the birth of my 2nd file knife

[monkey boy]

after making my 1st file knife a few years ago, I had learned a few lessons. dont get me wrong my first one was ok but it was rushed and i wasnt prepared with what i needed to do the job.
here is a look at my first file knife

now the lessons I had learnt was as follows:
. take your time and dont rush the job,
. having a bevel jig makes life easier (i did the first one by eye)
. plan what you are going to do and dont try to cut any corners
. dont annoy the wife when making the knife ie noise, mess and damage


ok, so this is how my 2nd attemped went 

the tools I used was:
angle grinder, drill, clamps, homemade forge, hair drier, homemade bevel jig, files and sand paper, epoxy

first I put my file in a camp fire and stopped out the nite, I let the file cool down with the fire. I did this to soffen the steel.

using my angle grinder I cleaned up the file and created my own flat stock

I then shaped the file to the knife I wanted to make

I then marked and drilled out 3 holes for the rivets and lanyard hole

using my bevel filing jig, I put a 22 deg
bevel on my blade, ( this took me ages to do)

i then made a simple forge using a coffie tin, dog bowl and beer bottle, the hair drier will be held next to the bottle.

I heated up the knife until it was none magnetic and quenched it in motor oil to harden the blade

Sorry I dont have pics of the next step, but I cleaned up the blade using sand paper and then I put it in the oven at 220 for 1hr, and then clean her up some more.

I then cut a bit of pine wood that i got from b&q for £1, to the size of the handle, I also marked and drilled my holes at this point.

for my rivets I used a tent peg, and brass tubing for the lanyard hole that i found in a skip,
I then stuck it all together with two part epoxy & clapped it all togethet.

once the glue was dry I then got to work on the filing and sanding this took a very long time to do.

once I was happy with the shape i put a little bit of linseed oil onto the handle

the matials I used for the knife only cost me £1.10,
shelfield file 10p (carboot)
wood £1
lanyard and tent peg £0
glue was free (inlaws)

it just shows with a bit of patients and good prep anyone can make a woodlore clone.

thanx for reading

 

[dazcon]

Nice job and great totorial! Hope the wife didn't mind you using her chopping-board for your filing jig!!

 

[Totumpole]

Good effort! That's a bonny knife as well. Need to get myself a bevel filing jig

 

[CurtisJohnson]

Wow man, that's really nice

Just a quick question though, how did you go about making the bevelling jig? I'm probably gonna give this a to and would just like a bit of advice

Cheers,
Curtis

 

[monkey boy]

Wow man, that's really nice

Just a quick question though, how did you go about making the bevelling jig? I'm probably gonna give this a to and would just like a bit of advice

Cheers,
Curtis

thanks guys im very proud of it
Curtis if you type in knife jig into the forum you will loads of stuff to copy, itd badicaly two uprite and a beem

 

[woodspirits]

real nice job mate and it cost just pennies really, but worth loads in terms of satisfaction.

 

[CurtisJohnson]

thanks guys im very proud of it
Curtis if you type in knife jig into the forum you will loads of stuff to copy, itd badicaly two uprite and a beem

Right, cheers pal

 

[hog]

Simply brilliant work, now you have inspired me, just need a work area.

 

[monkey boy]

just need to make a sheath for it now

 

[Biker]

Really well done and certainly inspired me to have a go at this as well. I have question though, and please excuse my numptiness for asking.

You say you got it hot in your forge until it was non-magnetic then quenched it, so what was the purpose of putting it in the oven for an hour at 220 degrees?

Like I said excuse the stupidity, but I'm someone who asks question if they don't know the answer.

Sweet looking knife that too. I was picming up old files in rusty boxes today and a boot fair I just got back from. Saw a couple of potential candiate but they were all really thick steel, saw one which was over 10mm thick and 40mm wide 400mm long.

 

[monkey boy]

Really well done and certainly inspired me to have a go at this as well. I have question though, and please excuse my numptiness for asking.

You say you got it hot in your forge until it was non-magnetic then quenched it, so what was the purpose of putting it in the oven for an hour at 220 degrees?

Like I said excuse the stupidity, but I'm someone who asks question if they don't know the answer.

Sweet looking knife that too. I was picming up old files in rusty boxes today and a boot fair I just got back from. Saw a couple of potential candiate but they were all really thick steel, saw one which was over 10mm thick and 40mm wide 400mm long.

no worries biker, its to temper it, i think that makes it less brittle but im no expert myself im sure someone on here could explain it better than me.

 

[Biker]

no worries biker, its to temper it, i think that makes it less brittle but im no expert myself im sure someone on here could explain it better than me.

Thanks for the reply. Ok so it's to temper it, I understand that now, but do you quench it again after it comes out the oven or let it cool down again naturally? I just wondering if that would that be like annealing it all over again.

See what I mean questions questions questions. I'm full of 'em.

 

[NoName]

man loads of respect, really nice job!

so cool, far better then buying, I mean everything is for sale.

Ps I will keep an eye out for old thick files

 

[Mafro]

By bringing the metal up to non magnetic and then quenching it in oil you make the metal super hard, but very brittle. By tempering the steel you reduce the hardness, and give it a degree of flexibility. Meaning that it will hold a sharp edge, but not chip out easily.

 

[Mafro]

And to answer your other question you let is cool naturally after temper.

 

[Biker]

And to answer your other question you let is cool naturally after temper.

Aha! Now that I understand. Thanks!

I am soooo going to have to have a crack at doing this. I can feel a ride over to Toby of TP knives on the cards sometime soon when he's doing his knives. He's only about 10 miles away from me.

 

[monkey boy]

Aha! Now that I understand. Thanks!

I am soooo going to have to have a crack at doing this. I can feel a ride over to Toby of TP knives on the cards sometime soon when he's doing his knives. He's only about 10 miles away from me.

you should defo have a go, it feels so good using a knife that you have made, thanks for the kind comments everyone

 

[Dannytsg]

A very nice knife indeed, great work.

 

[grey-array]

Looks like a true beaut nice work there ^^
Yours sincerely Ruud

 

[monkey boy]

tried her out today and she fethers a stick with eas and carvs nicely, and holds its edge well enough