Just fisnished making my own knife.

[KriegHund]

Bought a 6" 40$ table grinder a few weeks ago and decided to make a knife today.

Took me 3 hours total.

Blade is about 7" long and total thing is about 12".

I bought a steel blank from homedepot, i belive it was 3' long and 1" wide, 1/8" thick. Something along those lines.

Anyways, i started by grinding down one end to make the point. From there i roughly ground the blade. After that, i used a rough file to further the blade, and then a fine file to finish it off. I used duct tape, and then hockey tape or grip tape to make a handle. Just built it up with the duct tape and addded 3 layers of the grip tape.

All in all, i now have a strong, very sharp (passed the paper cutting test, and can shave thee dead skin off the end of my thumb), 3$ knife!

So theres an idea for those of you who need a blade cheaply but decent.

 

[Valkman]

I think it's neat that you had the drive to make your own knife, but now you need to get a piece of O1 tool steel and make another one. Heat treat it and then you'll have a knife. That steel from Home Depot will not make a good knife, and without heat treating any steel will be too soft.

Here's a great tutorial and it's what I used to make my first one :
http://hossom.com/tutorial/jonesy/

 

[hso]

Pictures?

How did you heat treat it?

 

[ecos]

bar steel at hardware stores is a36, 1010, or similiar...its not heat treatable to knife hardnesses. it will take an edge but not hold it and it will bend easily. as valkman said....get some tool steel like o1, a2, w1 etc. my first knives also started with low carbon steel bars from hardware stores
here are some sources for materials
www.admiralsteel.com
www.kovalknives.com
www.texasknife.com

here are some sources on knifemaking info
www.knifenetwork.com
www.bladeforums.com

 

[middy]

I'm sure it will work fine as a one-time weapon, just not as a work knife.

Get some 1095, it's pretty easy to work and heat treat.

 

[Mongo the Mutterer]

Gee, the start of Krieghund's Shank o Rama -- and we were there.

Seriously, congratulations...

 

[redneck]

I'll second the suggestion to get some O1. 1095 is a good steel, but its shallow hardening with a long pearlite nose, makes it very frustrating for a beginner to heat treat. O1 is very forgiving, fairly deep hardening, and doesn't take anything too fancy.
W2 might also be a decent choice, its a water hardening steel, and you should be able to heat treat it yourself. You'd probably have to buy it in forging stock though.
A2 is an air hardening steel and would require the use of a digital oven to heat treat it. www.texasknife.com has a heat treating service, and they're good people to deal with. If you decide you want to use something that you can't heat treat yourself.

I'm impressed that you could get shaving sharp results with structural/welding grade steel. I know alot of folks say that its good for cheap practice, but personally if I'm going to put the time into it, I'd like to know that it will be a useable knife when I'm done. Then if it comes out really well, you've got even more to brag about

 

[ecos]

if u decide to go with a straight carbon steel i would suggest 1080 over 1095...its a bit more predictable in heat treating. o1 (to me) is much easier than the 10xx series but 10xx are super cheap so they r good practice. a2 has fairly low alloying content so you can get decent results with just using a torch...but as redneck said a controlled furnace is the way to go for superior results

 

[Valkman]

I get my O1 from www.toolanddie.com, and 1/8" in a 1 1/4" x 18" piece is less than $10 if you buy 2 or more. I think the same size in 3/16" is $12.

 

[KriegHund]

Itll work for now. Its soft but im not planning on using it as anything other than cutting plastic and rope.

Someday ill have to get better steel but for now it works. And i finally got around to putting a real handle on it...

 

[hso]

Kreighund,

I think you'll find "plastic and rope" to be very tought stuff. No one's diminshing what you've done, but if you don't heat treat the steel you won't be able to use it much.

1080 grind easily enough and heat treats easily.

My advice is to keep grinding. The more you grind with an open mind the more you'll learn about getting the shape and geometry you want.

Also, look for a copy of "Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop" http://www.knifeworld.com/knifeworld/50knifeshop.html

 

[Valkman]

Yep, rope is what they use to test cutting edges!

Goddard's book is a good one. Any "how to make knives" book will help you, but I'd recommend Loveless/Barney "How To Make Knives" and the new one by Blade Magazine, I think it's the same title but a compilation of how-to's from different makers. Overstock.com has it for a great price.

Videos helped me alot. Hayes, Stout and Loveless all make videos that are well worth the money.

 

[Dirty Bob]

KriegHund:

Congratulations on getting started!

I echo the suggestions to buy some O-1 or other suitable steel soon, but that low carb stuff that you already have could be used to make inexpensive "trainer" versions of the knives you make in better steel.

It can also be used to test new designs you've come up with. I've made knives and then found out that they didn't really "fit" me well. Some low-carb steel or aluminum stock from the hardware store is a good way to try out a design before cutting into more expensive tool steel.

Keep at it! It's addictive!

All my best,
Dirty Bob

 

[ecos]

1080 would be a good choice for practice steel. a low carbon 1/8"x1" 36" chunk costs a few bucks at home depot....a 1080 1/8x1"x60" chunk costs $7. pretty close to the same price price as low carbon but you get a chance to practice heat treating and can end up with a real usable knife.

i do think low carbon is good practice with grinding but for the slight price difference i myself would go with 1080.

toolanddie.com that valkman mentioned has great deals. i get most of my a2 and o1 there. last order i did with them they "misplaced" and it took me about a month to get it but things happen.

if you are interested in learning from video but dont want to fork the money out for them, check out this site http://technicalvideorental.com/rental_9.html
many videos to rent for about $10 a week

 

[Valkman]

If you want, PM me and I'll show you how to easily make the same forge I use to heat treat knives. It's just a couple of firebricks, some regular bricks and a MAPP gas torch. And some duct tape of course!

Or if you grind one from O1 send it to me and I'll HT it for you, no problem.

 

[Horsesense]

What about pounding out a knife? Could you, or have you ever, use a forge/hammer and anvil and pound out the shape you want?

I vaguely remember seeing a guy blend hard steal and soft steal in a way that was conducive to making a flexible blade but very hard in the center that leaded to a heard and sharp edge. Any of youall done that?

PS: what's the deal about the magnet and tempering only when the magnet won't stick to the steal? That’s a cool trick.

 

[ecos]

3 main ways to forge out a blade from high/low carbon.

1 keep folding over and over until the carbon is distrubuted evenly throughout(easier to just start with a carbon steel in between the two)
2 do a pattern welded damascus where you have hundreds of layers of varying steel...beautiful effect
3 laminate the high carbon core with lower carbon steel...which sounds like what you are describing. if you used a very low carbon steel like what is sold at hardware stores the outer layers wouldnt contain enough carbon to get springy during heat treat. so the blade would be less brittle but not more flexible. if you upped the carbon content that method works. most makers just do a differential heat treating for the same type of performance (hardened edge with softer spine)

the magnet trick is done during the hardening phase. not to get in depth with fcc-bcc structures of steel.. what happens is the steel crystals change form at certain temperatures. with plain carbon steel this happens at about 1500 degrees, which is about the "critical" temp you have to reach before quenching the steel. usually smiths heat it up just a tad above nonmagnetic (say 1550) then quench the steel in oil or water. then they temper it. magnets arent used in the tempering, if youre not using a controlled oven you can polish the scale off part of the knife and watch it change color as it heats up during tempering. at about 400 degrees, which is about where most makers temper carbon steels at, a thin oxide film forms a straw color. thats when you know you are at 400ish.