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How to make a knife (Read 8275 times)
beaverbutt8
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How to make a knife
Nov 27th, 2005 at 5:46pm
 
Hey guys,

Today i found a nice long nail in the yard, about 8 inches in length - wow, that's shorter than my ---- never mind. Anyway, it is a nail used to make those log fences, as opposed to fences that are made of just flat boards. So it's long and thick. How would i make a knife out of it. Becasue - 1) I need a new knife and 2) i think it would be cool to make one.




Thanks Grin


Mike
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Douglas_The_Black
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Hakkaa päälle!

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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #1 - Nov 27th, 2005 at 7:11pm
 
haha its not easy, but the black smiths on this forum will tell you it is. I have tryed makeing knifes before, its hard to make a good one.  Smiley
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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #2 - Nov 27th, 2005 at 8:27pm
 
Well i can tell you a little. When you heat it up do not cool it. Keep heating and hammering until you get the desired shape. Then after you get the shape, take and cool it in air, water,or oil. Each will have a little different effect on the hardness. A magnet put to the heated metal will tell you if it is hot enough. If it sticks, to cold. If it doesn't, just right. You can do a hardness test with a file if you think the blade is too hard (which it might be, it all depend on how much carbon is in the steel). You want the file to be able to scratch the knife, not the other way a round. Then you need to temper it. 500 700 degrees for 15 mintes should do. It all depends on the thickness of the overall knife.
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"A Knifeless man is a lifeless man" Old Nordic Proverb
 
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lobohunter
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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #3 - Nov 27th, 2005 at 10:40pm
 
I am impressed Gun
Very nice. My turn lol. well Beaver butt you will need the heat to forge and a hammer say a two pound double face and a anvil or just a chunk of rail track. your heat can come from ahome made forge the is a couple designs on the smithing page of my site posted below.
you could just use a cutting torch with a rose bud
o.k now let's examine this nail If it is galanized do not heat it up. You will risk zinc poisoning. if not lets find out if it has carbon. find a grinder shoot some sparks out from the nail if they are straight and flat. there is no carbon. has to be case hardened before we heat treat
but if the sparks explode at the end with little fire works
This has a good chance of being high carbon steel
the file check also works but a file will bite into non hardened high carbon steel. or anealed high carbon steel any way your first forgeing you might just want to hammer the part of the nail you want for a blade flat and wide then cut to desired shape with either a hack saw or grinder. If the steel proves to be low carbon
you have several means to case harden
most welding shops sell hardening paste you just smear on and heat
this even gives you hardening information if other info is need message me
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beaverbutt8
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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #4 - Nov 28th, 2005 at 2:10pm
 
Thanks, gun and lobohunter. Very helpful. Problem is that i have none of the facilities to heat metal - and even if i did, it would probably be met with dissaproval from my parents. So i took a big, smooth granite rock, and found a nail about 30% smaller than the one i described previously, and i got to work, and HOLY CRAP!!! I'm actually making a knife by hammering cold steel! And the thing is actually flat!!!!  Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy
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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #5 - Nov 28th, 2005 at 2:20pm
 
Lay it on a rail road track!  Grin

Gard
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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #6 - Nov 28th, 2005 at 4:56pm
 
I hear that that is not safe. It could spin off and hit something, oh well.  Smiley
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beaverbutt8
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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #7 - Nov 28th, 2005 at 5:40pm
 
wouldn't work, the way the wheels are shaped, it'd just be cut in half
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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #8 - Nov 28th, 2005 at 8:41pm
 
You can beat the steel to i guess. I lot of extra work. The see small torches at walmart now for not that much. Maybe a christmas present?
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"A Knifeless man is a lifeless man" Old Nordic Proverb
 
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dean harnum
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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #9 - Nov 30th, 2005 at 12:27pm
 
can you use a propane soldering torch to heat the steel? 


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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #10 - Nov 30th, 2005 at 2:45pm
 
You can, but you will fall asleep before it will be hot enough. The problem is that the flame can only heat very little section of the metal, so if you are making small things, it is fine, otherwise not unless you are extremely good(read: you can do unexplainable wonders).
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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #11 - Dec 1st, 2005 at 11:53am
 
Once you have the knife the shape you want and have hardened it, you have to temper it. There will be alot of scale on the metal from the heat. Use a file to get down to bare metal.
   Now, lay the blade on the heat source. It will start to turn colors. It actually goes in reverse order of the spectrum, so blue will be first. At this point, the blade is still hard, but has no flexiblity.
   Watch the color change carefully. What you want the blade to be is a a straw yellow. At that point, maintain it at that color, for about 15 minutes. If it turns red, you went too far, and the blade is now soft. It will have to be re- hardened.
   After maintaining it for the time, pull it off the heat, and allow it to cool off completely on its own. What you should have is a blade that will maintain an edge, while having flexiblity.
   What are you doing for a handle??
    There are other tricks you can do, like partial blade tempering, but thats a little more advanced
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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #12 - Dec 2nd, 2005 at 1:02am
 
you can use a small propane torch in a one brik forge
a small propane forge can be made out of a single insulated soft fire brick

take a spade bit hollow out the middle then drill a acsess whole for the propane torch in the side this little forge works well i use one to make knives out of rail spikes all the time

the ones i make i cover the brick with mild steel . they are fun to make ,
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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #13 - Dec 2nd, 2005 at 1:03am
 
that nail is mild steel by the way
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Albert Scott C bigbadwolf41 77940+hwy+99+south,+Spc+22  
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Re: How to make a knife
Reply #14 - Dec 2nd, 2005 at 3:24pm
 
i've read about cold forging 01 steel. a nother way is to use lump charcoal,a grill,and a hair drier to heat metal.if you go to www.survival. com them have a dvd or vhs on primitive forging. the ez way to make a knive is to find a old saw blade. i.e.hand saw.but make it a thin one because its ez to work.you need a dremel tool w/ a cut off, grinder,and a sander tools.cut out the shape w/ cut off. keep cool w/water.if it gets hot it will lose the temper.then use the grinder to smooth out the shape and the blades cuting edge.keep cool. then use the sander to get the grinder marks out.keep cool.take your time. its your knife so make the way you want.but smaller knives faster,ez,use less steel, and are good for 1st knives.the ez way to put on handles is to wrap w/ cord,electerial/auto tape,colored duck tape,dip into plastic coating for tools,glue wooden handle slabes. a cheap sheath is to fold cardbaord over and tape it up. a ez ulu is to cut a tin can lid and put it between a pice of split stick. and tie or tape it together. can be good when you have no knife.look at www.primitiveways.com i would learn how to knapp or break one out of glass.you will never run out glass. bottles,windows, head lights,ect.
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