Sawblade knife tutorial

[Phoenix 1967]

First we select the victim. You’ll notice that the blade has carbide tips…Hmm better check to see if it’s hardenable
 

Heat one edge to red hot….

 


Dunk it quickly into water…

Lock it in the vice…

 

Make sure the tooth that’s showing is the one you heated and quenched…

Rap it with the hammer…
 
 

Ping!! A nice clean Break. This means that the steel is hardenable, so we can now start making a knife from it!

Back into the fire till it's red hot and then let cool

 

Draw out your design (there’s a limit to the size of knife you can get out of a 7 ¼ “ sawblade) Since I want it full tang, I’ll make a little kitchen utility design.

 

[Phoenix 1967]

Now we get to the scary part. The angle Grinder is one of the most useful tools you can own, but it also houses the greatest potential for harm to oneself. On thin material like this, I like to score along the line (not cutting all the way through) then work it back and forth till it breaks. This helps minimize the chance of the cutting wheel sticking in the cut and avoids many painful (and sometimes embarrassing) incidents.

 
 
 
 
 

Here’s our rough cut blank after a little cleanup on the bench grinder

 

[Phoenix 1967]

Before we continue, lets talk a little bit about edge geometry. Yup, that's right, MATH!
 
 
As you can see, a simple drawing can help you figure out how wide the bevel should be. I chose an angle of 22 1/2 to dive this little knife a durable edge. the bevel should be 1/8 in per side. this works with thicker blades as well, for setting up the primary bevels.
Now I'm going out to make my coffee can forge!

So here's what you need for a quick and dirty forge (BTW, playing with fire is dangerous, so don't come cryin to me if ya burn yer chicken nuggets)
 
 

We have a one lb coffee can, a 3 lb coffee can, a weller propane torch and....
Dirt!
 
 

Ram the dirt tigtly around the outside of the indside can
 
 

Viola! Now we need a hole in the can for the torch head. I ut the hole angling toward the right and forward. this helps with a swirl action.
You can use a drill bit to make the hole if you want, I just drove a sharp piece of steel through, followed by my high priced custom made punch (grin)
 
 

[Phoenix 1967]

Now insert the torch head in the hole
 
 

Note that I left the air holes for the torch head on the outside of the can

 
 
Insert a piece of burning paper, and turn on the gas

 

Now here's the trick. By itself, the propane torch does not have enough BTU's to heat the cubic inches inside our forge. So we add a handfull of charcoal.
 
 

Once the charcoal is burning well, turn off the torch, grab a piece of tubing for a blowpipe (1/4" pipe works well) remove the torch, and blow into the hole. If you put a 90 deg bend in your blowpipe, you can watch. You don't need to hyperventilate doing this, just breath in normally through your nose, and breath out through your mouth and the tube. There is an almost Zenlike satisfaction that settles over you when you do this.
 
 
 

[Phoenix 1967]

When it's a good even red, Quickly dunk it in the oil. There will be a momentary flash of fire, so don't panic.
 
 
 

I Edge Quenched this piece (evident by the color stripe on the edge.) You dunk just the edge till it looses color, then dunk it the rest of the way till it stops bubbling.

 
 

Now we have to polish a spot so we can see the colors when we temper. Tempering makes the steel a little less hard, but a lot more tough.

 

[Phoenix 1967]

This is a tool I use a lot for polishing. It's a section of polypropylene guiderail from work. I cut strips from a self adhesive disk to stick on it. This tool is great for removing the high spots.

 
 
 

Ready to temper!

 

Heat the spine of the blade with the torch slowly, untill the colors appear. I went for a brown/purple on the spine, and a dark straw for the edge.

 

After it cools, turn it over (blade down) in the vise. The vise will act as a heat sink to help prevent the blade from overheating. Temper the tang to an even blue. Note the line where the soft temper stops.

 

I drilled some holes in the tang for the bolsters and the pins, and here's where we sit tonight.

 

[Phoenix 1967]

Woke up to snow on the anvil today (in South Carolina!) ... Looks like I need to build a fire first!
 
 

Now just 'cause this is a little knife made from a piece of junk don't mean it has to be ugly!
A coupla peices of copper busbar, and some 4 guage copper wire for pins should make a pretty bolster and butcap. Now I'm giving up my secret for making the bolster / handle / buttcap joints really tight so watch closely.

 

BTW, those mini boltcutters are Great!

Here's the pieces we start with...

 

Cut and file the pins flat.

 

Here's my secret for starting the peen. Note the 2 sawblades side by side beneath the bolster. This leaves 1/16" of the pin exposed. I give one side a couple taps, turn it over and tap the other side.

 
 

[Phoenix 1967]

If your two bolsters skew a little, fix them now. (They often do during the peening)

 
 

Repeat this process with the butt pieces.

 

Now to select the handle material. I have some Brasilian Rosewood I got from a pallet at work, really dense, and really pretty.

 

Place the two pieces in the vice, and file the ends even with each other.

 

Put one piece on the underside, tight and flush against the bolster, and mark above and below the tang of the knife.

 

[Phoenix 1967]

Use a straight edge to connect the marks and cut your angle. Flip the blade over and do the same with the other scale. Put the two pieces together with the bottom edges flush, and even up the angled part. You should have two pieces now with exactly the same angle.

 

Put one scale in place, and tap till it tightens up against the angles. Drill your holes through that handle slab. Flip the blade over, and do the same with the other slab.

 

I've taken to using this type of epoxy. I get it next door at the dollar store and it cost's a buck. It has just enough to do one handle. 'Cause of the temp, it had the consistency of chewed bublegum.

 
 
 

I set the knife over by the burn barrel to cure, the only place warm enough.

After glueing, here's the mess.

 

[Phoenix 1967]

 

Filing, cutting, sanding, and we are starting to get there.
Tomorrow we'll finish it up.

 

After I went inside, I saturated the wood with superglue (cyanoacrylate)
You will note that the wood is Cross grained. Saturating the open ends with the thin superglue allows
it to seep into the wood, stabalizing the wood, and sealing the grain. This will prevent chipping of pieces off of the handle. I will also seal the entire handle with superglue once the shaping an polishing is done.

We started the day with the handle rough shaped
 
 

Those who do not own a belt grinder with a slack belt can use this method to round off and smooth everything (this is how I get all of the smooth contours on my handles) By varying the angle if the strip, and sawing back and forth, things round off smoothly and quick.
A little practice can provide very professional results.

 

To hide the pin I sand it down with the old sandpaper on a stick method.

 

[Phoenix 1967]

Finer and finer grits, then a good soaking in superglue. ( I use my finger to spread it, but I have leathery hands. A latex glove might be better for most people) Sand with 400 grit again, then a coat of polyurethane. DONE!! I'll get some better pics in the morning, but till then here's a coupla bad pics...

 
 

See, just cause it started out as junk, don't mean it has to be ugly!

[Phoenix 1967]

 

 

[woodsman1031]

I love it!

[BOFF]

Lawren!!!

WOW O'WOW!!!

Thanks for taking time in the pictures and the how-to information.

   

God Bless, David B.

[Phoenix 1967]

You are welcome all. I love showin off alla my high tech, high dollar equipment!. 'Sides, I'm kinda a camera ham, (long as I ain't in the pic)

       

You think this is bad, ya oughtta check out my Ski bow on the boyers bench LOL

[Montauks]

Lawren,
  When you initially heated a piece to red hot and whacked it with the hammer to break it, is that a test for high carbon content?
Gene

[Phoenix 1967]

That is a simple test to see if it will harden. low carbon steel will just bend, even though you quenched it.

[Steve Nuckels]

Wow!  That was fun!  Can we do it again!  LOL!

Thanks for taking the time!  I love the finished product!  Pallet wood!!  Who da thunk it!

I have several knives to make for nephews this year.  I'm trying it!


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IN GOD WE TRUST

[longbow55]

Could you make a knife from a old kaiser blade, I talking a blade probably 40 yrs old, using this same method.

[Phoenix 1967]

Those old blades were often made of L6 steel... an excellent knife steel. older ones are usually thicker too. Do the quench test like I showed you to be sure. I would suspect that yes, it would work well.