Knife Making

[Bushcraft Medic]

hi there i was wondering if anyone could give me a guied for kife making and a supplies list for knife making, i live in the UK

Thanks,
BM

 

[mikehill]

Everything you require is on "British Blades Forum"

 

[C_Claycomb]

Moved this to Edged tools.

Pasted from stickie at start of edged tools...yeah, too many stickies, its easy to get information overload

Hope this helps.

How do I make a knife.
There is enough information out there in books and on the Net that you can go as deeply into the subject as you want. Here follow some links to the more useful sites that I have come across, there are doubtless many more.

Forums
www.britishblades.com
www.bladeforums.com
http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/

Tutorials
One way of doing a hidden tang
http://www.britishblades.com/home/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=23
And another
http://www.britishblades.com/home/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=27

Here is a good tutorial by our own Klenchblaize on fitting slab handles. Entertaining AND informative
http://www.deerstalker.com/stalker2.htm

Nick Wheeler's tutorial for handle slabs, with photos.
http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/cache/articles/nw1/scales1.htm

Mortice tangs. The same things can be done with files and sandpaper and sharp chisels
http://www.primosknives.com/articles/mortised_tangs/mortised_tangs_1.htm

Compendiums of articles and instructions
Bob Engnath’s site, gives step by step instructions on nearly all aspects of knife making.
http://www.engnath.com/public/manframe.htm

A little more advanced, info on making equipment too
http://www.knivesby.com/knifemaking.html

All you ever wanted to know about materials (almost)
http://ajh-knives.com/material.html


I can also thoroughly recommend Wayne Goddards books, The Wonder of Knifemaking and The $50 Knife Shop. The Barney & Loveless book How to Make Knives is also very good and shows how to make slightly better finished knives than those seen in the Goddard books (though the b/w photographs aren’t so clear).

For tools, the standard answer is to check www.axminster.co.uk, www.cromwell.co.uk, then start looking at anywhere that does model engineering, or engineering supplies like Tilgear, or Chronos.

For basic O-1 tool steel, see Cromwell, under Flat Stock.

For handle wood, well, you just have to read around, there are too many sources. There are a number of members here and on British blades that sell handle wood. That is without even going to Brisa or the US companies like Texas knife supply, Jantz, Koval, and knifekits.com

 

[Dave Budd]

you have lots of options open to you:

make from scratch
buy a blade and make the rest
buy a kit and make it up
go on a knifemaking course and learn to make it from scratch under expert turition

Any of those options is a project whether it's your fisst knife or not.

oh yeah, pm sent

 

[Ogri the trog]

Greenpete's site is the method that got me hooked.
http://www.greenpete.co.uk/?page_id=28

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Hunter_zero]

I've been planing much the same for sometime now.

Here's what I got so far :

I purchased a little 01 tool steel on Friday.

Spent an hour Friday grinding the blade in to shape.
Another three hours today filing the blade.

I'll light the multi-fuel stove latter and heat the blade to cherry red, then quench it in used motor oil or water (not sure which is best).
Then polish and fit a handle.

John

 

[C_Claycomb]

I'll light the multi-fuel stove latter and heat the blade to cherry red, then quench it in used motor oil or water (not sure which is best).

For carbon steels, go for a bit above non-magnetic. Colour is only an indication and varies with ambient lighting. For O-1, you really want to get it up a bit beyond the temperature it becomes non-magnetic, then hold it there. That last bit is hard when using a flame be it a stove, forge or torch, but you can begin to get an approximation of that longer soak time by repeatedly cycling the blade above and below magnetic. Not ideal, but it will work better than just getting it hot the one time before quenching.

As for what to quench in. Don't use water. You risk cracking the blade. Old motor oil will do, but so will veg oil or peanut oil (which should smell better than the motor oil )

 

[Ogri the trog]

I'll light the multi-fuel stove latter and heat the blade to cherry red, then quench it in used motor oil or water (not sure which is best).
Then polish and fit a handle.

John

John,
Please remember to temper the blade between the two stages. After the quench,clean tha blade back to bare steel, then warm it gently, either with a gas torch or in a domestic oven. You are looking for a colour change to "light straw", thats before it turns blue! Around 170 deg C-ish. Once you get that colour, stop heating it and let it cool slowly to room temperature. To omit this step could well leave you with a blade as brittle as glass and likely to snap at the slightest onset of stress to the blade.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Hunter_zero]

Thanks all!

I have done the deed!

Next up is some wood work me thinks.

John