knives!!!

[JWD]

alright boys and girls,

just made myself a 2x72 grinder and i'm keen to make my first knife, i could do with a few tips from anyone who does this sort of thing!

- a good resource for steel, i was thinking 1095 is that a good idea?
- i've got belts upto 400g, do i need to go higher?
- a tried and tested technique for tempering, normalising etc without a forge (i've got a good blowtorch though!)

many thanks in advance

joe

 

[Bm101]

I've had a play, there's some good advice from the likes of Pete Madex and others if you search the forum. Look on the net for a heat colour charts for hardening and tempering.
I made a 4mm o1 plane iron and a few other bits. Hardened in a (proper) charcoal bbq using a hairdryer as bellows. Cooled in veg oil. Plunge it in edge first by all accounts and swirl it round which helps prevent something I can't quite remember the name of occurring... (scale?)
Tempered in the oven with a tray full of sand as a heat sink which from the coluring charts raised the oven temperature to about 350 and blued the blade. The iron works well.
I've used a plumbers torch too. Lot simpler but I struggled to get the heat but it does work as far as I can tell.

None of this is advice as I'm too inexperienced but might get you started? Have fun!

 

[bugbear]

There are forums entirely dedicated to knife making - you're probably better of finding one of them, ideally a UK based one. Lots of good knowledge out there (and a few survivalist nutters )

BugBear

 

[hawkeyefxr]

Many many year ago whilst as school i made a knife from a file, it was 12inches long and came to the attention of the headmaster. (this was all above board as the metal work master was guiding me) I was told to cut it down to a 4in blade, well that ruined it as it did not fit with the handle that was made of brass, copper and leather.

Digressed a bit there, lol. If you use an old file it will need annealing to allow you to work on it and get the right shape. At the end it will need hardening again and tempering as i file in it's original hardness would be useless as a knife.
Well my 4in blade, with a machete handle (which i had in my fishing box) was like a razor. Had it for many years but lost it in the end.
The annealing, hardening and tempering process is quite easy to do with turbo torches that are available today, you will need the yellow gas can, Mapp gas as it is hotter that propane or butane.

 

[chaoticbob]

Hi Joe.There are some makers on the British Blades forum - might be worth a look/ask there. There are many US based knife forums, but they can be a bit - well, slashy and stabby.
My own experiments with knife making (by stock removal) were with gauge plate (aka ground flat stock or O1). I found heat treatment the most difficult part to get right(ish). I think you will struggle to get a uniform heat distribution with just a blowtorch unless you are planning to make very small (say 50mm) blades. As Bm101 suggested, a charcoal bbq with a makeshift blower would be a better option. Which is basically a forge!
Kudos for building a DIY grinder - pics?

Rob.

 

[disco_monkey79]

I've never made a knife (just put handles on a few blanks). I do occasionally use a blowtorch for pre-heating thick steel before welding, and agree that it's a very localised heat source. I tried to use it to heat steel rod when bending to make a decorative item, and it really wasn't suitable (you get one patch nice and hot, then move on but then the first bit has cooled down too much).
Good luck with your project though, please keep us posted.

 

[Racers]

Hi.

I have made a few knives blades etc from O1 steel and some small knives from Allen keys.
You will find hardening a knife very difficult with a normal blowtorch you will need a MAPP one fit small blades and a BBQ and blower (hairdryer, vac that blows etc) for any thing bigger.

Start small and work up in size is probably the best way to start.


Pete

 

[AJB Temple]

Join Kitchen Knife Forum. There are many kitchen knife makers there. US but global membership.

Contact Will Catcheside - top notch UK maker, based in Herefordshire, and see if you can persuade him to let you visit for a day. Top bloke.

 

[heimlaga]

To my knowledge a good knife blade should be hot forged. Forging creates a finer christalline structure in the steel which in turn makes the blade easier to get sharp.
The very best blades are laminated with a layer of steel in the middle and a layer of soft iron on each side forgewelded together.

If you want to develop your knifemaking skills I think you should get a small forge and an anvil which you can carry outside and use there on niceweather days.

Files and old carbon steel sawblades (pre-carbide) are popular sources of steel for toolmaking as are the springy pins on old horse drawn hayrakes. Hoof rasps are usually good too.
The leaf springs from some post-war Soviet made military lorries were also said to be very good but they are unobtainable theese days.

Beware of cheap chineese files. They are pretty much useless for filing and the steel in useless for toolmaking. I use Bahco and Pferd files and like them both as files and subsequently as tool material when they are worn out. Elderly Viiala and Öberg and Nicholson are good steel too when they turn up.

 

[johnbaz]

Unfortunately British Blades has closed down, I heard Martyn had had enough of it!


John

 

[paulm]

Unfortunately British Blades has closed down, I heard Martyn had had enough of it!

John

Many of the same folk are now over at https://edgematters.uk/