Making a knife??

[TinStar]

How does one go about making a knife blade from an old file??


TinStar
Soli Deo Gloria!

 

[hoochiepapa]

THe only way I know of is to grind it down very slowly to the shape you want it. Very slowly. Cooling constantly with water is best, I think, but there are many here that know much more than I.

 

[Elnathan]

What kind of tools do you have? Grinding it down is one way. You will need to temper it softer before or after granding - I suggest before. You can aneal it dead soft and work it with files if you don't have a grinder but do have a heat source capable of rehardening it. If you have a forge you can anneal and forge to shape like any other piece of steel.

You will also need an old file that is made of tool steel - not all are.

 

[LRB]

What Mike said takes more time, but when you're through shaping, all that is needed is a temper in your kitchen range. Two, two hour tempers at 450° works well for a file. Otherwise, you anneal the file, grind it with only moderate concern over heat. Grinding and finishing is easier, but then you have to harden, and temper it. It is easy to over heat the steel in the annealing or hardening process, causing grain growth, which weakens the finished blade, but with care, can be done. Plus, you will need about a gallon of canola oil at least, to quench it in. I would suggest what Mike said to be the easiest course to follow, but you will still need to temper it, or it will be way too brittle.

 

[TinStar]

Thank you much gents! With the cool weather soon upon us and my shop uinsulated; this project may best wait till spring. Or maybe I should look at knife blanks as a possible route.

TinStar
Soli Deo gloria!

 

[Rifleman1776]

Yes, buy a blank. Grinding without proper softening will take a long time and ruin your grinder wheel. Spend the money on a blank instead of a new grinder wheel.

 

[Sperit de bois]

Check this site out www.atlantacutlery.com item 700188
700472
700396
there are other blanks available.
Don't know of the quality, but I figure they would be equal too a file.

 

[crockett]

A couple of points: the old files had good steel that made good blades but some newer files aren't that great. Also, before you grind off the teeth the file looks pretty large but after you are done grinding what is left is a lot smaller. Industrial hacksaw blades used to be good but once again I believe the teeth only have good steel these days.
Why not get some knife making catalogs from Texas Knifemaker's supply, Sheffield (Deland, FL) etc. You can get a nice piece of steel for a small sum. The 01 you can temper yourself or if you buy an air quenchable steel (440C, etc) Texas Knifemakers will temper for a small fee.

 

[buford87]

I would suggest knifemaking . com for knife supplies. You can get what you need to make some great knives there...............what yer top knot...........

 

[oldsoul]

Tin star, you asked the question after seeing the pictures of a couple knives I made on another post, and Im finally getting around to answering. Ill start off by saying that if you are using a smaller file, and if your knife design doesnt call for a lot of contour, you could just put it on the grinder and go to work. (a flap disk on an angle grinder works well for basic shaping, then move to a bench grinder for more precision work.)

That being said...First I cut a wood version of the knife I wanted, and then used that as a stencil to cut the knife blanks with a plasma cutter. Find OLD files that have USA stamps. The new steel just isnt the same. Then I used a bench grinder to shape the edge. The two keys I found are 1. making the edge even on both sides of the blade. (count the number of passes you make on one side, then flip the knife and do the same on the other side. This way you are slowly working both sides of the blade at once. 2. getting a good hollow grind. (look at the difference between a concave knife blade, versus a convex axe blade.) In order to get that super sharp cutting edge like on your favorite knife, it should be hollow ground.

Be careful about the file getting too hot, especially towards the end when the edge becomes very thin, and quench in oil often.

This is how I made all the knives in the pictures under the post "homemade gear from a new member". I am in the process of building a small forge so that I can properly anneal and temper my blades, but so far the blades seem to hold a good edge as is. I hope this helps, ill check back in case there are questions.

 

[Claude Mathis]

http://www.knifemaking.com

 

[Taygrd]

Howdy,
Files are very hard and brittle, not something you want in a thinned down cutting blade and getting them ready for a knife requires quite a bit of time.
Files need to be anealed since they are already hardened and are brittle. Grinding it will wear you out unless you aneal it. Old files are better, but the quality can be spotty from file to file. If you are going to spend that much time working on one get you some good tool steel and start from there.
1095 tool steel and 01 are good and forgiving steels to use. Been making knives for 16 years and I won't use files since I don't know if the file will come out good.

 

[TinStar]

For the price it seems easier to buy the 1095 steel and go from there.

TinStar
Soli deo Gloria!

 

[LRB]

Neither 1095 nor 01 are good beginners steels. 1095 especially not, and is not very forgiving at all. 01 will make a usable knife with a simple heat treat, but is really a waste of money if not heat treated by a contolled temp method such as a heat treat oven. 1095 is not easy to get a good heat treat on, unless one knows and understands it's particular requirements to achieve success with it. 1080,/84/85 is almost fool proof in heat treat, and can rival 1095 for a good blade. 1075 is also very good for a beginner. All these just mentioned can be heat treated easily, and with just the basics for a heat source. 01 and 1095 are great steels, but not for beginners with minimal equiptment.

 

[JamesG]

I agree with Wick about 1095 is not a good choice to began with. If you was a file knife look for a mill file made from Nickleson. Even the new work good. You can anneale the file can be done in camp fire or fire place. then shape the a angle grinder. the beveals use a bastard and then mill file and draw file. then use sand paper to polish the blade i start with 60 and work my way up to 120. Then heat treat in a fire, By takeing place a metal pipe with a closed on one end.Need to have some to hold oil that is long enough for the blade and little wiggle room around.It the oil well flare up so be prepared. Check it the edge with a chainsaw file, it should slide down the metal.then to a oven at 400 degree. you want a straw color. Might look into some books on knife makeing if you want to get into it. Good luck have fun be safe

 

[Taygrd]

Been working with 01 and 1095 so long I guess I do not consider them difficult. 1084 is an easy steel to use and perhaps it would be a better steel to start with. Still feel that files are hit and miss, but they are easier to obtain than some tool steels.

 

[LRB]

01 is a pussy cat to heat treat and is very forgiving , if done in a HT oven. I would venture to say, that as many as one third, possibly more, of the makers using 1095, do not get the heat treat that they think they get. I would guess that, at best, they get no more than a 1080/84 equivalent due to poor distribution of carbides, and pearlite formation, most often caused by too short of a soak time, too high of a heat, and too slow of a quench. Also, runs of 1095 from the mills seem to vary in quality much more often than the other 10xx steels.

 

[Taygrd]

I agree with the random quality of 1095, have had to alter my H/T times/temps on different batches. Each run of steel I get a destruction test is done to make sure it is right. Differntial heat treat is what seems to work best so I do that on all of them.