More about knife making than you want to know.

Oxford · 11-01-2005, 07:16 PM

Wish I could post a pic of the knife I've just completed making today...but that isn't going to happen. So I'll try to describe how it went.

Last week I took one section of 1 1/4" power hack saw and made a bone cutting saw/knife to be used for deer hunting.

Yesterday and today I've just about completed a second knife with another piece of that 1/1/4" power hack blade left over from the first knife. The cutting edge of the blade is 7" long and the back side has a 3" section of the power hack saw's teeth left intact. The blade was ground down slowly on my two wheel bench grinder using only the coarse wheel and plenty of cooling water. Didn't want a straight blade so I ground a nice sloping contoured cutting blade with an approx. 2" radius on it's tip area. The tang is an additional four inches in length.

The blade already had one hole but I wanted two there to hold the handle grip very tight. Consequently I figured how to get that 2nd hold with a very simple procedure which I'm surprised that I thought of. Years ago I used a welding torch to heat and punch holes in similar pieces of salvaged saw blades when I made knives. Didn't have access to a torch so I got out my handy dremel tool with small grinders and proceeded. Ground partially through one side with a 5/16 Dia. grinding stone and then turned it over and ground from the other side. Luckily I'd measured correctly...and when a 1/16" hole appeared through I switched dremal attachments to a wedge shaped stone for enlarging up to 3/16" Diameter. Worked very slick with the grinder so the cutting torch wasn't needed. :right:

So then I proceeded shaping the piece of solid oak into the form I desired. It was about five inches long and long enough that I cut curved shapes for my fingers to grip the bottom the handle very easily. And...the top where my hand gripped was lowered about 1/4", too. With my disc and drum sander I sanded the grip partially and completed it with the dremal tool with a small rotary sander attachment.

Finally, to attach the blade to the handle I used two 1" aluminum pop rivets spaced about three inches apart. Had to counterbore one side with a 5/8" diameter forestner bit so the rivet head would be below the grip surface. On the other side I used 1/4 dia. flat washers which required that I counterbore using a 1/2" dia forestner bit to get it below the surface, too. Then I inserted the two rivets through the handle assembly, then sandwiched the grip parts snugly before flatening the rivets down onto the 1/4" dia. flat washers.

All that's left now is to do the final sanding and apply the finish. I plan to use a linseed oil finish to protect the wood against moisture.

11-01-2005, 07:39 PM

sounds like alot of work..have you ever considered making a knife out of old rasps or files ?

Oxford · 11-01-2005, 07:44 PM

Yes! My first home made knife was out of an old file. Hate to say that it was made around 1951 in the school's voc ag shop. !!!!! That's a long time ago.

:insane:

11-01-2005, 07:48 PM

great tool steel...my dad was six years old when you made that knife

Oxford · 11-01-2005, 07:50 PM

...and I was 14 yrs old because I was born in '37.

jerry · 11-01-2005, 08:17 PM

good post :right:

11-01-2005, 07:16 PM	#1
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 13,021 Blog Entries: 4	More about knife making than you want to know. Wish I could post a pic of the knife I've just completed making today...but that isn't going to happen. So I'll try to describe how it went. Last week I took one section of 1 1/4" power hack saw and made a bone cutting saw/knife to be used for deer hunting. Yesterday and today I've just about completed a second knife with another piece of that 1/1/4" power hack blade left over from the first knife. The cutting edge of the blade is 7" long and the back side has a 3" section of the power hack saw's teeth left intact. The blade was ground down slowly on my two wheel bench grinder using only the coarse wheel and plenty of cooling water. Didn't want a straight blade so I ground a nice sloping contoured cutting blade with an approx. 2" radius on it's tip area. The tang is an additional four inches in length. The blade already had one hole but I wanted two there to hold the handle grip very tight. Consequently I figured how to get that 2nd hold with a very simple procedure which I'm surprised that I thought of. Years ago I used a welding torch to heat and punch holes in similar pieces of salvaged saw blades when I made knives. Didn't have access to a torch so I got out my handy dremel tool with small grinders and proceeded. Ground partially through one side with a 5/16 Dia. grinding stone and then turned it over and ground from the other side. Luckily I'd measured correctly...and when a 1/16" hole appeared through I switched dremal attachments to a wedge shaped stone for enlarging up to 3/16" Diameter. Worked very slick with the grinder so the cutting torch wasn't needed. :right: So then I proceeded shaping the piece of solid oak into the form I desired. It was about five inches long and long enough that I cut curved shapes for my fingers to grip the bottom the handle very easily. And...the top where my hand gripped was lowered about 1/4", too. With my disc and drum sander I sanded the grip partially and completed it with the dremal tool with a small rotary sander attachment. Finally, to attach the blade to the handle I used two 1" aluminum pop rivets spaced about three inches apart. Had to counterbore one side with a 5/8" diameter forestner bit so the rivet head would be below the grip surface. On the other side I used 1/4 dia. flat washers which required that I counterbore using a 1/2" dia forestner bit to get it below the surface, too. Then I inserted the two rivets through the handle assembly, then sandwiched the grip parts snugly before flatening the rivets down onto the 1/4" dia. flat washers. All that's left now is to do the final sanding and apply the finish. I plan to use a linseed oil finish to protect the wood against moisture. __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".

11-01-2005, 07:44 PM	#3
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 13,021 Blog Entries: 4	Yes! My first home made knife was out of an old file. Hate to say that it was made around 1951 in the school's voc ag shop. !!!!! That's a long time ago. :insane: __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".

11-01-2005, 07:50 PM	#5
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 13,021 Blog Entries: 4	...and I was 14 yrs old because I was born in '37. __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".

11-01-2005, 08:17 PM	#6
jerry Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 10,870 Images: 9 Blog Entries: 1	good post :right: __________________ I'm a down home back woods redneck

11-01-2005, 07:39 PM	#2
Logansdad Guest Posts: n/a	sounds like alot of work..have you ever considered making a knife out of old rasps or files ?

11-01-2005, 07:48 PM	#4
Logansdad Guest Posts: n/a	great tool steel...my dad was six years old when you made that knife