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Thread: My first knives.

  1. #1

    Default My first knives.

    Just yesterday I finished my first-ever handmade knives. They are Christmas presents for my 11-year old son and my son-in-law.

    knives.jpg

    The design, and most of the method I used, came from an Instructable. Just before I started to actually make them, I did a little more research, some from here and crashdive123s posts, and discovered that I was basically going to do everything wrong. I have several old, all-steel circular saw blades, and was going to use them for the knife blades. I found that everyone who seems to really know anything said that was a bad idea.

    Well, I had trouble finding a local source of steel, and I hate to pay more for shipping than for the item, and I'm pretty freakin' broke, so I just used them anyway. Considering that most cheap knives have crappy steel, I figgered these'd be at least that good, so I did a Doc Brown and said, "What the hell?"

    I used on of those little Smokey Joe round barbecues and scrap wood for a forge. I used a Horrible Fright heat gun for a blower. I normalized the blades (heated to transition temperature and let cool slowly) three times, then hardened them with a motor oil quench. I tempered them in our kitchen oven. They did harden. When I was making the handles, I had to enlarge the holes in the tang (made them slightly smaller based on one guys method of attaching with dowels, and found that to be a problem). I had to try and remove some of the hardness from the handles to get the bit to drill out the hole from 7/32 to 1/4. I actually just burned through it eventually, because I didn't want to take a chance of changing the heat treat in the actual blade.

    I had rough-profiled the blades by hand, but I finished them using this contraption that I built (from a suggested YouTube video):

    contraption.jpg

    I also used it to sharpen them (which is what it's really for anyway). I went up to 1000 grit sandpaper. They aren't "scary sharp" (like I'd really know what that is anyway), but they make a nice slice through paper, which is more than I can say about the knives in my pocket. That will change as soon as I put them on my contraption.

    I'm pretty happy with them. They aren't polished. I went after them with a series of sandpapers, but could only get so far. You can still see some file marks on the back part of the profile. But, without sounding too arrogant, I think they're pretty dang good for a first shot.

    Just wanted to share them with y'all because this forum has been pretty encouraging for me. Merry Christmas!
    "The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." Capt. James T. Kirk


  2. #2
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Those came out fantastic. I'm sure that your son and son-in-law will treasure them.
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  3. #3
    Senior Member randyt's Avatar
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    awesome job!!!!!
    so the definition of a criminal is someone who breaks the law and you want me to believe that somehow more laws make less criminals?

  4. #4

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    Thanks.

    I'll be mining your posts, crash, for more knowledge for my next shot at it. It was an enjoyable project.
    "The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." Capt. James T. Kirk

  5. #5
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    If you have any questions just ask away.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Nice job, John. Those are first rate!

  7. #7
    Senior Member el-amigo's Avatar
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    Very nice job, congratulations!
    Everybody has a different way to view the world...

  8. #8
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    They came out nice...like the design.

    Nice work...
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
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  9. #9

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    Much grass, y'all.

    I copied the design. I'm not very original.

    My daughter says they look like shivs. She's got a point (unintentional pun).
    "The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." Capt. James T. Kirk

  10. #10
    Senior Member Antonyraison's Avatar
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    Very nice, came out decent, similar to the way I made my knife.
    here is how mine turned out ( if you want to see)
    knife1.jpg
    knife2.jpg
    Also made up a jig to profile the blade edge.. just a ton of work by hand and files and a hack saw..
    Last edited by Antonyraison; 12-27-2017 at 01:47 AM.
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  11. #11
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    I haven't found anything particularly wrong with mine that I made from a circ saw blade. It's not going to be used to hammer through any nails so it'll hold an edge long enough to accomplish a cleaning or skinning chore. I've got another one in the works (I had to put it off because life happened, again...) for a fillet knife. I've got to add some metal onto the handle part as most of the width of the saw blade was used for the fillet blade. I think it will make a nice fillet knife because the steel is thin and somewhat flexible.

    Making stuff (tools) is fun, and uniquely human.

    Alan

  12. #12

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    That's a cool shape, Antony. I still have to make a sheath. Thinking about a wooden one, but we'll see.

    Alan, a suggestion I read (after making the blades, of course) is to just cut a piece out of the circular saw blade (away from the edge) and see if it hardens. After quenching, put it in a vice and just tap it with a hammer. It'll snap if it hardened. It may have been in one of crash's posts.

    I'll be doing that next time because I have a stack of blades saved.
    "The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play." Capt. James T. Kirk

  13. #13
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Antonyraison View Post
    Very nice, came out decent, similar to the way I made my knife.
    here is how mine turned out ( if you want to see)
    knife1.jpg
    knife2.jpg
    Also made up a jig to profile the blade edge.. just a ton of work by hand and files and a hack saw..
    Cool design...looks like a working knife anyone would love to carry.
    Thanks for posting.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
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  14. #14
    Senior Member Antonyraison's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alan R McDaniel Jr View Post
    I haven't found anything particularly wrong with mine that I made from a circ saw blade. It's not going to be used to hammer through any nails so it'll hold an edge long enough to accomplish a cleaning or skinning chore. I've got another one in the works (I had to put it off because life happened, again...) for a fillet knife. I've got to add some metal onto the handle part as most of the width of the saw blade was used for the fillet blade. I think it will make a nice fillet knife because the steel is thin and somewhat flexible.

    Making stuff (tools) is fun, and uniquely human.

    Alan
    Maybe if it was heat treated? dont know if it was or not..
    but yeah I just got stock N690 stainless made the blade, got it vacum heat treated to like 60 rockwell..
    And its very very robust holds an edge fairly well, and can batton very hard wood..
    this is a working knife..
    Sheath was easy enough to make from kadex.. want to re-think the belt loop.. always works loose.. so i dont carry this often.. but have tested the blade a lot.
    My youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ultsmackdown Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antonyraison/

    (BOSWA) ELITE SURVIVAL RANGER - BSR/16/05

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