Making a patch knife?

[1BadDart]

I'm considering making a patch knife to go with my Virginia rifle build, something with a 3-4" blade with curly maple handles to match the rifle stock. What would be good to use for the blade?

I'm considering buying a HSS power hack saw blade, something 1 1/4" wide and .075" thick.

Thanks, Justin

 

[andy52]

Go on eBay, Etsy, etc, and look for some cheap, old hickory, Chicago cutlery. dexter, paring knives. Take the scales off and add your maple and you're done.

 

[1BadDart]

Great idea! I have three or four Old Hickory knives.

 

[user 49399]

Maybe not what you’re looking for but here’s a couple of mine. First one is made from a blade of an old broken pocket knife and and an antler tip handle.

Second one is a little paring knife I picked up at a thrift store for a couple bucks. Didn’t change anything, just made a sheath and used as is.

 

[DuncNZ]

I'm considering making a patch knife to go with my Virginia rifle build, something with a 3-4" blade with curly maple handles to match the rifle stock. What would be good to use for the blade?

I'm considering buying a HSS power hack saw blade, something 1 1/4" wide and .075" thick.

Thanks, Justin

I believe that used hacksaw blades are better , maybe they have been tempered by the heat of friction . In my University holidays I worked in a leather goods factory , the old guy who cut out all the hides use old hacksaw blades to make his knives out of ,He never ever used new ones , they were just a piece of hacksaw blade shaped on a grindstone then sharpened with an oil stone , the handle was just a wrap of the old fashioned cloth electrical tape , They were very very sharp .

 

[1BadDart]

Thanks guys, I work in a large chemical plant and will check with the maintenance guys to see if they have any used power hacksaw blades. If not I may repurpose a old kitchen knife.

 

[necchi]

Most "hack saw/band saw" blades today are bi-metal.
If ya wanna make a knife,, why not start with a proper metal blank?
The information for that has been shared here in the "Craftsmen" section for over a decade,, it's free to look.
You can put curly maple scabs on anything,,

 

[Piquant]

band saw blades make great fish fillet knives as well.

 

[1BadDart]

Most "hack saw/band saw" blades today are bi-metal.
If ya wanna make a knife,, why not start with a proper metal blank?
The information for that has been shared here in the "Craftsmen" section for over a decade,, it's free to look.
You can put curly maple scabs on anything,,

Yes most are bimetal, which are pretty much useless for knives but Starrett makes blades in high speed steel too.

I’ll check out the craftsman section, thanks.

 

[necchi]

Good, just remember that "patch knife" is a modern term,, a "knife" carried with a person is something that is used by that person for cutting things.
Nobody ever said knives only cut patches.
People make knives from many different kinds of salvaged metals,
They even take swords and make them into plow shares,, and plow shares can be hammered into swords.
Get it?
Basically what I'm saying is,, if ya wanna make something decent,, start with a good raw material.
Go to a second hand store,, find a high-carbon butcher knife,, shape it to what you want (slowly), it might be cheaper than a new Starrett hacksaw blade

 

[1BadDart]

Yes sir, I like good knifes and have been carrying Carl Schlieper Eye brand knives for 35 years now.

Having some extra pieces of stock material I thought a knife to match the rifle would be a fun project. I had a piece of hacksaw blade that was given to me along with some old tools from a retired machinist over 40 years ago but I can’t find it.

I can buy the Starrett blades for about $7.50 each but have to buy five of them. I’m in no hurry, so I’ll se what I can come up with. I do have a few Old Hickory butcher knives too.

Thanks, Justin

 

[necchi]

The Old Hickory is actually a good steel,, it's just that those hammer marks kinda take away the appearance of a nice finished blade made from them..
Believe me, we've seen a ton of'm here.
The post is usually "Hey, Give me Cudo's for my hand made patch knife",, then you look at it and think,,pfft, that's a ground down old hickory with split branch wood glued to it. But the "glue" is pine pitch, and the grinding that was done on a 8" bench grinder was done by hand,, so it's olde timey,,
Or it's 1930's butter knife, or a broken straight razor that some-how has become a "patch-knife" that's worn in a sheath made of old boot leather hung on a braided shoe lace so it can hang around the neck.
Don't get me wrong, it's good to know how to do those things,,

 

[Dave Fox]

Go on eBay, Etsy, etc, and look for some cheap, old hickory, Chicago cutlery. dexter, paring knives. Take the scales off and add your maple and you're done.

Good on you! I found what looks like a 19th Century butter knife with bone grip scales. Good carbon blade. takes and keeps an edge.

 

[French Colonial]

It also depends on the tools at hand and the ability of the operator.

What to make a knife out of is different for a guy with a forge, a mill etc. and the knowledge to use them versus bubba with only a propane torch and bench grinder. NOT CONDEMNING just saying it is different.

I like to use old files myself, always one or two that have dulled down to not my favorite any more status.

 

[user 49399]

It also depends on the tools at hand and the ability of the operator.

What to make a knife out of is different for a guy with a forge, a mill etc. and the knowledge to use them versus bubba with only a propane torch and bench grinder. NOT CONDEMNING just saying it is different.

I like to use old files myself, always one or two that have dulled down to not my favorite any more status.

I’m usually that second guy!

 

[toot]

I believe that used hacksaw blades are better , maybe they have been tempered by the heat of friction . In my University holidays I worked in a leather goods factory , the old guy who cut out all the hides use old hacksaw blades to make his knives out of ,He never ever used new ones , they were just a piece of hacksaw blade shaped on a grindstone then sharpened with an oil stone , the handle was just a wrap of the old fashioned cloth electrical tape , They were very very sharp .

they have the best steel in them. a lot of muzzleloading springs are made out of them!

 

[1BadDart]

Thanks for all the discussion and suggestions guys. I have a shop full of tools, but none for forging, and honestly I'm not looking to get that deep in knife making. It would be fun to learn as I like new challenges and making stuff. I'm not worried about this knife being correct for any period, all it'll need to do is hold a decent edge and not be ugly, well too ugly. LOL

 

[1BadDart]

A couple more questions. It appears that most use epoxy to hold the handles on and the rivets are more for decoration. What epoxy are you using? Are the rivets just epoxied in also? I could see that non braded rivets would help.

Thanks, Justin

 

[French Colonial]

Since you are not HC/PC why put rivets in at all, get some five minute epoxy and glue them on.

If you use rivets, counter sink the handles and with a ultra small ball peen hammer peen the pins into the counter sink and no epoxy required.

 

[andy52]

Some epoxies work well, some don't but they can all fail under certain circumstances. However, rivets of brass or steel will still be there when a wood scale is long gone.