Making my first Bushcraft Knife

[Nightwalker]

Right, the knife is nearly complete! Tonight I have shaped and attached the handles with brass-bar and araldite, the handle of the knife is now soaking in linseed oil for 24 hours, then I'll probably spend a good few hours polishing and sharpening then I will upload some photos of the final product hopefully tomorrow!

Also, I will be going to the summer-bushmoot for the first time this year and I have got an old pair of rigger's boot to hopefully make my own sheath out of, hopefully I will find someone who dosent mind teaching me the basics in leather working to hopefully make my own custom sheath.

 

[Nightwalker]

Specs
Steel : Made using an old file (01 Tool Steel)
Blade : 3.5mm thick. 95mm long.
Handle : 105mm
Overall : 200mm
Handle : Oak from the log pile, 4mm brass-bar. The handle is very broad but then again so are my hands, I might see about trimming it down after I have had some practical use with it.
Finish : Linseed oil (Soaked in two sessions; about 30hrs total)

This is my first ever homemade knife, its certainly not the most beautiful knife to crop up here on BCUK, but im proud of the work I have done on it and im sooo looking forward to doing my next one! This is what it looked like when I started:

 

[Nightwalker]

Oh btw it isnt 100% complete yet, it still needs its final sharpening and polishing. I did have the bevel-edge to a mirror finish at one point but I had to take that off to rework the edge a little again.

 

[Aragorn]

that looks excellent m8t, i hope my first attempt at knife making turns out as good (when i get round to it) you may think it dosn't look as good as other knives out there, but youv'e made a fully functional knife from scratch, to your own design and put a lot of care and attention into it, that's got to be better than a bought knife anyday imho anyway, great work.

 

[Ogri the trog]

Fantastic Nightwalker,
The pride in making your own knife, far exceeds that of owning the poshest Woodlore offering. Very well done, if you'are anything like me then it won't be long before numbers 2, 3 and 4 are on their way
See you at the summer moot.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Dougster]

That is a belter of a first knife. My only (minor) concern is th tannin in the oak affecting the metal and corroding it - but if you put a nice even layer of araldite it should put a barrier between the.

I must have a crack at this, I hope I do as well with the blade.

 

[Nightwalker]

That is a belter of a first knife. My only (minor) concern is th tannin in the oak affecting the metal and corroding it - but if you put a nice even layer of araldite it should put a barrier between the.

Funny you should say that Dougster, infact the araldite is one of my little mistakes I think; I did use it, too much of the stuff I think! Its the first time I've used the stuff and im pretty sure I used too much, it set too quick when I was trying to fix a couple of clamps on the handle and down towards the end of the handle it left a very tiny gap between the blade & handle because there was too much araldite which was setting off quick. So next time I know to use less.

Thanks for the kind comments & praise, it means a lot coming from you guys!

 

[brancho]

That looks good I have only made handles for knives so far and admire you for trying.
BTW the most important is how much you like and that it works so let us know when have finally finished.

 

[Greenpete]

That looks great!
It's so good to see people making their own knives and getting THE buzz from it that you get from doing something your self from scratch.
I'd be interested to know how it handles, how long the edge lasts and how easy or not it is to sharpen.
Plus any other comments you might have.

Well done!

 

[boland magyar]

well done mate:You_Rock_
boland

 

[Greenpete]

Did you make/use a jig like I do in the video?
I'd be interested in seeing some pic's of the way you got the bevel.
Peter

 

[Nightwalker]

I didnt no I didnt even have a decent file when I was doing the bevel! (I have one now ) I created the bevel by hand with the angle-grinder and then took it in with an old coarse stone. Next time I will use a jig or something to create the bevel. Im happy with how the bevel-edge has turn out so far, I was sharpening again last night, and its nearly finished now.

 

[forginhill]

I enjoyed reading about your first knife making venture, Nightwalker. Top notch job on that one. I'm not much of a bevel person. I always go for a convex type edge, but your bevel looks good. I'm impressed you did all that with your small selection of tools. I look forward to seeing the next one.

Todd

 

[Nightwalker]

Thanks for that. Yeah I have been impressed with what I've done with so little tools aswell! Mostly used the angle-grinder which my dad picked me up a second hand one for £4 and me and my mate made our own little forge, which no doubt you've seen the video wet&dry, sand-paper, bought some araldite for £4, got the old file for free. It didnt take much tools & resource wise, and it is recycling in a way, but it did take a lot of effort!! But you know what?.. I enjoyed it all and I cant wait to make my next.

I've recently purchased some 01 tool steel ground flat stock, so that will keep the mrs happy (because it will greatly reduce the amount of angle-grinding that I'll have to do out on the balcony!) lol. Some black vulcanised fibre liner and some Zebrano wood scales today I've just been reading/learning about loveless bolts, but I still think I'll stick with my 4mm brass bar for my handles, I notice most people seem to use a larger size brass bar like 6mm, but I like it smaller. Thanks for the comments.

 

[JonnyP]

Thats nice work Nightwalker, well done.... Are you going to make a sheaf for it..?

 

[Nightwalker]

Thats nice work Nightwalker, well done.... Are you going to make a sheaf for it..?

Yeah, im currently using a carboard sheath for it but my dad has got an old pair of riggers boots for me to use, with the belt loop already in place etc. funnily enough a couple of days after my dad mentioned the idea to me, I saw someone on here do a superb job of it with the same boots! :
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22423 - I've never worked leather and I'd be very happy if mine was as gd as that.

 

[Dynamite Dan]

Very nice knife, just one question.

how come you didn't carry on the bevel right to the edge of the blade, it looks like there's an un sharpened bit right at the point?

 

[Nightwalker]

Very nice knife, just one question.

how come you didn't carry on the bevel right to the edge of the blade, it looks like there's an un sharpened bit right at the point?

Not sure, good question lol. I havent yet got round to doing the final sharpen/polish, I've been realy busy atm, but hopefully sometime this week I'll get on polishing the surface up just using the 6,000 grit waterstone, then I will be working on the tip a little, bringing the sides in more to a point.

 

[Nightwalker]

Just to let you know I am documenting the full process I took to create my first knife, the article is nearly finished and can be found here:
www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/making-my-first-knife

 

[JohnC]

I like the article a lot! I also followed GReenpetes tutorials for my first knives..
Yours should inspire a few as well...