A few of my current projects! *watch this space.*

[Samon]

UPDATED 2/6/16!!!!!




Hey guys,


Its been a while since I've added anything in the diy section so I figured I'd give a few teasers that I'll be finishing when the weather allows!




Firstly is an idea I've had for ages that I've been too busy/lazy to start. Its a kitchen/chef knife from an old wood saw blade. Nice and thin and likely better steel than the stainless crap I've had in the past. (I can always reheattreat it if I find its too soft)





I need to polish the steel, add a grind, drill the handle and then handle it in something..




And now its relieved from its excess and roughly shaped.







Secondly on the tfl (to finish list! Lol) is this this rusty old billhook I got ina big tool lot. Not sure of the brand but it may be an old spear and Jackson as I've seen grey paint on them in the past. I smashed off the woodworm ridden handle and its destiny is to be turned into a frontier Bowie! I've roughly penned what it'll look like and as its for a friend I will need to source some brass for the finger guard to make it just right. Never tried anything like this before, especially making guards from scratch! Should be cool though.











And thirdly is this old m7 bayonet! I got it a while back and it was in alright shape for its age by I instantly saw a newer brighter future in it. A badass western boot knife!





As you can see I've done a little to the blade to tidy it and removed the injection moulded handle and bayonet ring. I may remove the cut down guard and make a completely new one, by I'll see how the Bowie goes first lol! Failing that I'll just reshape the existing one and add a dark hardwood handle and shape it like the original. And of course add the must have skull spike on the pommel of then handle!




I've got quite a few tools in need of handles ATM but these ones are what I had out today to check over.


Watch this space, guys and guyettes!!


Samon

 

[Dreadhead]

ooo nice job with the saw knife, will watch this with interest

 

[13rett]

Looking good, Keeping an eye on this one.

 

[Samon]

Thanks chaps,

If theres a dry spell on the morrow I'll try and finish the chef knife, I've dug out a slab of yew to dress it in and I'll do a hardness test on it tomorrow with a file before any serious business.

 

[Alreetmiowdmuka]

That's gonna be a proper meaty Bowie I'm subscribing too this one


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[HillBill]

Shouldn't have cut up the saw, please don't destroy the bill hook and as for the bayonet.... crack on lad... be interested to see what you can do.

 

[Samon]

Shouldn't have cut up the saw, please don't destroy the bill hook and as for the bayonet.... crack on lad... be interested to see what you can do.

I paid 50p for the saw and it had a broken plastic handle. Some life in the teeth but no bother.

And the billhook isn't mine, its my friends who wants something fun to play with in the woods! There really is nothing exceptional about it, so don't worry too much.

 

[HillBill]

I aint worried, i just know a saw can do more than a kitchen knife, and a billhook will see more use that a bowie

If the saw is cheap the knife will be useless, as the teeth will be high carbon steel welded to a low carbon body, you cut the high carbon bit off, leaving you with monkey metal... if its all high carbon... it was never a cheap saw.

 

[Samon]

I aint worried, i just know a saw can do more than a kitchen knife, and a billhook will see more use that a bowie

If the saw is cheap the knife will be useless, as the teeth will be high carbon steel welded to a low carbon body, you cut the high carbon bit off, leaving you with monkey metal... if its all high carbon... it was never a cheap saw.

Ive made knives from saws in the past and theyve been good enough. Im sure even cheap mild carbon steel off of a saw will be better than the stainless junk most kitchen knives are stamped from! Ill give it a file test tomorrow just to be sure.

Have access to better saws, with better steel and again little life left! In fact I refurbish tools for a business and they have an abundance of them collecting dust!. I'd much rather put them to use in this manner than let them fester.

As with the billhook, I'd rather make a friend happy than restore an unimportant tool with little value to a collector and only mild value to a user. I wouldn't cut up anything with a reputable name!

 

[Samon]

Just to update, I just file tested my old hickory butcher knife (1095 steel) and the bladeni cut out earlier and the old hickory is softer. Im no mettal expert but this seems good enough!

Feel free to correct memif im wrong.

 

[petrochemicals]

Good luck with this I will be watching with interest, the rest of the saw, a light matchette or sickle? Trouble with modern wood saws is they have heat treated teeth, and once blunt they are at best very difficult to sharpen with a file, it's why bacho now just replace the blade onto the left or right handed grip. The fat max quick cut with the thin teeth arn't even filable and the teeth are very very fragile.

The bayonette is classed as a weapon?

 

[sunndog]

a saw can do more than a kitchen knife

Such as?

Samon, I'm interested in what you do with the bayonet too. Could be pretty cool

 

[Samon]

Good luck with this I will be watching with interest, the rest of the saw, a light matchette or sickle?

The bayonette is classed as a weapon?

I need to grind an edge on the kitchen blade before I consider any other uses for the blade. It may not hold or take a decent edge (I have w feeling it will) but once/if it does I'd like to make a fillet knife and a few more chef knives for family etc.


No idea on bayonet classification, they're not prohibited so that's all that matters. Once completed its not likely to go far anyway, it'll be more of a display piece to me or whoever I will give it to.

 

[Samon]

Yo!


Got a little more done on the kitchen knife. Cleaned up the steel, drilled the tang - had to soften the steel with a blow torch and a potato.. Put a basic grind and edge on it - will touch this up and perfect it once handles, dug out some wood for scales - drilled and rough cur it to shape. Its yew! And reshaped the handle to make it more comfy.


I'm happy with the progress but its a soccer cuz my belt sander (upsidedown handheld belt sander..) ate through its side walls and munches up 2 belts leaving it unsafe and on suicide mode. I need to secure a metal plate on the side to keep the belt in place! Grr!


Anyway! Some progress pics for you all.




And a shot in hand so you can figure out its dimensions a little better.. (My hands are fat..)





And with the new but unfinished scales and some bolts that I'll be using as the pins! Lol







I like it, it looks nice and I'm confident it'll be nice and rustic once finished. I also think yew is a nice simple wood for projects like this. I'll finish the scales with sand paper and superglue on the surface to seal it and keep it cleanable!


Hope you guys and guyettes like the progress. I'll add more when I can.


Thanks for looking!

 

[Alreetmiowdmuka]

Looking good this


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[Samon]

Thanks mate!

I'm gona get a few more saws next week and make some more kitchen knives. They're too thin to make other tpes of knives but as super slicers theyll be brilliant.

Need to make a fillet knife too, got some antler i may use as a handle and make an old school styled one.

 

[demographic]

it's why bacho now just replace the blade onto the left or right handed grip

Those Bahco saws with the removable blades in the handed grip are a complete joke.
I get through a good few saws per year*, the main reason I use a handsaw instead of a powered one is because access is tight, that often means I'm also having to cut with my offhand. Those Bahco apprentice specials (cos apprentices and DIYers are the only people who buy them) are handed and so useless for someone needing to cut with their offhand.

Plus the handle costs about fifteen notes, each blade costs about seven quid. Even just buying the blade is about as much as I would pay for the old Bahco 244s that site carpenters have been using for donkeys years.
The only reason I can see that Bahco makes the Ergo things is so they can package the blades into smaller spaces for carriage.

Oh and to top it all, I can buy a medium cut handsaw that cuts just as well as the Bahco 244s (tried them both side by side) from Wickes at four quid a shot.

*Maybe one a month if I'm doing a lot of second fix, two a month of I'm roofing and shuttering where they get wet often or have to cut wood with dried on concrete on it's face.

 

[Samon]

Go a small bit done with the bayonet project a minute ago. Decidedmto remove that guard completely and proceed with making/buying one made of brass!

Im also going to lengthen the partial tang so its full tang, ill do this by removing the markered section of blade steel and increasw handle space. This will make it more boot knifey and better looking. I've got some nice looking snake wood in my treasure box that I'll use, along with some brass pins and possibley brass liners!


Oh and drilling the pin holes was a failure!

Lol sooo annoying, even after two blow torch sessions to soften the tang! Grr

Anyway, ive made some frankenstein-esque fixes to my sander so i should be able to fix it sometime soon.

Thanks for looking!

 

[sunndog]

Alright mate

Can I ask, what's that wooden handled doofer at the top of the last pic?.....I'm Sure i'v seen one before but can't place it

Or is it a re-purposed axe handle?

.....adam

 

[Samon]

That wooden handle is from my large machete, it needed a sharpen and I had the grinder out so I figured I'd tody up the edge on anothertoo.


Oh and to everyone reading.. Never ever buy those cheap **** hacksaw blades! Omg I broke 8 in about ten minutes and only managed about 10mm of cutting on the bayonet blade..