Cheap and easy first knife
I made this tutorial a few years ago. I hope you all enjoy it and make that knife you have always wanted to.
Have you always wanted to make a knife ut don't have the tools or equipment of the pro's? Relax you can make a knife to be proud of. I will tell you how to
make a simple useable knife and have a little fun doing this.
If you are ready to start here is a list things you will need to move forward. The materials I used to make this tutorial can be substituted with different materials that may be easier or cheaper to aquire. Either way you will make a knife and it will put a grin on your face you can't tear off!! It will also make a serviceable knife that you can really use. It won't really matter because after the "first" you won't be able to stop...it is like M&M's...try to eat just one.
A piece of 5160 steel from a Spring and axle shop. about 1.80 a pound or so. The will also have a metal muncher to make it the length you want or need. Talk to them, sometimes they will give you a drop for nothing. Get a new flat piece not an old car spring.(1095 carbon steel will work great too)
Now off to the hardware store(home depot,lowes) and find the strips of oak. 4.00 for a 1/4"x2"x3'. I found it in the trim section.
Now find the welding dept and buy a 1/8" brass brazing rod for 1.50.
2 ea 1/8" drill bits 2.00
two files one flat and one half round 7.50
120 grit 2 sheets 1.00 (wet/dry)
240 grit 2 sheets 1.00 (wet/dry)
Were up to 19.00 bucks. Your own handmade knife PRICELESS!!!
A few more ideas are rattling around in my head so here we go.
When you get that piece of steel from the spring shop see if you can get the thinnest piece they have. My spring shop has material as thin as .212 and 1 1/2 wide. This is pretty thick for a small blade but it will work. Also for the first blade keep the design simple. 3-3 1/2" long for the blade as you will be using a file to make the flats for the blade.
A wharncliffe blade profile is fairly easy to start with because the cutting edge is straight and easy to file in a straight line. Keep the handle design smooth and comfortable without a lot of fancy finger grooves and guards. That will come on your next knife.
A couple of things I forgot to add to the shopping list, a cheap hack saw and a couple of fine tooth blades for it. Also need a C-clamp large enough to use to clamp your blade to a table or bench. If you dont have a c lamp or bench we can get around that to a little later in the tutorial, no problem.
This is going to add 10.00 to the total but I bet most of you have some of these things or know someone to borrow them from.
You will need an electric hand drill. borrow it if you don't have one, your not going to do any damage to it anyway just drilling a bunch of holes.
For the next step I will be taking some pictures to explain the next steps. Also let me add the disclaimer that much of this information I acquired over the years through magazines and books and just added a few of my own ideas and adapted them for that first inexpensive blade.
Here we go
First pic is the shape of blade drawn with a marker. I used a 1/4 drill bit and drilled around the profile. It takes a lot of the hacksaw work out of it and makes the curves easier to cut.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...&pictureid=904
Screw the blade to a bench or stump or whatever you have and cut out the handle portion only. If you have a vice or clamp by all means use them. Remove the material so you can file the handle to shape. Do this first because you won't have any way to screw the blade to the bench if you cut out the entire blade. do the handle work first! Once the handle is to a pretty good shape remove and screw to the bench through the handle and cut out blade.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...&pictureid=905
Ok I forgot to add the 1/4 inch drill bit to the list so add it.
I drilled all around the profile of the blade. This really makes it easy to use the haksaw to cut out the profile. I just unscrewed from the bench and repositioned as need to cut off the excess for the handle. I drilled the 1/8" holes for the pins in the handle and the 1/4" holes in the handle to allow me to screw to the bench to work on the blade ortion. I have the handle filed and added a couple of finger grooves for the heck of it. I am ready to saw the business end now and file the rest of the profile. Next I will file the bevels. Be patient it takes time with the files.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...&pictureid=906
I will post some more pics when the forum allows me to add them to my albums and give the rest of the info for the knife.
Until then I hope you enjoy the tutorial
Scott "Jonesy" Jones
