making knives from odd steel

[John47]

Wouldn't the rail road spike be mild steel???? I have a couple of cold chisals I made some 40 plus years back from my apprenticeship. We spent some time with a blacksmith, they were made from old coil springs. Heated and annealed first, shaped, ground, hardened and tempered.

Not sure about files, but something tells me they are case hardened, so you might have problems with those.

 

[Bird]

My parents moved to Alaska in the Fall of 1965. Someone gave my Dad a heavy piece of an industrial hacksaw that simply had a lot of black electrical tape wrapped around one end for a handle and then one edge had been sharpened for skinning moose and caribou. Dad said it was hard to sharpen, but when sharpened would hold an edge better and was a better skinning knife than any store bought knife he'd ever tried. I wish I had a picture of what looked like a piece of junk, but I don't. Anyway, in the mid-70s Dad gave it to me. I really had no use for it, but a neighbor friend took it and worked on it. I still have it and the photo is what it looks like today.

 

[Soundguy]

wow! nice!

 

[PILOON]

When I was in the air force reserves I spent free time grinding a file into a skinning knife.
Once we were skinning a moose and all the blades available quickly dulled 1/4 way into the task.
My home made 'file knife' out lasted all the others, like about a 6:1 ratio!
A file blade can sure keep a fine edge for a long time.
Another source is a heavy duty power hack saw blade.(sawsall type)
I have one that I use to cut gyprock all the time. Lasts days B4 needing to hone it again.
I much prefer it to the usual Olfa style snap off blades.

 

[Bird]

When I was in the air force reserves I spent free time grinding a file into a skinning knife.

Funny coincidence. The neihbor friend I mentioned making the knife for me retired from the air force active reserves (OSI).

 

[nue2farm]

Don't forget farrier rasps and files. Horseshoes will work also. My Dad was a welder and used to make spear points from old files. He made machetes also.....

 

[Soundguy]

that reminds me.. I did see a horseshow knife once.

hm.. one moe thing to do.. I have spare horseshoes..

soundguy

 

[yomax4]

My buddy makes Throwing Axe's out of old Woods type brush cutter blades. He has a forge and uses coal to heat everything. These Blacksmith guys can make just about anything.

 

[brucewj]

I made this knife from a file. I made the sheath for it also

 

[Bird]

Very nice work, Bruce.

 

[crash325]

Look up "black smithing" on the web. I don't have it book marked, he goes into tempering and most all forge work.

RR spikes are a step up from mild steel, will make a good knife that holds an edge. Early "Buck Knives" were all made from old files. The plant was just up the street from my business in "El Cajon CA". Stopped in a few times and watched them work

In refference to the earth forge, a forge does need a grate to hold the fire on and allow air to blow through it.

If you build a forge out of a barrel or water tank, weld a 2" pipe "T" under the grate area, put a sliding gate on the bottom and a short pipe going out. Attach a flex hose to it. The gate will let you control air flow and clean out coals that fall through.

My old forge is still a hand cranker, sure keeps you busy, cranking & forging. Will put a vacum on it some day.

Will be posting and article with pictures on forged hooks, "T" hooks and other fun toys.

 

[Soundguy]

ditto that for sure!

 

[Bird]

My parents moved to Alaska in the Fall of 1965. Someone gave my Dad a heavy piece of an industrial hacksaw that simply had a lot of black electrical tape wrapped around one end for a handle and then one edge had been sharpened for skinning moose and caribou. Dad said it was hard to sharpen, but when sharpened would hold an edge better and was a better skinning knife than any store bought knife he'd ever tried. I wish I had a picture of what looked like a piece of junk, but I don't. Anyway, in the mid-70s Dad gave it to me. I really had no use for it, but a neighbor friend took it and worked on it. I still have it and the photo is what it looks like today.

It just dawned on me that I said "hacksaw" when that was a heavy "file", not a hacksaw blade.

 

[RoMad]

I have made a few fillet knives from German hacksaw blades that we used to use at work. they were about 1/8" thick and made good knives.
I have a very nice knife that a friend of mine made. He made it out of an old sawmill saw blade. He made some very nice knives and sold them for $125 and up.

 

[Bill Hoffman]

To forge steel, you need to heat it up to bright red-pale yellow heat. You cannot get to those heats in a BBQ grille. To Harden steel you need to heat it up to approx 1500 degrees F. or critical temperature, and then quench and temper. Generally tempering temps are in the vicinity of 400 degrees F. You can play with a BBQ grille, but you won't make a suitable blade.

Old files can make a good blade if you anneal them first, forge, shape, and
finish, then heat treat. Good, old files (Nicholson) are usually W-2 steel which
will make a good knife, if properly heat treated.

Railroad spikes are more or less mild steel, unless you get ones which are marked "HC".
The "HC" spikes can be hardened to make a suitable blade.

Bill Hoffman
Apprentice Smith, testing for journeyman this year.
American Bladesmith Society

 

[Soundguy]

To forge steel, you need to heat it up to bright red-pale yellow heat. You cannot get to those heats in a BBQ grille. To Harden steel you need to heat it up to approx 1500 degrees F. or critical temperature,

i don't recall anyone mentioning forging in a bbq grill.

soundguy

 

[Bill Hoffman]

Post #8. BBQ grille won't get hot enough to normalize and anneal steel.
It might be ok to temper.

 

[aczlan]

I've made crude ones out of power hacksaw blades. I was more interested in function than form and wanted to use them because they were cheap(free).

I have done that with sawzall blades and 1/2" copper pipe. Works great for a saw.

Aaron Z

 

[studor]

I have a 13" planer with disposable blades (two sided). I save the blades after they are not usable in the planer and make blades out of them for use in the shop (like gasket scrapers) They would make a dandy small knife with some cool vent holes in the middle!

 

[Soundguy]

Post #8. BBQ grille won't get hot enough to normalize and anneal steel.
It might be ok to temper.

is that what drawing was?

soundguy