DIY hunting knives: manufacturing, drawings, photos and blade shape. DIY hunting knife
This is how I make my knives. Yes, this lesson is no different from the others. Am I worried about this? No. And it looks like you do too. After all, you are reading it.
I've only posted a few times, but that doesn't mean I haven't done a lot of things.
Knife design
As the name suggests, this hunting knife. I could have come up with the design myself, but I decided to print a template from the Internet.
Transferring the outline to steel 
This stage occurs after you have taken out suitable material. I used 85 carbon steel. It has excellent properties and is easy to heat treat.
Trace the outline of the knife with a permanent marker. It may make you sweat, but you can do it. You were taught this in kindergarten, after all.
Cutting out the blank 
It's time to make a piece of metal look like a knife, but not yet like a hunting knife. For this job I use an angle grinder with a cutting wheel. For now, perfect accuracy is not important; it is always easier to achieve with a sharpening machine. Therefore, leave the difficult parts for him.
Work for sharpening machine and grinding the blade contour 
Now the workpiece can be given the outline of a real knife. Bring everything to perfection. Let the knife look better than you could ever imagine.
Or not. I'm not too worried about this.
More to the point: let its shape repeat the line you drew with a marker.
Then you need to line up the edges. I made the blade look like a Scandinavian one. I didn't take any photos, but for this procedure you just need to hold the blade at the right angle and grind it.
Drilling holes for rivets 
This is my least favorite part of the knife making process. For some reason, drilling holes in metal scares me. Perhaps because it all ends with broken drills.
And yet, drill several holes in the shank, choose the location at your discretion. I also made a hole for the lanyard, but you can stick with the design you choose.
For the handle I used 5mm silver nickel alloy rivets. You can also use bronze rods, which are sold at large hardware stores.
Heat treatment 
The heat treatment is my favorite part. What it is? I will tell. The piece of steel you are working on is very soft. This makes it easier to cut, grind and give it the desired shape. back side This is because the metal is too soft to be a knife. Therefore it needs to be made harder. The best way is to heat the metal until red hot in a forge, and then dip it in oil. The oil cools it down very quickly. The only drawback is that the metal becomes very fragile, like glass, and can break, for example, if it is dropped. Therefore, it needs to be kept in the oven for several hours at a temperature of 200 °C. The metal, moderately heated in this way, is made a little softer until it becomes ideal for the knife blade.
So I did. I heated it to 800°C and then dipped it in vegetable oil(the process caused a spectacular burning) and then placed the knife in the oven.
If in doubt, that is easy way Make sure the knife is heated to the required temperature.
If you are in doubt about the temperature, you can easily check it using a magnet. If the metal stops being magnetic, it means the blade has heated up to 750 °C. Keep it in the oven for a few more seconds and then cool.
Handle pads 
First you need to find suitable tree. I used black walnut because it looks good and I had it on hand. But you can use any type of hardwood, as long as it is well-dried. Why dry? Because if it is wet, it will deform and dry out over time, and will completely ruin your knife.
So, cut the pads a little larger than the shank of the knife.
Drilling holes in the pads 
I have not yet found a way to do this properly because it is difficult to securely attach the pads to the shank. Something goes wrong for me every time. In general, trial and error.
Somehow make holes in them so that they coincide with the holes in the shank.
Bonding with epoxy resin 
This is one of the steps that irritates me. I do not know why.
You will need a two-component epoxy resin(glue), preferably with for a long time drying out. I find it difficult to work with resin that hardens in five minutes, it adds stress. I used JB Weld, but any two-part adhesive should work. Sorry that there are no more photos of the gluing process, but I was in a hurry and completely forgot about it. It's quite simple. Mix the ingredients together on something, such as a piece of cardboard. Then, using a popsicle stick or something similar, apply glue to the pickguards, shank, rivets. Next, clamp the handles with a clamp, make sure that no glue gets on the blade and wait the time specified in the instructions. In my case it's 24 hours.
Shaping the handle 
Now our overlays and rivets are securely glued. It's time to shape the handle. I started with a radial flap angle grinder. It removes material quite quickly, so you need to be more careful, but at this stage the circle does a great job. Basically, you need to work on the pads until the glue is visible on the handle.
Rounding the handle and fine grinding 
I wasn't keen on photographing this process, but it's pretty clear. Using an angle grinder with a flap wheel, carefully round shape overlays Then we move on to a belt sander for finer work. If the shape suits you, you can then sand it by hand using fine-grain sandpaper, do this until you get tired of it.
Handle polishing
It's a pity that there are no photographs of this stage, but there is nothing special to show here either.
Apply a wood finishing polish of your choice. I used beeswax with melted linseed oil.
Here's the knife! 
Congratulations, you've just made a knife. Now a few cool pictures and you can use it.
This knife is great, stays sharp for a long time and is easy to sharpen. In terms of functionality, it is no different from the purchased one.
As seen in last photo, I made a sheath for it out of kydex.
Just in case, sorry about the quality of the pictures, the lighting in my workshop is not very good.
Thank you for your attention!
Original article in English
You may like:
- From all this, the girl created incredible beauty...
Most hunters agree that, in addition to a gun, you must have a knife when hunting. Its purpose is very different: for cutting up a carcass and protecting it from an attack by an animal, for performing various household tasks - chopping firewood and branches, building a hut, cooking, making other tools and self-defense. Thus, taking into account the functions performed, it can be extremely difficult to purchase a universal knife in a store. But every hunter can build a hunting knife with his own hands, taking into account all individual requirements.
Hunting knife
Making a hunting knife is not accessible to everyone, because it is necessary to take into account a number of its features. A hunting dagger is a weapon with a short blade. The handle is separated from the blade by a limiter, which allows you to protect your hand during a strike. The weapon is designed to cut rather than pierce, so its blade is designed with a curved upward shape with a large bend in the cutting edge to make long cuts in one motion. The shank and blade are a single whole, with only the cutting edge remaining sharp, and the second part of the blade being blunt - this is the butt.
The blade is equipped with special grooves that give it rigidity and reduce its weight. Its length is usually 12-15 cm, and its width is 2.5-3 cm. Stainless carbon steel grade 65G is used to make the dagger; tool steel grade R6M5 is often also used. You can learn more about how to make a hunting knife with your own hands.
DIY hunting knife: video
Before you make a hunting knife, you need to develop detailed drawing all of him structural elements. The drawing will help you determine the shape and size of the blade, handle, stop, and sheath.
The manufacturing process at home includes several stages; the complexity of this process can be assessed after watching the video and photographs.
First of all, you need to decide on the shape and dimensions of the knife, to do this, sketch a sketch on paper, thus creating a detailed drawing.Sketch of a hunting knife
Choice of material. To make a homemade knife for hunting, it is not necessary to have a block of R6M5 steel on hand. You can use objects that are made from it: these are cutters, cutters, hacksaw blade. It is best to use the last option, namely, a blade from a pendulum saw for metal 2 mm thick, 400-500 mm long, and approximately 30-40 mm wide. The material must be smooth. Please note that with a butt thickness of 2 mm and a blade length of 150 mm, such a homemade hunting knife will not be a bladed weapon, since it complies with GOST R No. 51644-2000. For making a handle wood will do from birch, beech, maple, cherry, pear, mahogany.
After the material is selected, a sketch of the dagger must be applied to the hacksaw blade.
The workpiece is processed on a hacksaw machine, turning along the contour. It is important not to forget to make the transition from the blade to the semicircular shank. To prevent the material from overheating, you need to periodically dip it in cool water.
Preliminary grinding of the slopes is carried out on an emery machine with a coarse-grained belt.
Sanding the blade
The hole for the rivet is quite difficult to make using a drill, or pobedit drill. But this can be done using an electrolysis reaction. The electrolyte is water with diluted table salt. A 27 volt DC source is used to supply electricity. A circle is cut out in place of the hole, and the shank is placed in an electrolysis solution. After three hours, a hole will form that needs to be processed with a needle file.
Then you need to harden the knife steel. To do this, it is placed in the oven, then in oil and again in the oven. After this, the scale is removed using coarse sandpaper, the butt is processed and formed required thickness cutting edge. It is also important to periodically cool the steel at this stage.
Finishing the blade with finer-grain sandpaper
Grinding the blade is done using sandpaper, water and lapping. Processing is carried out in the opposite direction to the previous one.
Polishing the blade is done using trowel paste and a felt grinding wheel.
Making a bushing. A sleeve is cut out of brass or bronze by boring holes with a drill, and placed on the handle close to the blade. Before making the handle, a piece of leather is placed between it and the sleeve - it serves to prevent moisture from entering the place where the handle is attached to the blade, as well as to fix them more firmly.
How to make a hunting knife at home: making a handle
Making the handle
A photo of DIY hunting knives shows that most often the handles are made of wood. It fits comfortably in the hand and is comfortable when used in the cold in winter.
It is necessary to make a blank from wooden block, on one side of which make an even cut to fit the sleeve, and on the other, drill a cavity to accommodate the shank. It is also necessary to drill a hole on one side for the rivet. Using epoxy glue, the handle is placed on the shank, a brass rod is inserted in place of the hole for the rivet, the excess part is cut off and soldered. The surface of the wooden handle is processed and polished. It can be coated with oil to protect the surface of the wood, or varnished. For the convenience and safety of carrying weapons, you can make a sheath. In this case, you can use the same wood, for example, birch bark, or leather. At the same time, guides for the knife are formed inside the sheath, as well as a hole for water drainage, and metal rings for attaching to the belt.
With such a knife, hunting will only be a pleasure.
If you want to make a simple but high-quality knife with your own hands, you can take a closer look at these instructions. The knife reviewed has a simple and elegant appearance, it’s easy to assemble if you compare this homemade product with others. During the manufacturing process, the blade is hardened, which makes the knife not dull for a long time and sharpens well.
For ease of manufacture, a belt sander is required; without it, the process of forming bevels and grinding will be lengthy and tedious. To make this knife you will need a high carbon steel, this could be 1095 or 1070. The author chose 1070 steel.
Materials and tools for making a knife:
- steel 1095 or 1070;
- paper, felt-tip pen (or already ready-made template knife);
- wood, deer antler (or other material for making a handle);
- pins made of copper or brass for attaching the handle;
- tape grinding machine;
- a drill with drills (or better yet, a drilling machine);
- a furnace or other heat source for hardening steel;
- files, sandpaper of different grain sizes, WD-40, etc.;
- linseed oil for impregnating the handle;
- band cutting machine (in the worst case scenario, a grinder and a lot of patience).
Knife making process:
Step one. Blank
When making any knife, it all starts with a template. You can download the template ready-made and simply print it on a printer. Or you can develop your own. Next, the template needs to be cut out and then glued to the sheet of metal from which the workpiece will be made. Or you can simply trace the template, but it’s easier to work with paper.
Next comes the most difficult part: you need to cut out the main profile of the knife. If you don't have a band cutter like the author, this process will be more difficult and time-consuming. Theoretically, the work can be done with an ordinary grinder.
Step two. Drilling holes
On next stage the author drills holes for the pins that will hold the handle. At a minimum, there should be two such pins. But you can make more of them for beauty. It is convenient to drill holes on drilling machine. Select the diameter depending on the thickness of your pins.
Step three. Sanding the workpiece
Before sanding our workpiece, you will first need to work a little with a file. Using it, you will need to remove the burrs that formed after drilling. Also, if there are too rough edges on the knife, you can carefully grind them off with a grinder. Well, then a belt sander comes to the rescue. We carefully process the profile on it so that the shape becomes the same as it was originally intended.
Working for draw machine, you must use a respirator and it is advisable to wear safety glasses, as a lot of metal dust. Although our blade will undergo hardening, there is no need to allow the metal to overheat excessively.
Step four. Forming bevels
The next stage is the formation of bevels and this activity can be considered the most responsible. The sharpening angle determines the cutting characteristics of the knife and how easy it will be to sharpen in the future. For a knife to cut well, the blade must be thin, and for a knife to cut well and be durable, the blade must be made thicker.
It is also important to remember that if the metal blade is too thin before hardening, it will overheat too much and the hardening will not be of good quality, or will not work at all. So it’s better to first form the main profile of the bevels, and then modify it on a tape grinding machine, or better yet, manually.
To form the bevels correctly, you first need to draw a line on the workpiece and only then, focusing on this line, grind the metal. In general, here you will need some skills in working with a grinder.
Step five. Tempering the blade
Now we need to harden the steel, so it will become elastic, and the metal will not bend when cutting hard objects, in addition, the knife will hold hardening well. The hardening temperature is selected depending on the type of steel. If we talk about steel with a high carbon content, then it is usually heated to a temperature of up to 800 o C.
To understand what temperature to heat a metal to, if you don’t know what kind of steel it is, you can use a permanent magnet. As soon as the magnet stops being attracted to it as the steel heats up, the steel can be cooled.
You can also determine the desired heating temperature using a special color scale.
The metal is usually cooled in oil; in rare cases, steel is hardened between two plates, in water or in air.
After hardening the steel, there is one more technique - tempering the steel. If the steel is not released, the blade may break into small pieces when it falls, since the metal will be too brittle. To make it more resistant to mechanical stress, we place the blade in an oven with a temperature of about 200 o C. Here our knife should warm up for an hour, and then cool down along with the oven. As a result, metal release will occur.
In conclusion, I would like to remind you that the quenching oil should not be cold, otherwise it may be too thick. If the oil is thick, you may need to heat it up.
Step six. Blade cleaning
After quenching in oil and heating, there will be a lot of dirt on the metal. How to deal with them is up to everyone to decide for themselves. You can lightly sand the steel with a belt sander and then finish the metal by hand. Or, armed sandpaper and WD-40, you can clean the metal by hand.
The author set himself the task of polishing the steel to a mirror shine. Here he needed a polishing wheel with paste.
Step seven. Handle installation
The author makes the handle from wood, but you can choose the material to your taste. First you will need to take two pieces, tighten them with clamps and then drill two holes, at the beginning and at the end. These holes should line up with the holes in the metal part. It is advisable to drive holes in the steel with a drill in order to clean them. Well, then epoxy glue comes to the rescue. It must be applied over the entire area to the two halves, and then tightly tighten them with clamps or clamp them in a vice. At the same stage, you need to remember to hammer the pins into the handles.
Step eight. The final stage of knife assembly
When the epoxy glue is completely dry, the clamps can be removed and now the knife is sent back for grinding. This time, using a grinder, you need to set the profile of the handle. Well, this parameter corresponds to the profile of the blade, where wooden handle attached. So we just level the wood at the level of the metal. A rough profile can be set with a rasp.
You will also need to remove all burrs, irregularities, and so on. Finally, you need to bring the handle to a perfectly smooth state. This is done by reducing the grit on a belt sander. It is also advisable to sand the handle by hand with fine sandpaper.
When the pen is ready, you will need to protect it from moisture. This is where linseed oil comes to the rescue; they need to thoroughly saturate the handle. In addition to protecting it, it will also enhance its appearance. It is also important to take care of protecting the blade if it is made of metal that quickly rusts.
That's all, the knife is almost ready, the final step remains - sharpening. The author sharpens the knife to the state of the blade. It should cut paper just as well without any problems stationery knife. For such fine sharpening you can use water stone or polishing around.
If you want to make your knife unique, you can engrave it or etch the desired inscription on it.
Warning!
This article was written solely in the interests of the author to convey information to people about how knives are made, what they are like and what they can be used for. That the right knife can become your friend and comrade who will help you out more than once.
If you, dear readers, decide to make a knife with your own hands, then keep in mind that Russian Federation, there is a law: Article 222 of the Criminal Code, Part 4 and Article 223 of the Criminal Code, Part 4. The illegal sale and manufacture of bladed weapons is a criminal offense and any product must be certified. And if you end up with such a product before the lawyers, such excuses as “I didn’t know” will not save you. (It’s better to say “I found it, I’m bringing it to you.” And mentally say goodbye to your favorite product.)
Many people, having made a knife exclusively, for self-educational reasons, found themselves in trouble with the law. Keep this in mind.
Types of steel for knives
What is steel? Steel is iron with various additives ( chemical composition alloy) quite simply iron containing carbon. There is laminated steel, three layers of different brands. There is a Damascus sandwich made of hundreds of layers of steel, two or three grades of steel, more often than two.
What steel to choose for a knife and where to get it?
This table shows the most suitable steels for making knives that you can find at your fingertips.
| steel grade | Description | Where to find |
| A-2 | Holds an edge perfectly. Self-hardening steel. Very often used in the manufacture of combat knives. Subject to corrosion. | Regular bolts |
| L-6 | Very durable and holds an edge well. If you need strength in a knife, this is it. Subject to corrosion An excellent material for making a fishing fillet knife. |
Band saw blade |
| 5160 | Highly professional grade steel. Holds an edge well and is susceptible to corrosion. | Springs for cars and tractors. |
| 52100 | It is similar to grade 5160 and differs in carbon content, as indicated by the number 100 (contains about 1% carbon). This steel is widely used in the manufacture of hunting knives. subject to corrosion. | Bearings |
| R6M5 | The best steel for making alloy steel knives. Holds an edge perfectly, cuts very well, chops bone. | Pendulum saw blade for metal. Thickness 2mm. Disc cutter for metal. Thickness 5 mm. |
| 154CM or ATS-34 (ATS-34) | The most popular stainless steel for making knives. | To order: price approximately 3500 rubles per strip 3x25x250 |
Blade shapes.
Combat or tactical knife and its features.
Handle of a combat knife.
An extremely negative characteristic of a knife handle is round section. Because the handle may slide during a fight and the fighter will not be able to control the exact position of the blade. Imagine that a fighter is wielding a knife in slush conditions, or worse, bloody. So when choosing a knife, pay attention to the handle: it should be oval, have special linings and fit well in your hand.
Sharpening.
A combat knife is most effective when it has a double-sided sharpening or one-and-a-half. During a fight, a fighter can use both sides of the blade without turning it over.\
Blade width.
Also, for a combat knife, the width of the blade is very important, which should be at least 2.5 centimeters. This primarily promotes wide wounds; secondly, wide bevels reduce the sharpening angle, which is responsible for cutting properties.
Blade shape.
The importance of blade shape should not be overlooked. The optimal shape is a leaf shape or a leaf-shaped shape, and if it is made with differential sharpening, plus serrated sharpening plays a good role in combat knives.
Limiter.
Any combat knife has a limiter; its function is to keep the hand safe during stabbing strikes. That is, it prevents your hand from slipping onto the blade during a strike.
Knife length.
This is also an important thing in combat knives. Judge for yourself: if the knife is short, then during the strike the vital organs will not be affected, the meaning of a combat knife is lost. A knife that is too long is easy to knock out of your hands, difficult to carry and difficult to hide. So the optimal knife length is 18-30 centimeters.
Blade hardness.
This feature applies not only to combat knives but to all knives in general; if the steel of the blade is not hard enough, it will either break or bend and will not hold an edge and will quickly become dull. In combat knives it is necessary to overcome the material of special clothing which Lately Almost all armies of the world are supplied. For example, Warrior 3 equipment has fabric that can withstand shrapnel loads. Judge for yourself what hardness and sharpness the blade should have. According to the standards, it should be no less than 47-55 HRC.
The location of the tip in relation to the axis.
The tip of the knife must be strictly at the level of its axis. Indeed, during a stabbing blow with a knife, all the energy is focused precisely on the edge of the knife, and the displacement from the axis will have a negative impact on the knife; the force is lost and the penetrating ability decreases.
Knife weight.
The optimal weight of a knife is considered to be about 200-300 grams. If the knife is heavy, it will take a lot of effort to use it, and a light one will not produce results when struck.
Center of gravity.
It is important that the center of gravity of the knife is closer to the handle.
Requirements for the sheath.
The sheath should be: light, without fasteners, the knife sheath should be securely fastened in the sheath and not fall out, the sheath should be dark in color. The sheath attachment should not interfere with the fighter’s movement. The knife should be removed from its sheath silently.
Russian combat knives
“Looking through chronicle texts, you can find a lot of evidence that Russian people have been able to use knives in battle since those times. Consider the description of the siege of the city of Kozelsk by Batu Khan. When he entered the city in battle, he was met by townspeople with knives, turned the tide of the battle in their favor, drove the enemy out of the city and slaughtered 4,000 Tatars.” Since those times, little has changed in the Russian spirit and knife. When foreign military personnel consider a knife to be a “weapon of last chance,” that is, during a battle it is the last hope for salvation. For a Russian person, a knife and a bayonet play a completely different role. Shouts of hurray and the point of a bayonet always instilled horror and fear in the enemy.
The first parent of the Russian army combat knife is considered to be the knife (army knife of 1940), (scout knife of 1940). These knives were used by the military who had a machine gun instead of a rifle with a bayonet, and the scouts you know why.
Now you can find new knives made by analogy; they are produced by the AiR company under the product name “Razvedbat” - a hunting one and “Shtrafbat” - a civilian version.
Available in four versions: Airborne Forces, Marines, Border Troops, Special Forces. The difference lies in the emblems of the troops that are printed on the blades and the color of the stripes on the handle.
At the same time, 1940, they began to produce for the NKVD services.
In 1943, the HP-40 knife underwent many changes and Soviet intelligence officers received NR-43. It had a straight guard, a leather sheath, a plastic handle and a metal pommel, which made it possible to use it in many brute force moments (even hammering a nail); the second name of the knife is “Cherry”. The knife was so well designed and thought out that it is still used by some troops.
In 1960, to replace the HP-43 knife, the special service received a silent cartridge firing from the handle with a 7.62 mm caliber bullet. NRS (scout shooting knife). This knife has also undergone changes, turning into one this moment is the main combat knife of sabotage brigades. Its sheath is designed in a special way and allows you to cut through wire, the blade, unlike the NRS, has become spear-shaped, and the saw on the butt has become half as long. The cartridge in the handle was replaced with a modernized SP-4.
Soviet paratroopers, at that time were recruited, which were intended to cut the lines of a paratrooper hanging on a tree. The sling cutter was not intended for combat battles, but the military personnel, by sharpening the tip and one side of the saw, repurposed this item into
Since those times, a lot has changed, the government, money, various gadgets have appeared, knives have not stood still either. They were manufactured according to various orders of army and internal military units.
These knives include - this knife was produced by Zlatoust by order of SOBR, which exists in three variations: a combat knife, a premium knife and a civilian knife.
— designed for law enforcement agencies FSB is available in two types "Vzmakh-1" And "Maestro" the handle of which can be made of various materials."Maestro"— differs in that it is made in anti-reflective design.
Knife "Antiterror"— made for the FSB. The shape of the blade has high penetrating characteristics; the cutting part has a depression, which increases the length of the cutting edge.
Combat knives series. The knives in this series differ from each other in the following ways:
"Katran -1" The underwater combat knife has a one-and-a-half sharpening. The butt has a wave-shaped sharpening; in the root part of the butt there is a hook designed for cutting nets. The sheath is made to be attached to the leg and is made of rubber; all metal parts are coated with black chrome.
"Katran-1-S"- intended for ground forces. Made of steel 50X14 MF with anti-reflective treatment.
"Katran -2"— the handle is made of leather.
"Katran-45"- exclusive, specially made for the 45th Airborne Regiment. It has a metal saw on the butt.
– the knife was designed and made by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tatarstan. It has a double-sided sharpening in the root part, the sharpening turns into a serrated one designed for cutting climbing slings, the guard is seven-fold, the handle is made of a set of leather, there is a modification of Shaitan-M (throwing knife) that can withstand up to 3000 throws.
designed and made by order of SOBR for work on the streets and in cramped conditions.
adopted by the FSB
Popular abroad Corsair knife. He fascinated the Germans with his form and performance. The catalogs describe it as one of best knives in Russia.
A stalker knife or one whose shape resembles a strop cutter modified on the knee by paratroopers. This knife, by the way, is used by the Slovak military.
Development of the Melita-K company, which took the HP-43 as a basis.
This knife was developed by one person together with the center applied research. It was developed for saboteurs, taking into account the specifics of hand-to-hand combat. Tested on animal carcasses. The goal was also to find an optimal knife with a stopping effect when stabbed with a knife.
Knife or K-2. An ideal knife created taking into account all the requirements of our legislation so as not to classify it as a bladed weapon. The tests carried out on this knife are somewhat impressive and I take special pride in the fact that this knife was developed by a Russian person without any large investments. And with all this, the knife surpasses all foreign knives in terms of characteristics and has no analogues in the world.
The knife is designed for ordinary people even for a child. The main purpose of a knife is self-defense.
Popular foreign combat knives
I did not completely write out all the knives that are available abroad; if this is done, the article will be more than tens of thousands of words. You'll just get tired of reading it. And therefore, here are the most popular combat knives that are found abroad.
Bowie knife
Wood processing for knife handle
To process wood you will need sanding paper with a grit of 120-150 to give shape, you can use 40-60 just do not overdo it, for final processing use sanding paper with a grit of 600-800. Prepare a couple of wooden blocks that are comfortable to hold in your hand. Attach a thick rubber plate with a thickness of at least 3 mm to one of the bars. after which you can wrap the sanding paper around the belt and begin sanding the knife handle. You will also use the second block, without rubber, at the junction of the blade guard with the handle (this is done so that there are no differences between the blade and the handle).
These are probably the most simple tools which can be adapted without significant costs and begin to process your future handle.
When sanding light-colored wood at the end of the entire work, in order to avoid eating into small particles formed from the sanding paper, it is necessary to use the wet sanding method. The essence of this sanding is the constant impregnation of wood with linseed oil, which not only prevents small particles from being eaten, but also helps to highlight the texture and pattern of the wood more clearly. Impregnation with linseed oil should be done every time the sanding paper is changed. At the very end, after sanding, the handle is impregnated with shellac.
If porous wood is being processed, and this can include any root wood, shells may form, which the craftsmen simply rub over with epoxy glue, after first mixing it with sawdust of the same type of wood.
Birch bark knife handle
One of the popular handles is considered to be a knife handle made of birch bark. It doesn’t look bad, it gives a kind of pattern or texture, so to speak.
The principle of preparing the workpiece is the same almost everywhere: birch bark is harvested and removed from the birch (the birch then dies after a few seasons). The birch bark is cut into even pieces, they are pressed, squeezed, glued together, and after drying they are processed like an ordinary tree, a deliberately mounted workpiece on a blade or a special device.
I saw it not long ago unusual way which speeds up the preparation of a birch bark handle, I will try to describe it in detail.
One master told how to make a knife handle from birch bark. Having prepared birch bark, he chops small circles from it using. The notch is made from the outer ring of the bearing with the end sharpened on one side. With this notch he stuffs many birch bark circles, after which he uses the same method to knock out a hole in the circles in the center (the center is not specially measured) with a diameter of 8 mm. Next, he places all the prepared birch bark circles about 20cm long. tries to plant side to side, not to turn side to side. Then he clamps it with washers and nuts, stretches it and sends such a workpiece into a pan of boiling water for 4 hours. Every hour you need to take out the workpiece and stretch it as far as possible. After 4 hours of boiling, the workpiece is taken out and dried for 24 hours, and the broaching must be repeated while the nut is stretched. After the birch bark dries, the workpiece is reduced in length by almost half (keep this in mind when making the initial set of circles). After such procedures for cooking and drawing, the workpiece becomes monolithic, which is what was required of it. Now remove the workpiece from the pin, you can place it on the shank of the blade and process it as you please.
Very comfortable and most importantly quick way preparing a handle for a knife from birch bark.
The process of preparing a blank for a knife handle is described above. Then, naturally, according to all the canons, it is necessary to treat it with sanding paper and impregnate it with varnish, as indicated above, in the section on how to prepare a handle for a knife made of wood.
Knife handle made of bone or horn.
This is the most difficult task, making a handle for a knife from bone or horn. In order to make a handle from horn, you need to make a handle from some other material at least a couple of times.
If you are planning to make a handle from horn, then you will need horn naturally, and it must be dried. It usually dries in 0.5 to 2 years. There is a faster way, it is simply dried in the microwave for 5 minutes for half an hour. maximum power allowing it to cool and ventilate beforehand. Of course, not the whole horn is dried, but only the blank.
In general, an incorrectly chosen horn can initially cause you a lot of trouble. It can be caught wet, with rotten inside, with cracks. And all this comes up at the most inappropriate moment.
The handle can also be made from hollow bone. The bone cavity can be pre-filled cold welding or epoxy glue with pre-prepared filler. The bone is also easily deformed under the press; it must first be boiled for 30 minutes and, without waiting for cooling, put into the press.
Types of sharpening and removal of triggers
In order to properly sharpen a blade, you first need to know that before sharpening it needs to be stabbed, because the future blade requires from 0.2 mm to 0.6 mm of thickness, depending on the type of steel. Secondly, you should not sharpen your knife using electric sandpaper. The circle rotates at high speed, reaching 3000 rpm. From such a rotation speed, not only a significant layer of the workpiece is processed, but also loses its hardness.
There are many ways to remove bevels from a blade, some use diamond files, some use a sanding belt on a machine, one of these is correct, until the angular requirement is met, the result will not be achieved. In such cases, beginners can benefit from sharpening sets that allow them to adjust the required angles.
During sharpening, burrs are formed, the edge collapses or the creation of a chichetse-shaped profile, which must be processed because such an edge quickly dulls or shrinks. There are two ways to fix this: use a special grinding stone with paste or the old-fashioned method: a leather belt attached to a wooden block with paste attached to a wooden block.
Also, a beginner may mistakenly think that the knife has been sharpened due to the formation of a “wire cutting edge” this feature lies in the cutting part, not of the blade itself, but of chips that have not been completely cleaned and which were formed as a result of sharpening.
How to check if a knife is sharpened enough. You can check the sharpness of a knife using a sheet of paper that needs to be cut crosswise. The sheet should be cut easily without jamming or changing the cut. Or can you just take the hair and cut it effortlessly? This means the sharpening is sufficient.
How to make a homemade knife? Homemade knives made by forging are especially popular. If a material such as alloy steel was used in production, the knife acquires special value. Forging a knife with your own hands is the most labor-intensive option for making a product. The most durable and high-quality blades are created using forging, serve for decades and retain their qualities unchanged. However, forging requires a lot of knowledge and experience from the master. You will need a good knowledge of the properties of metals, which will allow you to make a homemade knife of high quality and beautiful.
A homemade knife can be made by forging it from steel.
Making a forged knife
Besides professional tool, you can use improvised means for forging if they seem convenient. In order to forge a knife, you will need:
Tools for hand forging.
- big hammer;
- small hammer;
- blacksmith's tongs;
- pliers;
- adjustable wrench;
- vice;
- anvil;
- Bulgarian;
- welding machine;
- grinder;
- grinding machine;
- sandpaper;
- file;
- coal;
- bake.
It should be remembered that ordinary hearths (especially fires) will not provide the temperature necessary for forging steel. To do this, the workpieces will have to be heated for too long, which can lead to deformation and burnout of the material. The furnace must be made of thick-walled metal, and a pipe must be connected to it, through which a constant supply of air will be established. The air can be supplied by an old vacuum cleaner or a fan. The fuel must be chosen taking into account the fact that it should burn for a long time and not go out from the air flow, so coal is a good choice.
Return to contents
Choosing steel for a knife
For quality knife you need to choose the right metal and process it.
Strength characteristics and cutting qualities depend on the selected metal. In order to choose the right metal, you need to know what characteristics it has. The main properties of steel are strength, hardness, wear resistance, toughness and red resistance.
Hardness measures the steel's ability to resist penetration by harder material. Hard types of steel from which homemade knives are made can successfully resist deformation. There is a Rockwell scale for measuring hardness: steel should have values from 20 to 67 HRC.
Wear resistance - resistance to wear during operation of the material. This indicator directly depends on the hardness of the steel.
Strength is usually tested by bending or with strong blows. It is characterized by the ability to maintain integrity under the influence of external forces.
Plasticity is the ability to absorb and dissipate the kinetic energy of an impact without collapsing or deforming.
In order to properly forge a knife, you need a sketch.
Red fastness - resistance to high temperatures. If the homemade product remains with the same strength characteristics during heating and after it, this indicates that the material has red resistance. This indicator determines at what temperature steel can be forged. Hard grades of steel are the most red-resistant; their forging temperature is around 900° C. The melting point for such steels ranges from 1450 to 1520° C.
All properties have become interconnected and must be combined with each other, since an increase in one indicator necessarily leads to a deterioration in another. The properties of steel depend on the silicon, carbon, tungsten, cobalt, nickel and molybdenum it contains, as well as other alloying elements and additives. In order to find out exactly what steel composition is present in a particular item from which it is planned to be manufactured homemade knife, you need to have a complete grade of steel and alloys on hand. It indicates detailed compositions steels and their characteristics.
Return to contents
Sketch for knife design
A knife can be considered a simple object, since it consists of a handle and a blade. But to make a high-quality knife, a number of parameters must nevertheless be observed, since the functionality of the tool depends on them. Experienced craftsmen can do without blanks and preliminary sketches, but for a beginner it is important to create an initial template.
The shape and dimensions of the template depend on how you plan to use the finished knife. For complex shapes you will need a file and long work for straightening and smoothing each planned protrusion. Hunting knives have simple shapes, and designer products are difficult to manufacture, but non-functional. Beginners can be advised to start with small pocket knives (they are also called mushroom knives). It should also be remembered that knives can, based on the results of an examination, be recognized as edged weapons, the possession and manufacture of which requires a license. Taking this into account, it is advisable to make do with the production of small samples.
The drawing is made on thick paper; it is recommended to make both the entire image and the handle and blade with the shank separately. The model is cut out to be held in front of your eyes or placed on the blade before using a file for sharpening.
Return to contents
How to forge a knife from a drill?
Knives can be made from drills or wrenches.
Many drills use alloy steel, which makes them popular for forging various types of knives. This type of steel is wear-resistant, durable and easy to sharpen; a file will help correct minor imperfections. When choosing a drill for forging, you need to remember that drills big size Only the tip is made of alloy steel, and the shank is made of ordinary steel. Before forging, be sure to check what kind of steel it is and remember the boundaries. Determining the boundaries can be done using a file or drill, grinding along the entire length with a special machine. When turning, sparks from ordinary steel come out in a large sheaf and have a yellow-orange color. On alloy steel there are much fewer sparks, and their shade is closer to the red spectrum. This procedure helps determine which part of the drill to make the blade from and which to make the shank from.
A fire is lit in the oven. When it flares up, turn on the blower and wait for the coals to flare up at a sufficient temperature. Then the drill must be placed in the fire. This procedure is performed using pliers. The drill is positioned in such a way that there is a blank for the blade in the fire, and the shank serves as a handle.
The metal heated to the required temperature is removed from the fire and beaten until required thickness.
It is difficult to determine whether the metal has heated up sufficiently without appropriate experience. An error can damage the drill. Before forging a knife from a drill, you can practice on rebar, memorizing the color of the metal that lends itself best to forging. But if the work is done on a sunny day, the color of the metal will not help, since the metal will remain dark in appearance.
The drill, heated to the required temperature, is immediately removed from the furnace, and the bottom of the shank is clamped in a vice. Using an adjustable wrench, firmly clamp the top of the drill and straighten it, unwinding it in a circular motion counterclockwise. This must be done as quickly as possible so that the metal does not have time to cool. A drill that begins to cool will easily break. Unwinding may not work the first time, in this case the drill is placed in the crucible again and the operation is repeated required quantity once. An untwisted drill looks like a strip of metal with relatively smooth edges.
The following operations are performed with a hammer, rolling out the metal of the drill to the required thickness. The hot iron is struck with a heavy hammer until its thickness is 4-5 mm. The color of the workpiece must be continuously monitored during the process, and as soon as the metal has turned cherry, it is returned to the furnace. Excessive heat can create scale, which can be easily removed with a file. A workpiece that is not hot enough can easily be broken with a hammer blow.
After the knife is forged, it is sharpened grindstone or machine.
Working with the blade is the most difficult part of forging. Curving an edge while maintaining thickness can be considered jewelry work that requires experience and dexterity. The blows must be directed so that the tip is rounded, stretching out strongly, but very carefully. At the same time, you need to ensure that the blade remains smooth and straight.
An equally difficult step is to forge the cutting edge. Take a light hammer (if possible with a rounded head). Start by striking from the middle of the blade to gently drive the metal down towards the cutting edge. The blows must be applied, calculating your strength, not forgetting to monitor the color of the workpiece.
The shank is forged next to the blade and point. There is much less work with it than with a blade and point. The shank, which has a round shape in drills, becomes hot and is flattened with strong blows of a large hammer. The handle of the knife is worked out according to the sketch, and may have different kind, thickness and width.
When forging is complete, the metal must cool. After this, they begin to refine and polish.
All production stages are very important, as they prevent corrosion and improve the cutting properties of the metal.
Here you will need a file and a grinder. All irregularities and sagging must be removed, and therefore a file will most likely not be useful for the work of a novice craftsman. If you need to remove a lot of waste, a grinding machine will handle it faster. Sometimes, to achieve a perfectly smooth and even surface, you have to remove up to 2 mm of steel; the knife becomes much thinner and lighter. Sharpening is performed at the same stage.
The knife is polished with a special felt wheel and a special abrasive is applied to it. The knife is tested by cutting rope and planing timber. Sharpening, if necessary, is adjusted.