Been thinking about making my own blades

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Wargarden

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I read another thread here recently, inspired a bit and thought I might give it a try.
I was wondering about getting blanks to start. Where is a good place to get good steel? I have all the tools I need, punch, press, saw and grinder.

Any suggestions? Cost to quality ratio somewhere in the middle.

thanks!
 
First start with paint sticks for practice.

When you're comfortable with that order some 1095 or 5160 from Admiral or Jantz or the above mentioned Texas.
 
Read, learn, try.

Read,everthing you can google, and search.

Learn from others, and from your own mistakes.

Try things, cheap offshore used knives at yard sales, are good to learn grinding, disassembly and rescaling.
 
NJ Steel Baron. You can get thinner pieces of 1095 very cheaply. 5160 (my preferred "big knife" steel) is also very reasonable.
 
good and bad sources

I want to practice making a blade out of stuff I have laying around. I know a lot of people use old files and rasps, but unfortunately, I don't have any of those that I want to turn into a knife.

What are some good and bad sources of metal for making a blade?

Angle iron like bed frames? L-brackets for shelving units? Garden tools like shovels/hoes?

How can you differentiate between good tool steel that could make a useable knife and just plain old tools?
 
OH Spartan check out the link JShirley listed NJ Steel Baron then there isn't guessing as to what you have. I'm going to buy some 1095 from them for my next project.
 
Pickup truck leaf springs from the junk yard. Or for smaller knives, old VW Beetle torsion bars are perfect -- if they still exist.
 
I agree old lief springs used to be good.

But anymore, there is no telling what kind of steel it might be, or how to temper it.
Some companies are using air hardening steel now and it is a bitch to do anything with.

A lot of good knives have been made from old buzz saw blades too.
It's good stuff.
Check the junk yard.

Angle iron, strap iron, bed frames, brackets, etc is worthless mild steel.

Yes, some shovels/hoes are good steel, but with the recent influx of cheap Chinese garden tools, maybe not.
You got to have high-carbon steel to make a decent knife so you can harden & temper it when you get done.
Think along the lines of if it could be made into a spring or edged tool.

Observing grinder or welding sparks is the best layman's way I know of for determining what grade of steel you might have.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark_testing

rc
 
Jshirley nailed it. If you arrrr just starting out, save yourself a TON of headache and frustration and call Aldo at NJ Steel Baron. Go with either 1084 or 1095. I can vouch for how great his 1095 is.

You can start with the Sears 2x42 grinder and get your 50 and 120 belts there. Go to Trugrit for 220 and 440 belts.

Remember to use real cutting fluid for drilling holes and go slow on speed. Same with the bands saw, fluid, go slow.

Tracy at USA Knifemakers Supply sells water jet cut blanks if you want to start with something like that. And just because someone else cuts out the profile, doesn't mean you aren't making a custom knife. Avoid the pre-ground blades, because that is going to leave you only putting on a handle...

If you get going and have any questions, pm me and I'll send you my cell#....
 
Don't try to learn to make knives from junk laying around.
It's difficult enough without introducing all the random variables of found materials. 1095 steel is relatively cheap, buy fresh material and take your time.

If you want to practice grinding, get paint sticks and slats and take your time to learn how to develop a steady hand at the grinder. If you want to learn to heat treat after you've learned to grind, get good simple carbon steel.

There's no quick shortcuts to developing the skills needed to make a blade.
 
love this thread

This has been a great and informative thread for me! I'm getting caught up on reading some of the links while I endulge in my morning joe.

TomADC...thanks for posting your tutorial from rimfire. I haven't read all 7 pages yet, but have it book marked :D.

RCmodel...loved the wiki on bench grinder test.

I know I've said this on other threads, but I keep learning more stuff about stuff I didn't know I didn't know about. I think I said that right :rolleyes:.
 
I think Donald Rumsfeld was the one that said something like....

There are the things that you know you know, the things you know you don't know, and then there are things that you don't even know that you don't know.

This is brad again, not DR... Picking up on that this set of knowledge is a very enlightening experience... :)
 
To my knowledge, they heat treat the same, also 5160.

heat evenly to non-magnetic, quench in a light oil. Temper can vary, but I do 3 cycles in the oven at 325f for 2 hours each time...

Do some more research on specifics, but they are both relatively easy
 
Brad,

By heat evenly to non-magnetic...how does a rookie know he's there? I have read on other threads to heat 1095 or W2 to medium-red hot, a task that can be done with a bed of charcoal or hardwood coals.

For the quench, do you literally take a vessel of 5W-30 and dip the steel in?

As long as my wife isn't around to smell the oil burning off, I have a tool in the kitchen that will maintain 325 for 2 hours.
 
The best way is to have a magnet available. I mounted one on a stick and would pull out the blade and run it along the magnet to test it. Once it is all non-magnetic, heat back up one last time and quench.
 
Valkman must have been spying on my shop... :) Check out some clippy refridgerator magnets. I have one on the end of a piece of 14/3 wire that i use, and the magnet is pretty strong too. VERY easy to find those...

I have a pdf that has some heat treating information summarized if anyone wants is... I'm not sure if I can attach a PDF online... but email me at [email protected] and I'll reply with the file.
 
Tracy at USA Knifemakers Supply sells water jet cut blanks if you want to start with something like that. And just because someone else cuts out the profile, doesn't mean you aren't making a custom knife. Avoid the pre-ground blades, because that is going to leave you only putting on a handle...
Click to expand...


I may start with this. Get the idea of grinding, tempering and quenching all down before I start from scratch.

Is it easy to adjust the profile on these with some extra grinding to better fit what I'm trying to make?
 
Yeah, when you order pre-cut blanks (NOT pre-ground)... all they are doing is cutting out the shape on a water/laser jet and that's IT... You can reshape and customize to your heart's content...

Another place to check for materials is Pop's Knife supply.

If you can't tell, I like supporting the small-time suppliers. they are doing what they love, just like we are... :)
 
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