrite and cementite or sometimes Tempered martensite.


Hardening is a metallurgical and metalworking process used to increase the hardness of a metal. The hardness of a metal is directly proportional to the uniaxial yield stress at the location of the imposed strain. A harder metal will have a higher resistance to plastic deformation than a less hard metal.

[Reaps72]

I have re-handled my fold-away saw & my axe!

25372538

The saw cost £2.50 with cheapo crap plastic handle, re-handled using the original shaft from my axe (hatchet size!)
The axe re-handled to fit my arm length as a small forest axe 'pit to palm' with an oversized ash shaft (bought in) for a felling axe. I wanted the shaft to feel chunky in my grip!

Then decorated by branding with a logo I came up with to represent me & my initials.
Next on my agenda is making a spoon knife, research started!

[Adam Savage]

I have re-handled my fold-away saw & my axe!

25372538

The saw cost £2.50 with cheapo crap plastic handle, re-handled using the original shaft from my axe (hatchet size!)
The axe re-handled to fit my arm length as a small forest axe 'pit to palm' with an oversized ash shaft (bought in) for a felling axe. I wanted the shaft to feel chunky in my grip!

Then decorated by branding with a logo I came up with to represent me & my initials.
Next on my agenda is making a spoon knife, research started!

Nice work mate, a lot more "traditional" than the nasty plastic handles.

Adam