Need help to make own drawknife

[aloehunter]

Hi to all you gents
 

I need assistance in the form of dimentions,profiles and any kind of know how to assist me in making my own drawknife.

I am residing in South Africa and the mention of the word drawknife =  :confused:to hardware dealers local.  

It is also very expensive to order a drawknife from the states due to the exchange rate.

I have made many boardbows and want to experiment with local staves such as Wild Olive as i am convinced it has more or less the characteristics of your Osage though not as beautifull.

I find the forum very helpfull and informative as primitive and traditional archery are still in the infant stages in South Africa.I have assisted and mentored a view friends in making Bord bows and the flame is starting to burn brighter  already.

Regards

John from the "Dark Continent"

[Falk]

Hi John!

I know of at least one drawknife in SA, because I left it there for my PH, to try his hands on wood. Though, shortly after my stay he moved on to Oz and left drawknife and my scrapers with his brother. He just phoned me the other day and mentioned they should be still there and if he should tell his brother (again) to shipp them my way. But I certainly had to replace my tools since I was back and you'r welcome to take the old ones if you are interested in them?! I need to talk to the guys and clear it up of course    
PM me a postal address (and phone number if you like) which I can forward to my PH's brother in SA. Maybe you need to pay him the postage ...

One thing must be clear though, you'll need to show us pics of what you did with my beloved and already experienced bow making tools! Okay?!
Here is an old photo where you can see the things depicted: the scrapers and the SMALL drawknife I took down to SA in 2005
 

Cheers,
Falk

[calgarychef]

John, it seems you might have found your solution!!  You can probably disregard my e-mail.

Cheers

The chef

[Falk]

John, e-mail sent ...
-------------------------------

Update:

John,
I am terrible sorry, but I have to dissapoint you  :(  I just received an e-mail from Oz: The tools are gone!
Apparently my PH made his brother send them back to me - actually quite some time ago - but they never emerged! I must have gotten something confused on the phone the other day or we were sidetracked and I didnt hear all of the story?!

I hope this will not break your neck or heart now!? To make good a little I'll give some advise on how to make a draw knife on your own - okay?

Find some old vehicle with leave springs. Shouldnt be to much of a problem in SA, not?! Preferably find a small car and disregard the Land Cruisers and bigger ones. Cut a choice piece of steel from a spring with a disc sander/grinder. Forge or grind it into the shape you desire. Dont overheat when cutting/grinding if you didnt want to go through annealing and hardening later on.
Big and curved knives should be fairly easy too. I prefer a small and flat one for most works on a stave though.

Have any taxidermy close by? They use some drawknife-stylish thingy to clean the flesh side after tanning. Maybe you can get one there?

Hope this helps,
Falk

[aloehunter]

Falk no problem thanks for trying to help and the DIY information

John

[razorback]

You can also use some lawnmower blades to create a draw knife. I have seen one made that was used to remove bark from pine logs. Wasn't real fancy or precise but with some modification it could work well.

[aloehunter]

razorback must say the lawnmower blade also make a lot of sense thanks for all the help.

[mox1968]

i made this drawknife from an old piece of flat bar ,the blade is about 4" long and for the handles i drilled a hole in a couple of bits of ash branch and glued in.used an angle grinder to edge it and a sharpening stone I dont know much about hardening etc but find it keeps a good edge for what I need.

[mox1968]

sorry not got a clue how to get the pics up on screen,will mess around with it.

[mox1968]

you can email me if you want pics,if i cant work out how to get them up.
john

[mox1968]

ok last chance. [/IMG]  [/IMG]

[mox1968]

dont know if that helps ,im not a pc (obviously)

[John Scifres]

I amde one real close to what mox1968 made.  It is made from an old file.  It works OK on wood but I made it to grain hides.

[Eastern Hunter 14701]

aloehunter

The link below leads to a site that shows how to make a 4 in. draw knife from a piece of steel.
 
hope this helps.

 http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?album=141&pos=0[/IMG]

[chrisg]

hi Aloehunter, see you also on anchorpoint too Ha ha, trad world is small. Why did we not see you at our bowmaking workshop in March, nice drawknives there. One thing I noticed is that the broader blade and flatter handle works well for starting staves. It is far mpore effective than narrow or finer ones. Also a nice slight convex curve helps. I have one made from a file, it is great for finishing but hard work with a new stave.
Chrisg

[razorback]

Eastern Hunter. Thanks for that site. Those plans look great and easily adaptable to any size drawknife. Do you know what steel is used and were to get it.

[Eastern Hunter 14701]

Razorback
The article I found with this site called for 1/8 X 1" cold rolled steel 9 inches long. I'm sure any piece of 1/8 thick steel would work. You might be able to fine this type of steel in a tractor supply store or a local machine shop.

Glad this was of help  

[dobermann]

You can make a draw knife out of, garden clippers, that have a 6'' or 7'' blade. All you have to do is, weld a pice of steel on the one end and make a handle , make sure it's the same angle as the existing handle.

[Bryan Bondurant]

Any good sized knife can be used as a draw knife to draw cut. While it is not as good as a forged, balanced, and properly heat treated Draw Knife. A large knife is certainly useful as a tool to draw cut with.

  Machetes are a little flimsy but they can work if that's what you have. If you need to you can dull the sharp edge off the non handled end of the knife to make it a little safer but what I do is use a rag which I wrap around the sharp end to hold it. I also do this with files which I use to make steel items with, its the same principle just a slightly different name, Draw File.

  If you can find a big rasp you can do the same thing and it will take a good bit of material off while you are shaping. Any of this can work for a couple project bows but I do appreciate a good draw knife.  

  Anyone that does improvise in the field or at home in using a knife to draw cut needs to pay extra attention to safety. Safety cannot be overemphasized.