Making my first knives :)

[SlimGrim]

So the other week I started to toy around with the idea of making knives and I made a very crude first knife out of some thin unknown steel that turned out to be very mild and not worth the effort, however it was a start and enough to get me hooked on the idea haha.
Today I decided to turn an old file (it had had all the teeth knocked off & old files are not case hardened) into this knife for my brothers birthday, thought some of you may like to see one of my hobbies.

I decided not to put handle scales (the wooden halfs of a handle) on this knife as I wanted to show the pattern of the file as I think it adds a nice touch

[andyrew]

Love a bit of recycling.

Looks good dude.

[Anton]

Nice work! I'm assuming you hardened/tempered the steel?

[ROBBIE]

That looks good with the file pattern on

[SlimGrim]

Cheers guys and I kept it cool while grinding as files already have a very high hardened hrc so I decided not to anneal it as no holes were needed for the handle, this mean that all I had to do was temper it lightly in the oven after grinding the bevel so that it won't shatter if dropped

[Tramp]

Great work I really like that, I was watching something on TV the other day about the Saxons, they were talking about the name Saxon coming from the word seax (pronounced sae-axe) which was basically a knife, they ended up talking about pattern welding used to produce the weapons and armour of the times. I looked at some images and a part of me thought "I'd really like to own a pattern welded knife"
I googled it but they don't seem to be too many about, and what is is expensive!
Keep us updated with your projects, do you plan to make more?

*Edit*

You just inspired me to check eBay out..... You can get the pattern welded steel on there

https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/252354652346

Click Here for Ebay Listing


The next project for you!

[SlimGrim]

Great work I really like that, I was watching something on TV the other day about the Saxons, they were talking about the name Saxon coming from the word seax (pronounced sae-axe) which was basically a knife, they ended up talking about pattern welding used to produce the weapons and armour of the times. I looked at some images and a part of me thought "I'd really like to own a pattern welded knife"
I googled it but they don't seem to be too many about, and what is is expensive!
Keep us updated with your projects, do you plan to make more?

You just inspired me to check eBay out..... You can get the pattern welded steel on there
The next project for you!

Thanks! Yeah I actually bought my first bar of Damascus the other week but I'm yet to turn it into a knife, I found the best way to buy Damascus is on poorly timed auctions as I got my bar for £12 whereas many buy it now bars of the same layer count sell for £20-40, it's the price that has refrained me from using my bar just yet as I want to improve my skill first as not to waste it.
That's really cool about the Anglo Saxons, may have to try and find that program as I'm all about that kinda stuff haha, if you're still interested in owning one searching for "Damascus knife" will yield more results however as with all knives make sure the high carbon steel used for the layers is good quality, it doesn't matter too much about the softer steel layers.

[SlimGrim]

Hello, performing some necromancy on this thread because.. I made a Damascus knife (kinda).
Well after a long period of no knives because college got important, I finally have some time to pick up the hobby again so today I decided to turn a bar of Damascus I've had kicking around for far too long into my first Damascus knife

(Don't read next para if you know about Damascus)
In case you diddnt know Damascus steel is forge welded steel comprised up of 4 layers, high carbon steel, then low carbon, then high, then low (it was even more tedious to write than it is to read) these layers get tac welded together and then heated in a forge till they are hot enough to fuse together when smashed with a hammer, they then get drawn out in length and folded over each other, each time this folding process happens the amount of layers double (more layers = more squiggly lines in the steel)

Anywhoo, today I designed my desired knife, then I cut out the shape onto a pizza foam thing, then used that as a stencil for the steel, after this I used an angle grinder to rough out the shape of my knife and then from there moved onto the belt grinder to refine the shape and also grind in the bevels (blade) after this the steel had to be hardened as it was far too soft for use, to do this I lit my wood fire (I know in summer, neighbors must think I'm insane) and let that turn to a nice pile of hot embers, placed my knife in and threw more wood ontop, 20 mins later I returned to it with a hairdryer to speed up the process (more air=more heat,or something like that xD) once it was bright red and no longer magnetic I quenched it into a ammo box full of veg oil, this made the steel really really hard, in fact it's now too hard, so to fix this I tempered it in the oven for 2 hours at 120*, then it was time to scrub off all the carbon buildup, kinda liked it looking like this but it was impractical as it won't last, so once clean I submerged it in some ferric chloride acid for 20 minutes, and that's where it's at now, all ready for its mahogany scales (handles) tomorrow
Sorry for the essay, got carried away
Pictures should be in order of my work process

[ROBBIE]

Like the pattern in that. My dad and me had many different shot guns when I was a kid, teenager and I used to really enjoy striping them and cleaning them after a shooting trip. We had some in Damascus steel and they were some of the best looking guns and the most expensive to buy

[SlimGrim]

Nothing beats stripping down a quality gun, my brothers shotgun has a Damascus trigger