How to Draw a Cool Knife

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Making a knife from scratch tin can be a fun, rewarding, and useful metalworking project. Information technology's time-consuming and work-intensive, just if you follow these steps yous'll accept a brand new pocketknife before you know it.

1
Draw the blade. Use graph newspaper to design the shape of your blade. Endeavour to keep information technology as close to bodily size every bit possible to ease construction.
- Get creative with your blade pattern, but proceed functionality and practicality in mind.
2

Decide on blade length. The length of the blade is largely a personal preference, though big blades can be unwieldy and require lots of steel.

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3

Design the tang. The tang is the piece of the blade that attaches to the handle. The easiest method is known as the "full tang."^[i] The tang will be the same thickness as the knife, and the handle is formed past attaching a piece of wood to each side with rivets.

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1
Obtain carbon steel. There are many different kinds and grades of steel.^[two] Exercise non utilise stainless steel, equally the metal is difficult to work with and the blade will not be as fine. 01 is a popular carbon steel for blade making because it is easy to douse when hot.
- Try to get a slab or bar between 1/eight to ¼ inch thick.
2

Choice your handle cloth. Wood is an piece of cake 1 to work with, though you tin can make a handle out of anything you lot would similar. Since this guide is for a full tang knife, selection a material that you tin attach with rivets. G10, micarta, and kirinite all are good choices and are waterproof.^[3]
3
Trace your blade. Using a permanent marker, trace your blade onto the slab. This volition be the guide you utilise when yous cut the steel. Exist sure to trace the tang as well, because the blade and tang are one connected piece.
- Make adjustments to the size as necessary once y'all see the outline on the metallic.
iv

Assemble your tools. You volition demand a hacksaw, an bending grinder with a hard wheel and flap cycle, a vise, a drill, and protective article of clothing also a few other tools y'all could have are bandsaw and a grizzly or KMG grinder. You will demand several replacement blades for the saw.^[four] ^[5]

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1

Employ the hacksaw to cut the metallic. Cut a rectangle around your traced blade to split up it from the main slab. Y'all will need a stiffer hacksaw for thicker steel. This rectangle is what you volition grind downwards to form the profile of the blade.^[half-dozen]
ii

Grind the contour. Put the rough cut blade into a vise and grind away excess metal. Follow the guidelines to form the profile. Utilize the grinder to finalize the shape of the blade.
three
Grind the border. Gently grind the border into a slope with the flap bicycle. Make sure that the slope does not become past the centre of the blade. Make this slope on each side of the blade. Doing this forms the actual edge of the blade.^[seven]
- Become slowly during this step, every bit grinding as well much can ruin the blade, forcing you to start over.
4

Drill your rivet holes. Utilize a drill flake that is the same size every bit the rivets that you intend to use. Put the holes in the tang. Depending on the size of the bract, you lot may need a varying number of holes.
five
End the blade. Sand the blade using successively finer grits of sandpaper, up to 220 grit. Be sure to take the time to sand out any scratches. Sand all areas of the blade. This will increase its luster and quality.
- Sand in opposite directions each fourth dimension y'all alter grits.
- You can use a file to add ridges to the inside virtually the handle. Trace a pattern and file the metal away.
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1
Prepare the forge. The all-time way to heat treat a bract is using a forge. For smaller blades, a torch tin can work every bit a substitute. For a forge, either a coal or gas forge volition work.
- Prepare your hardening bath.^[8] To cool the knife, you lot will demand to dunk it in a hardening bathroom. What you use depends on the blazon of steel, only for 01 you tin use a bucket of motor oil. You lot need to be able to completely submerge the blade in the bucket.
ii
Estrus the blade. Keep it heating until the metallic is orange.^[nine] ^[10] Tap information technology against a magnet to see if it is hot enough. When the steel reaches the correct temperature, it loses its magnetic backdrop. Once it does not stick, let it cool by air. Repeat this procedure three times.
- On the 4th time, instead of letting it air cool, douse it in the oil bath. Be enlightened that there volition be fire when the blade is put into the oil, so be sure that you are properly protected.
- When the blade is hardened, it can break when dropped, so handle carefully.
three

Preheat your oven. Set your oven for 425°. Put the blade on the middle rack and cook it for 1 hour. Once that hour is up, heat handling is complete.
4

Sand the blade again. Use increasingly finer grits of paper, going by 220 and up to around 400 grit. Polish the blade if you want some extra polish.

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1

Cutting out your handle pieces. For a full tang pocketknife, there are two pieces of handle, one on each side. Cutting and sand the pieces at the same time to ensure that both sides are symmetrical.
ii

Adhere the pieces with epoxy. Drill the holes for the rivets on each side. Avoid getting epoxy on the blade, as it tin can exist hard to remove. Place it in a vise and let it dry overnight.
3

Utilize a saw to perform the concluding cuts and adjustments to the handle. Insert the rivets, leaving about an actress 1/8" sticking out each side, and peen them with a ball-peen hammer. File the rivets down and sand the handle.

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1

Prepare the sharpening rock. You'll need a large sharpening stone for these steps. Lightly coat the rough side of the rock with sharpening oil.
ii
Hold the blade at a 20° angle from the surface of the sharpening stone. Push button the blade across the stone in a cutting move. Raise the handle while moving the blade to sharpen all the way to the tip. Later on a few strokes, flip the blade over to the other side.^[11]
- Later on you have a sharp edge on every function of the blade, repeat the sharpening on the fine side of the sharpening rock.
3

Exam the blade. Concord a piece of printer newspaper in your hand and cut downward near where you're holding with the knife. A properly sharpened blade should be able to hands slice the paper into ribbons.

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Add New Question

Question

Can I use a belt grinder instead?

For making a bevel and finishing the shape of the knife, yes. I wouldn't recommend using a belt grinder for making the crude outline of the knife.
Question

Which other metal scrap items could be used to brand a knife?

Lawn mower blades or the string shocks of trucks volition piece of work. Really any metal with a high amount of carbon volition do.
Question

What is "heat treating" a pocketknife?

Rut treating a blade is the process of heating up the metal and then plunging the hot metal into a liquid. Peanut oil is a great choice.
Question

Would jump steel be proficient for my knife?

Spring steel is great for knives, every bit it produces a long lasting sharp edge due to its higher carbon content. information technology must be estrus treated for optimal results, though.
Question

Volition tempered metal concord a precipitous edge longer and be harder to resharpen?

Luke Richey

Community Answer

If the metal is tempered information technology volition hold whatever kind of edge you tin put on it. In my experience, most knives are easy to sharpen with a knife steel.
Question

Do yous accept to harden the blade?

The procedure of forging hardens the blade with a "quench", which involves heating the bract in the forge and plunging it in oil or h2o. And then, yes, yous need to harden the blade.
Question

Can I use a skill saw?

You lot could theoretically employ one, just I wouldn't propose it.
Question

Can I use brass for the pocketknife?

No, contumely is soft and volition bend. Use a high carbon steel for amend edge retention. You tin can utilize brass rods that are 2 - 6 mm thick instead of rivets, though.
Question

Tin can I use water to dunk the knife?

Yes, but most all oils contains carbon and the hot steal volition pull more than carbon into the steel. So more carbon better usable and stonger knife edge.
Question

I accept a agglomeration of sometime metallic files, near a foot long and ii inches broad. Would these make great bootleg knifes?

They would be awesome. In fact, as long equally you lot are a careful not to overheat them when grinding them, the heat care for they already have should be sufficient. (Y'all know y'all've gotten it besides hot if information technology goes blue when grinding, this usually happens at the tip. Become slow and cool it with water periodically).