- Messages
- 1,065
- Reactions
- 1,059
JavaScript is disabled
Our website requires JavaScript to function properly. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings before proceeding.
Knife making
- Thread Starter Josh89
- Start date
- Messages
- 640
- Reactions
- 1,352
I have made a few. I used an old brake drum with a hair dryer and plain ol charcoal to heat it. It works. I also stacked refectory brick into a box and used a propane torch.
As for an anvil replacement, try to get a small section of railroad track, that's what I used.
For cheap material, try railroad spikes. You can make quite a few different styles out of them. If you get into it, you can use old files, at least then you can figure out what type of metal you are working with and you can get them for cheap.
For other tools, the first knives I made I used channel lock pliers, a framers hammer, a file and a sharpening stone and an old vice as an anvil. Wasn't ideal, but it was fun.
As for an anvil replacement, try to get a small section of railroad track, that's what I used.
For cheap material, try railroad spikes. You can make quite a few different styles out of them. If you get into it, you can use old files, at least then you can figure out what type of metal you are working with and you can get them for cheap.
For other tools, the first knives I made I used channel lock pliers, a framers hammer, a file and a sharpening stone and an old vice as an anvil. Wasn't ideal, but it was fun.
- Messages
- 20,306
- Reactions
- 76,964
Wrecking yards are an awesome place for scoring spring steal from old leaf springs from cars and pickups!
Last Edited:
Knife making takes a lot of time. Their is a lot of places to screw up and hurt yourself too. I wasted a lot of time and money working with sub par materials.
My advice is buy some quality, known material that is easy to heat treat like 1084 or 1095. Start with stock removal method using belt sanding or files, or send it out for heat treat.
Buy a few books on knife design.
Once you figure out shapes and handle material you like, along with how a well heat treated high carbon steel knife feels, then move on to forging, which has a ton of hurdles to jump over.
And for gods sake wear your PPE, safety glasses or face shield, and a good mask or respirator and lots of ventilation if possible. Especially working with epoxy and micarta, gloves are needed for some things but dangerous when using grinding tools.
newjerseysteelbaron.com
My advice is buy some quality, known material that is easy to heat treat like 1084 or 1095. Start with stock removal method using belt sanding or files, or send it out for heat treat.
Buy a few books on knife design.
Once you figure out shapes and handle material you like, along with how a well heat treated high carbon steel knife feels, then move on to forging, which has a ton of hurdles to jump over.
And for gods sake wear your PPE, safety glasses or face shield, and a good mask or respirator and lots of ventilation if possible. Especially working with epoxy and micarta, gloves are needed for some things but dangerous when using grinding tools.
1084 - New Jersey Steel Baron
Among those classic forging steels thought to be in limited quantity available to makers, it has become one of the top selling and recommended steels now available through NJ Steel Baron, LLC. Our own blend of 1084 has been carefully adjusted so that forges and grinds easily, requires only the...
newjerseysteelbaron.com
I always recommend beginners start with a block of wood as an anvil, different shaped wooden mallets, hammer, flatter, fuller (look em up), and some clay as the steel.
Starting out with clay instead of steel you can train yourself how to move material, it will move and shape similarly to hot steel. Ofcourse it'll be a little floppy, but it'll get the point across.
Then do a lot of research on steel, like a lot! Alloyed steel is an amazingly complex material that acts differently at different temperatures, this is called phases. Once you don't get a headache thinking about it, do more research!
You can build a small forge out of some fire brick and a propane torch, with this you can forge smaller pieces of steel. And you want smaller pieces of steel, big hunks of steel aren't for the faint of heart, or weak of arm!
You'll want a belt grinder or a big, aggressive file to finish shaping your knife. This is the part they don't really cover in the TV show, grinding and finishing.
There's a couple good heat treating companies, which you might want to consider in the beginning, as the heat treat is really the soul of the knife. Paul Boss is one I can personally recommend, i used his services a couple times for longer blades, before i bought my 36" kiln!
I'd be happy to heat a couple blades for you gratis, if you cover shipping. Just pm me if interested.
You don't want to heat treat like the yoyos on TV! Red hot, flaming oil, guess the hardness? Not for me buddy!
There's a lot more, like books full, but I hope this maybe gives you a start.
Here's a couple links you can start with.
Good luck!
usaknifemaker.com
Starting out with clay instead of steel you can train yourself how to move material, it will move and shape similarly to hot steel. Ofcourse it'll be a little floppy, but it'll get the point across.
Then do a lot of research on steel, like a lot! Alloyed steel is an amazingly complex material that acts differently at different temperatures, this is called phases. Once you don't get a headache thinking about it, do more research!
You can build a small forge out of some fire brick and a propane torch, with this you can forge smaller pieces of steel. And you want smaller pieces of steel, big hunks of steel aren't for the faint of heart, or weak of arm!
You'll want a belt grinder or a big, aggressive file to finish shaping your knife. This is the part they don't really cover in the TV show, grinding and finishing.
There's a couple good heat treating companies, which you might want to consider in the beginning, as the heat treat is really the soul of the knife. Paul Boss is one I can personally recommend, i used his services a couple times for longer blades, before i bought my 36" kiln!
I'd be happy to heat a couple blades for you gratis, if you cover shipping. Just pm me if interested.
You don't want to heat treat like the yoyos on TV! Red hot, flaming oil, guess the hardness? Not for me buddy!
There's a lot more, like books full, but I hope this maybe gives you a start.
Here's a couple links you can start with.
Good luck!
USAKnifeMaker.com
Knife Making Supplies - Best prices, selection and service. Visit us Today!
usaknifemaker.com
Alpha Knife Supply - AKS™ - Knife Making Supplies and Materials.
Knifemaking supplies and materials. AKS provides: Blade Steel, G10, Titanium, Hardware, Timascus, Carbon Fiber, & Damascus. Fast Shipping, excellent prices!
www.alphaknifesupply.com
- Messages
- 2,998
- Reactions
- 6,978
That would be a grand father son opportunity.
I started with an old barbeque with a thick layer of sand in the bottom and like @Heywood , charcoal and a hair dryer.
Having the hot sand is a bonus when slow cooling metal to remove the temper. Annealing is no big deal sand or not so working your shapes goes fast if your using flat stock. Depending on whether you are forging or just cutting, filing and sanding, you may need to anneal once or many times. You can make some nice cutlery from spring steel or tool steel flat stock without ever hitting it with a hammer using hacksaw, files and sander.
I still use a carving knife ground out (with a hand crank bench grinder) of a broken sawmill double edge band saw blade by a Longview Fiber pond tender in the 50's. Keeps an edge forever and flexible enough to use as a fillet knife.
Tempering or hardening is more difficult when thick, (back strap) tapers to thin (knife edge), things can crack easily. Warming your vegetable quench oil will reduce this considerably. As important as Tempering is drawing it back to a working hardness but still hard. This also will put a protective finish on the metal or case hardening depending on how process it.
Mastering those things, consider a good utility knife ( for me) often has what I call zonal hardening, where the back is less hard to be less brittle more ductile or flexible but the edge needs to be harder to maintain its sharpness. Many knives do not reflect this as it is a little trickier to do, more costly, or use other hard alloys than carbon steel .
I think I would start a little simpler than a coffee can forge. that's a project in itself, they are rather limiting in size and shape of your project . I think you would be better off with getting some fire brick from a pottery supply place and loose stacking up a box for the size you need, the blocks are inexpensive and can be cut with a hacksaw if you need. You can rearrange them for best airflow from the torch or to build something bigger or longer later on. then all you need is a propane rose bud torch or burner sold for burning weeds and things from harbor freight, and your tank off your barbeque. (do this stuff outside but under cover)
Learning how, is not only fun, but rewarding, and can be useful later on. What I learned making knives, I now use for making flat springs and some complicated bent springs for several rifles and pistols with excellent results.
You can put as much or as little money as you want into it. And still make stuff to be proud of. I'm always reminded of folks I've seen in another land making tools, and auto parts castings, with the most primitive of tools on a dirt floor.
Personally, if you are going to send it out and have someone else heat treat it, you might as well just go buy a knife.
Good luck with your adventure
I started with an old barbeque with a thick layer of sand in the bottom and like @Heywood , charcoal and a hair dryer.
Having the hot sand is a bonus when slow cooling metal to remove the temper. Annealing is no big deal sand or not so working your shapes goes fast if your using flat stock. Depending on whether you are forging or just cutting, filing and sanding, you may need to anneal once or many times. You can make some nice cutlery from spring steel or tool steel flat stock without ever hitting it with a hammer using hacksaw, files and sander.
I still use a carving knife ground out (with a hand crank bench grinder) of a broken sawmill double edge band saw blade by a Longview Fiber pond tender in the 50's. Keeps an edge forever and flexible enough to use as a fillet knife.
Tempering or hardening is more difficult when thick, (back strap) tapers to thin (knife edge), things can crack easily. Warming your vegetable quench oil will reduce this considerably. As important as Tempering is drawing it back to a working hardness but still hard. This also will put a protective finish on the metal or case hardening depending on how process it.
Mastering those things, consider a good utility knife ( for me) often has what I call zonal hardening, where the back is less hard to be less brittle more ductile or flexible but the edge needs to be harder to maintain its sharpness. Many knives do not reflect this as it is a little trickier to do, more costly, or use other hard alloys than carbon steel .
I think I would start a little simpler than a coffee can forge. that's a project in itself, they are rather limiting in size and shape of your project . I think you would be better off with getting some fire brick from a pottery supply place and loose stacking up a box for the size you need, the blocks are inexpensive and can be cut with a hacksaw if you need. You can rearrange them for best airflow from the torch or to build something bigger or longer later on. then all you need is a propane rose bud torch or burner sold for burning weeds and things from harbor freight, and your tank off your barbeque. (do this stuff outside but under cover)
Learning how, is not only fun, but rewarding, and can be useful later on. What I learned making knives, I now use for making flat springs and some complicated bent springs for several rifles and pistols with excellent results.
You can put as much or as little money as you want into it. And still make stuff to be proud of. I'm always reminded of folks I've seen in another land making tools, and auto parts castings, with the most primitive of tools on a dirt floor.
Personally, if you are going to send it out and have someone else heat treat it, you might as well just go buy a knife.
Good luck with your adventure
I've made a dozen or so. Also, I've built 5-6 forges of various combos, including coffee can forges. You'll need a really good heat source for forging and heat treating. A JABOD forge, Just A Box Of Dirt, is simple and can get up to forging temperature better than a small can forge unless you have a good heat source. Bernzomatic or small propane torches work for small, thin blades. Rebar may take a long time to heat on a can forge and may not be hot enough to forge without making stress cracks.
For forging you'll want a hammer, tongs or a pair of pliers, something to act as an anvil and maybe a wire brush for removing scale. You'll also need a grinder or files to do the final shaping and sandpaper to finish it. You'll want handle material and some way to attach the handle to the tang.
One suggestion is to not forge. You could use a old US made, worn out file. Clean it, wrap in aluminum foil and bake in an oven for one hour at 500-550 degrees. Then take it out of the oven and let it cool til you can handle it and repeat that once again. That will temper the file to roughly knife temper. You can cut, grind, drill and sand that blank until you have a knife. Just don't let it get too hot to touch so as to not ruin your temper. Remember that as the steel gets thinner it heats faster. So you can dip it in water to cool it.
Have a look at the Gough jig for filing the bevels. It works well and is simple to make.
For forging you'll want a hammer, tongs or a pair of pliers, something to act as an anvil and maybe a wire brush for removing scale. You'll also need a grinder or files to do the final shaping and sandpaper to finish it. You'll want handle material and some way to attach the handle to the tang.
One suggestion is to not forge. You could use a old US made, worn out file. Clean it, wrap in aluminum foil and bake in an oven for one hour at 500-550 degrees. Then take it out of the oven and let it cool til you can handle it and repeat that once again. That will temper the file to roughly knife temper. You can cut, grind, drill and sand that blank until you have a knife. Just don't let it get too hot to touch so as to not ruin your temper. Remember that as the steel gets thinner it heats faster. So you can dip it in water to cool it.
Have a look at the Gough jig for filing the bevels. It works well and is simple to make.
- Messages
- 16,797
- Reactions
- 27,580
W/o the investment of a forge. Perhaps, a starter with just imagination, a piece of steel, grinder, and wood for handles?
My son's first try at it. LOL....now he buys knives.
Aloha, Mark
PS.....if you're looking for forging material. Try discarded railroad spikes.
My son's first try at it. LOL....now he buys knives.
Aloha, Mark
PS.....if you're looking for forging material. Try discarded railroad spikes.
- Messages
- 3,672
- Reactions
- 8,859
I've made a few. I use a homemade forge, a rail road track for an anvil, and a harbor freight 1x30 belt sander.
Check out Walter Sorrels on YT. His videos are great for the beginner.
Check out Walter Sorrels on YT. His videos are great for the beginner.
Similar threads
Upcoming Events
New Classified Ads
-
-
3 boxes of blazer 380acp 88gr jhp plus 40 rounds- Started by alelord
- Replies: 0
-
Sealed crate of 7.62x54r Bulgarian light ball (silver tip?)
- Started by alelord
- Replies: 0
-
-
Immaculate Condition 870 Wingmaster Barrel with Polychoke
- Started by BrandonD
- Replies: 0
-
-
Vortex strike eagle 1-6 with vortex cantilever mount- Started by jerhine23
- Replies: 0
-
-
-
WTS FOR SALE Sporterized Remington 03/A3 Chambered in 30-06 $499- Started by WestcoastWes
- Replies: 0