First And Second Knife Projects (pic heavy)

[savagebushcraft]

Hi all. I recently made my first knife, from an old file. Not the best file to start from, as it was nearly 1/4 inch thick and finished at 5mm. Good for splitting with a baton though lol. After this I decided to try and hone my knife making a little, by making a second from more manageable materials. Unfortunately I seem to have used mild steel, so either case hardening or just a test bed for others.

Anyhow, here's a few pics of the first one if anyone is interested.

The file, annealed and smoothed (mostly)...

Cut out and rough shaping...

Rough bevel...

Rough fitting of scales...

Wok and hoover forge (in pieces)...

Hardened and scales fitted...

And mounted in a box...

 

[savagebushcraft]

And here's the second blade, so far.

The steel and template blade...

Rough shaping...

Rough bevel...

A little polishing and tidying of the bevel...

Some file work...

 

[Robbi]

nothing wrong with those mate, great job indeed

 

[savagebushcraft]

Thanks Robbi. Hoping they will get better with practice though lol.

 

[lannyman8]

good work dude, keep em coming mate.....

 

[TomBartlett]

Wow, this is great. Makes me want to have a go at making a file knife.

 

[DaveBromley]

it get addictive lol I'm on Knife number 8 at the moment, only done 4 up until about 3 weeks ago but getting the hang of knocking them out quite quickly now. you can definitely see the progression from your first knife to your second, and if you're anything like me you'll learn something everytime you make a new one and they will get better and better

Keep up the good work and lets see that 2nd knife finished!!

Dave

 

[Savagewolfrm]

Looking good mate not sure if you have done so already but I have a few mosaic pins left over if you want these for your second knife

 

[savagebushcraft]

Just finished off number two now Mate lol.

Seeing as it's only mild steel (99.99% sure anyway) and won't keep an edge, it's not worth mosaics really. I did, however, try to use an old case hardening technique I found on t'interweb. Wrapping the blade in leather, coating the lot in clay to seal it, then heat for 15 minutes so the leather is consumed. Didn't have too much clay laying about, but my garden is clay rich, so used a load of clay like earth instead . This is what she looked like, after the firing, quenching and then cleaned up a little (last shot)...

Not sure it did any good at all, but finished her off anyway.

Ready to take the scales...

Epoxy setting...

And the finished kinfe...

With my first attempt at file work...

And next to her older sister...