Knife makers

MSFARMALL · Jan 26, 2020

Larry posted picture of his neat spoon making skills so here is my second attempt at making a knife from circular saw blade. Any knife makers out there?

MSFARMALL · Jan 26, 2020

Forgot picture!

glennster · Jan 26, 2020

a friend of mine is a hobby knife maker. he likes to make knives from a farriers hoof rasp. i always wanted to try and and make sword. supposedly truck leaf springs are good to start with.

matthies · Jan 26, 2020

Had a friend show me the sword and machete that he made from leaf springs. Didn't believe it until he showed me the center bolt hole that he didn't quite fill in good on one with the welder. They were intimidating.

Mike(NEOhio) · Jan 26, 2020

My friend's son has been making them for a while. He's been on "Forged in Fire" and "Knife or Death". Search Knives by Mark for his website. Not the same as Mark's Knives.

2x4 · Jan 27, 2020

I used to have a chain saw shop. Saved the worn out bars for a guy that made knives from them. He took the laminated (roller nose) bars apart but made heavy knives from the solid bars.

SVcummins · Jan 27, 2020

Tried it then realized I?m neither an artist nor a craftsman

steel · Jan 27, 2020

Made for Dad, mostly done with files in the basement. 440 stainless steel with micarta scales.

Steve@Advance · Jan 27, 2020

Forged In Fire, I like to watch that.

It is impressive what the good knife makers can do when they are given a pile of unknown scrap metal to work with!

How they can pick the right metals out and actually make something functional, given the time frame, and what they have to work with, is what separates those who know their business!

Billy NY · Jan 27, 2020

A friend at work has been doing this as a hobby. Some of his equipment is of his own manufacture, all very inexpensively, but functional. I have one that he made, slight flaw but very sharp and a prized possession regardless. There is a lot of trial and error in the learning process, some due to limitations of the equipment he was using. I think he's more talented than he believes based on same and later works are much improved. It's always a fun conversation about what he's currently working on. I went to my collection of very dry, obscure wood that you don't necessarily find very often in workable sizes and donated some like Buckthorn, Staghorn Sumac for handles/grips. I've got more stock of that for some future use, but thought it would be cool to see what he could do with it.

msfarmall1 · Jan 27, 2020

Thanks to all who responded. Those are some beautiful knives and beyond my skill level.

dr sportster · Jan 27, 2020

It is so much more than just pounding hot steel on an anvil. The guys who do best on forged in fire seem to understand the heat treat better than others .Every once in a while {forged in fire } a blade snaps during testing. You can't sell a two hundred dollar knife that may snap. It is all about the heat treat.

rlp in Co. · Jan 27, 2020

This is a knife that my Dad made. It was made from a file. Who knows how many cows were butchered with it or how many chickens my Mom cut up with it. I wouldn't take a $1000 for it.

Steve@Advance · Jan 27, 2020

Yep, heat treat, (at least what we send out and have done for the machine shop), is an extremely exacting and controlled process.

Ever so often in an emergency, I will try heating something small and unimportant with the rose bud and see if it will harden. It's a guessing game at best.

I can't imagine trying to get something like a knife blade right using the techniques they use! And there is no way they can know either. Sure a file skate test will tell if it is hard, but something like a sword blade that has to flex, and come out straight... They must know some secret I sure haven't learned!

TimV · Jan 27, 2020

I've been making knives for many years, usually to give to friends and family members or for my own use. I view them as tools, and rarely spend much time making them pretty, and they're typically made with whatever scraps of steel, wood, etc. I've got lying around. This includes most of the obvious raw materials of the amateur knifemaker, such as springs, railroad spikes, mower blades, and old rasps and files, plus occasional chunks of other materials I come across and find they're either already heat treated or can be heat treated without resorting to complex methods. The one below was made for a friend who's gutted several deer with it among other chores The handle's black walnut and maple with scrap brass ends. The black walnut was from a chunk he'd gave me and I had enough left after making the set of pistol grips I'd wanted it for to make this handle. The leather spacers were from an old pocketbook and the blade's from a corn harvester knife. It's shaving sharp and stays that way, but is a bear to sharpen as the steel's tough stuff.

jeffcat · Jan 27, 2020

That is VERY nice looking! Very professional.

dr sportster · Jan 28, 2020

I have a foundry mans book BY CW Ammen . He said a company hired him and gave him a hunting knife .He asked what it was for .The boss says "first time we see you grinding one of our files into a hunting knife your fired" . Which is why they gave out knives.

CKain(MI) · Jan 29, 2020

Well, I have a knife that puzzles me. It's home-made,not sharpened and is a peculiar metal. My best guess is Brass.(non-magnetic),11" long & weighs 9oz. Any ideas ?

Oliver 500 Wa · Jan 29, 2020

That would be bronze. Probably trying to replicate a knife from the "bronze age" era which pre-dated men knowing how to work iron. Not a cutting tool, but a stabbing tool.

CKain(MI) · Feb 1, 2020

Thank you Oliver !!

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