Any old iron?

[Pattree]

Right.
My recent successful foray into knife handles has encouraged me to attempt my own locking folder from scratch. I appreciate that this is not the best knife for an absolute novice.

Worse than that, I am determined to make it out of what I have here.
Inevitably this is raising questions that are basic and obvious to anyone who is familiar with knife making - but I’m not, so here goes:

Looking around my workroom and shed I have a number of lumps of steel.

Would angle iron be worth using? If so, how might I need to treat it?

Would an old circular saw blade from a chop saw be useful? Again, what would I need to do with the blank once I’ve cut it out?

I have a strip of drawn steel from B&Q. I’ve no idea how useful that might be but I’ll put it here because it’s available.

Right now I’m very tempted to use the blade from a set of secateurs but it just won’t span the swivel lock (water pipe fitting) by 0.8mm!!!!
I’m more than used to using a right handed knife. I believe it would be called a chisel grind here.

Please, I’m not asking for detail, just to know what my adventure might entail.

I know that many might disdain the materials that I am suggesting but I am well used to sharpening an edge tool: hoe, sickle, knife or axe, twice a day or more.

Thanks for any information or helpful advice you might have.

 

[MrEd]

The saw blade would be much better than the angle iron, I made one from an old circular wood saw and it was wuite good. I used the bbq to heat and engine oil to quench (as that’s all I had)

 

[Buckshot]

I've made a few in my back garden, one from a circular saw blade, 2 others from 01 tool steel, 2mm thick and the other 4mm.
The good thing about circular saw blades is the area close to the teeth may be heat treated enough for you to be able to use it without having to HT again after it's repurposed.
That's the case for my knife anyway.
the 2mm thick knife i made was small enough to be able to HT in my back garden with charcoal and a wet/dry vacuum cleaner to force air. it worked very well. the thicker knife was much bigger so i sent that away to be heat treated as keeping it straight can be an issue.
Certainly possible and good luck

 

[Keith_Beef]

You can certainly make your own knife with very minimal tools and materials. Look on YouTube, there are loads of videos that show the process, or get a copy of Wayne Goddard's $50 knife shop.

Angle iron and the bright drawn or cold-rolled bar (or black, hot rolled, for thicker pieces) from B&Q or wherever is not much use for the blade, but could be used for making scales.

For the blade, you want something with more carbon so that it can be hardened and tempered. The most forgiving steels are what are called "plain carbon" steels; anything with around 0.7% carbon and not much else deliberately added. A quick and dirty heat treatment set-up could be as simple as a barbecue or a simple hearth made from a few firebricks, some charcoal and a hairdryer (with a cold setting, preferably) or bellows, or anything that can blow cold air. Or you can use a blow torch. Rough-shape the blade, heat it until it is non-magnetic, quench in water or oil (a metal bucket can be your quench tank), then clean up the oxide from the blade until it is bright so that you can see the oxide colours form as you heat it a second time to temper it...

Or use an angle grinder to cut the shape straight from the already hardened circular saw blade.

Finish putting on the bevels after hardening and tempering, because these two steps can strip carbon from the surface of the blade, leaving it softer, and thinner pieces can warp more.

 

[crosslandkelly]

I've made a couple of very serviceable knives from old circular saw blades, not pretty but very usable.

 

[crosslandkelly]

This Nessmukish was made from an old cleaver.

 

[Pattree]

Those not only look good but effective.

 

[Stew]

Well it all depends on what you want at the end. You can make a serviceable blade from mild but it won’t hold an edge at all. Any of those you’ve listed, even the saw blade, won’t be worth heat treating as it won’t do anything to them.

 

[Pattree]

Just to be clear, is the suggestion that I can cut out a blade from a circular saw (close to the edge) without any further heat treatment or that it just needs annealing?

Thanks.

@Stew
Looks as if we cross posted.
That would appear to be the answer!

So:
I’ll use the secateur blade if I can choke the lock a little, otherwise I’ll use the saw blade.

Thanks guys.

 

[Tengu]

Thats interesting.

I was trying to avoid Skips...But I did look.

And pulled out an modern saw.

What could that be turned into?

 

[Stew]

Thats interesting.

I was trying to avoid Skips...But I did look.

And pulled out an modern saw.

What could that be turned into?

A paint / food scraper.

 

[Pattree]

What thickness?
Probably too thin for a knife?

Could it become a saw? Some warding files and a saw set (fine nosed pliers if that’s what you’ve got) might fix it. If the blade is shiny but the teeth are blackened then it’s probably laser hardened. Just the teeth are hardened. and the rest of the blade is a sheet of metal to do anything with except make a blade.

 

[Tengu]

Ill check.

 

[Kadushu]

I've made simple blades from old handsaws. The steel isn't going to blow you away but it's tough and easy to work/sharpen. Annealing will soften the steel which will be necessary if you want to drill holes in it but should be avoided on the cutting edge.

 

[Snake]

Most modern circular saw blades are carbide tipped, this means the disc of metal that makes up the blade can just be mild steel and does not have to have an hardness to it, and is in the same league as your angle iron for edge holding, if it is an old blade that is not tipped it should be a good piece of steel and worth thinking about.
if you look at the blade it is obvious if it has had tips brazed on or not.

 

[Pattree]

Luckily it’s not tipped.

 

[Stew]

You should do a spark test on it.

 

[SoldierPalmer]

Just buy some known steel. For the sake of £15 it takes all the guess work out of it.

Flat stock 1080 comes ready annealed so it’s easy to cut and drill. You can get it to harden by heating it in a make shift forge or torch. Probably the easiest steel to use for a novice.

Even better you can send it off to be professionally heat treated to get the best out of the steel. Your looking at maybe £40-50 all in for this.

 

[Pattree]

Maybe, later.

One of the huge advantages of the knives that I enjoy using is that I can take one completely to pieces in less than thirty seconds. I can also change blades whenever I want.
I’ll persevere with a piece of domestic iron and maybe make a better blade for it once I’ve done some initial learning.

 

[Nice65]

Maybe, later.

One of the huge advantages of the knives that I enjoy using is that I can take one completely to pieces in less than thirty seconds. I can also change blades whenever I want.
I’ll persevere with a piece of domestic iron and maybe make a better blade for it once I’ve done some initial learning.

I’d definitely have a go with any old materials you can find, just to familiarise yourself with the process before going in with decent steel and handle materials.