Make A Knife From A File

Just to give you an idea of what kind of wood I'm offering to give away, here's a picture.

DSCN6521.JPG


On the left are the matched scales I have no use for. As you can see they have a bit more than 4 inches of length and are about 1.75 inches wide and half an inch thick. The are stabilized.

In the center is a block of some highly figured wood I long since forgot the name of. It's 5.5 inches long, 1.5 inches wide and .75 inch thick. It was been stabilized.

Next over is a block of stabilized burl, but I don't remember what kind of wood it is. It is 5 inches long, about 1.75 inches wide and an inch thick.

On the far right is the block of lignum vitae. It is unstabilized (in fact it is so oily and dense it cannot be stabilized, nor does it need it). The block is 5.25 inches long, 1.3 inches wide, and 1.2 inches thick.

I do have other options, if none of those interest you. These were just chosen to show the sort of variety I have.

- Greg
 
This is what is great about this forum. Great info and great people.
This forum enables us very new guys access to the experience and wisdom of some highly skilled and helpful people.
 
hey again guys.

i have a question about grinding my file blade. it might be a little more math intensive than most knife projects, but here it goes.

if i know i want a 22 degree grind (thats not set in stone and i'm taking recomendations) and i know that the blade is 4 mm thick, cant i just draw where i need to grind? if you use those numbers, you get a right triangle where one side is 2 mm tall and the small angle is 11 degrees. using a tangent calculation, the base of the triangle should be 10.2891 mm long (and the hypotenuse is 10.4817 mm long, but that doesnt really matter). couldnt i just draw a line one the blank that is 10.2891 mm from the blade edge and just grind it down to that without any sort of jig? theoretically, if i can grind down to that line and the center of the blade's thickness, i should have and 11 degree grind (22 degrees when all is said and done).

anyone tried this?

also, i had a guy weld me a jig like greenpete's from some scrap metal. maybe that will work.
 
Robert Dark said:
Are you "REALLY SURE ABOUT THIS?" Can you direct me to your source of information?
Click to expand...

Nope, not REALLY sure. I was told that Don Fogg bought some steel from them and had it analyzed, and it turned out to be 1095. Also was told that a Nicholson rep said that it was 1095. That's where I got my information. And a lot of the new ones are indeed made in Mexico. I don't have equipment to analyze it myself, nor do I know how to go about it. So if someone has some hard facts, I would be interested as well.
 
So what about my idea for a 22 degree grind? I'm just kinda guessing because I don't know what would be best for a woodlore or bushcraft style knife.
 
tryppyr said:
Would you like a piece of known steel and a block of wood (or a pair of scale sized pieces) to use for your first knife? I can hook you up for free. I'll bet someone else would be willing to help in other ways too.

- Greg
Click to expand...

Happy Holidays Everyone!

New to this site as well..I am also interested in making my own blade for bushcraft/hunting chores. I havent acquired any material yet and was thinking about the old files discarded after heavy use. The whole rebirth of an old tool seems rather necessary, but I would gladly accept a piece a scrap steel or scales not being used. Feel free to contact me via email or pm...Thanks to whomever responds.
 
hey, i'm back.

i appreciate all the generosity tryppyr, but i might hit you up next time. for now, i think i have everything i need and i'm just gonna roll with it. my first try is gonna be with a file, some scrap wood, and a brass rod cut down to pin the handle together. pretty make-shift, eh? next time i am gonna try 0-1 tool steel and when i run out of scrap, i'll start trying nice wood. i'll also probably switch to real corby bolts after this one. i plan to do all the heat treating myself, but depending on how that turns out i may turn my knives over to you guys in the future.

my end goal is to make a decent woodlore clone for actual use (as opposed to display).

now my big question... at the lumber yard, they let me walk out with a piece of scrap oak. it's probably big enough to make 2 or 3 sets of handles. is oak very good? should i oil or treat it with anything special? remember, this is really just for me to practice. i'll use nice wood for my nice knives.

thanks all!
 
I would seriously go with the known steel, nice wood, and professional heat treat.
For the cost of shipping to heat treat, you could end up with a knife which will last longer than you and your kids.
Seriously, take the steel, go with a simple, proven design and proceed slowly. You'll be very happy you did.

Never turn down a good thing.
 
stabman said:
I would seriously go with the known steel, nice wood, and professional heat treat.
For the cost of shipping to heat treat, you could end up with a knife which will last longer than you and your kids.
Seriously, take the steel, go with a simple, proven design and proceed slowly. You'll be very happy you did.

Never turn down a good thing.
Click to expand...

+1 - VERY wise words here.
 
so, i really need to know before i run off and do something stupid... this is where i got the idea for a file knife (after long-admiring woodlore style knives). ever since watching this, i have tried to do as much research as possible. especially reading and re-reading all the info here (stickies, etc...)

is this guy off his rocker? i think i might adjust his annealing technique. will heat treating this way turn out well? at the very least, it might be interesting for you to watch, and doesn't take long.

http://www.greenpete.co.uk/knife-making/knife-making-video/

also, oak handles? yea or nea? or neah? or nay? or ni?
 
Hi. Sorry it took me so long to respond... I stopped tracking this thread. If you're still interested in a piece of steel and wood to use, send me an email with your mailing address and I'll be glad to set you up with a nice piece of Aldo's 1084 steel and a pair of scales or a block of wood for the handle.

allwayzfishin said:
Happy Holidays Everyone!

New to this site as well..I am also interested in making my own blade for bushcraft/hunting chores. I havent acquired any material yet and was thinking about the old files discarded after heavy use. The whole rebirth of an old tool seems rather necessary, but I would gladly accept a piece a scrap steel or scales not being used. Feel free to contact me via email or pm...Thanks to whomever responds.
Click to expand...
 
Sure, Patrick.

My selection of scales is very limited (two kinds). My selection of blocks is much larger.
 
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