How to make a knife

[billk]

I am thinking of trying to make a rifleman's knife for myself. I like the long taperred blade designs that the Old Dominiom Forge Knives makes.

The problem is that I have never made a knife before. What do you suggest would be the best way to go about regarding making/shaping the blade? Should I use a file or buy steel stock? I am not familiar with all the different types of steel.

What methods can you suggest to this amateur?

Thank you,
Billk

 

[jasontn]

first thing what kind of tools do you have? that will determine the amount of work you can do. i have a dremel tool and some basic hand tools i use. for what i make i use old carbon steel knives like old kitchen blades mostly because im not set up to do forging and i have limited space. i start by removing the old handles then using a cut off wheel to trim the tang down to the length i want. next i drill, if needed more holes in the tang for pins. this way i dont have to worry about heat treating or tempering because its already done for me. the handle i use most often are antler and deer leg bones. these i split with a large cut off wheel on my dremel the length desired for the tang. you may have to file the split to match the thickness of your blade. next i locate the holes on the knife tang by marking their location on the edge of the tang and one other mark in the center of the blade, above where the handle ends. i clamp them together and use a 1/8 drill to drill the hole for the pin. last step i coat the tang with 2 ton epoxy push it in place slip the pin in clamp everything in place and peen it over. i usually let it cure for 1-3 hours before doing the finish work. im no knife maker by nay means and there are some outstanding smiths on this forum this is just the method i use. cheap to start out with and moderatley easy. i like it because for me it takes the guess work out of heat treating the steel, again im no smith but this isnt a bad way to go heres a few ive done

 

[LRB]

Jasontn, all three of those knifes are very fine examples of early knives. You have a good eye for capturing the look and styling. I especially like the bottom one. Keep up the good work.
Billk, in order to keep things fairly simple, you might think of looking for a power hack saw blade. If you have the means to heat treat, I might suggest you buy a piece of 01, but what ever the case, go for a relatively thin blade that will not take forever to grind edge bevels on, and most early blades were on the thin side anyway. If your design is on the larger side, 1/8" thick should work. If on the small side, 3/32" will do. If you do not have a way to heat treat, there are a number of places to have it done. A power hack saw blade would be the easiest way for you, in my opinion. You would have to grind slow, and never let it get hot enough to show any color. Grind it with bare hands so you can feel the heat build up. A hidden tang epoxied in a piece of antler would be the simplist grip. Jasontn mentioned cut off wheels with his dremel. For many years, I used 8" ACE hardware brand wheels on a bench grinder to shape and rough things in. The other brands I tried wore too fast. BUT, never, ever, sideload one of these, and wear eye protection, and if the grinder has a tool rest, use it. If holes are needed, you can heat the area red hot and drill them with most any bit. You can even drill them oversize, and let the epoxy take up the slack. For your first knife, I would suggest to keep it simple.

 

[Joe Yanta]

Billk welcome to the world of knife making. I have thought and believed that pioneers of the frontier had enough basic knowledge of metallurgy to make usable knives and tools with primitive equipment. At this point in time your probably not thinking about a forge yet. So your method of shaping will be stock removal. This can be accomplished by hack saw, file. Blade shaping can be done with these tools but if you have a belt sander or grinding wheel the quick your project will be.

Heat treating could be acomplished by heating your blade up in a weber charcoal grill with the aid of a hair dryer. Tempering can be acomplished with a kitchen oven.

I am sure there are enough knife makers on the forum to help you along. If you are interested I would be happy to give you a piece of 1095 high carbon steel for the blade and 1/8 round rod for your pins. I have both 3/32" and 1/8" 1095 so there wont be much stock removal even if you only have a good new file to work with. This cutlery grade steel is annealed (soft) and easy to work with. Knife making is not intimidating.

If you would like a piece of steel to work with send me a PT with how long of a piece you want and your address.

Good luck with your project.

Joe

 

[shmrck1]

billk,
If these three are willing to help you, you will be putting out knives before to long.Also there are some knife making forums available. Might want to google "knife making". But I'm sure you will find most of the information you need right here at the MLF.IMO
snake-eyes :hatsoff: