bored inside, make knives

[nekshot]

Harvesting veggies was frustrating with our knives. The good ones wifey would not let me use in garden and the cheap ones didn't hold the edge. I took a old dewalt saw-saw blade and ground it down and tried putting a edge on it and wow, you coul125659d almost shave with it! I wanted the serrated edge maintained so I could harvest asparagus and it worked perfect. I liked it so much made another one with serrated edge ground off for in the kitchen. These really get sharp- cold cheese you can slice almost paper thin. For a wee amount of mulla (acraglass in handles) they are almost free. They are 2 years old now.
if bored this winter make knives, and I don't know how to post pictures properly as you can see!

[pworley1]

Great idea.

[Hamish]

I'm told you can make some very nice filet knives from the longer blades,,,,,,

Always like seeing where guys have figured out a use for something that most throw away!

[Von Gruff]

I had never though to use that type of blade for a knife but I made my rabbit knife from a commercial hacksaw blade in the late 70's and I am still using it today. It is just a little feller but there was /is length on these blades to make something longer if wanted. It has skinned and dressed many hundreds of rabbits and has done double duty as leather knife at times. Take and holds a fantastic edge. The other is my general hunting knife that I made from a bench saw blade
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv39/VonGruff/Knives/Photo1598_zpsc76189c3.jpg (http://s667.photobucket.com/user/VonGruff/media/Knives/Photo1598_zpsc76189c3.jpg.html)
Another use for the circular saw blade being an ulu which I have found to be a very handy bit of kit in the kitchen.
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv39/VonGruff/Knives/006_zps58da3eb3.jpg (http://s667.photobucket.com/user/VonGruff/media/Knives/006_zps58da3eb3.jpg.html)

[leebuilder]

Recycle, reuse and reclaim. Very nice work! I have made knives from files and skillsaw blades. Beware though some blades are "bimetal" and are a waste of time, made the mistake a few times.
Nothing like making a knife for your needs.
Love it.

[Mozz]

Dam, great minds think alike....

I have just started to put one together over this Christmas Break... I hope it turns out as good looking as the one in the picture.

[Multigunner]

I made a skinner from half a nail saw blade and it was sharper than a straight razor, more like a high quality scalpel. Hard enough to whittle a steel bolt and still hold its edge. I gave that one to a friend. I still have the other half of that blade, been meaning to make another skinner from it one day.

[Multigunner]

Excuse me. That was a power saw blade not a nail saw blade.

[Hamish]

Recycle, reuse and reclaim. Very nice work! I have made knives from files and skillsaw blades. Beware though some blades are "bimetal" and are a waste of time, made the mistake a few times.
Nothing like making a knife for your needs.
Love it.

Is there a quick and dirty way to tell the bimetallic blades?

[725]

Well done!!

[country gent]

Ive been thinking here lately of firing up the forge and anvil and making a heavy cleaver. The old man that owned the farm before Mom and Dad had on hanging in the tree where he did chickens turtles and other assorted animals. It had a blade almost 3/8 thich at the back 6" or so wide and 8-10" long. a full tang in the heavy handle. As kids we spent alot of time there helping them out and That cleaver worked better than any axe of the jobs used. It was heavy had the momentum to take a head or feet of in one shot. I learned to clean turtles and other small game from him. At the estate aution the autioneer saw it hanging and grabbed it up His call started with a fine piece of americanna is on the block and every antiuqye collectors ears perked up and the bidding went crazy. I know this old gentleman made this himself. Id like to see another hanging on the old maple tree there, and it would be real handy when helping Mom do chickens or other tasks. It would be to heavy for in the kitchen as most counters and cutting boards today wouldnt stand up to it. Could be an interesting project. get the form hammered out from cold roll split the edge and inert a piece of 3/32X1/2 d-2 tool steel and hammer blend to the cold roll. I do like the looks of the ulu and can see alot of uses for it in the kitchen.

[nekshot]

Ive been thinking here lately of firing up the forge and anvil and making a heavy cleaver. The old man that owned the farm before Mom and Dad had on hanging in the tree where he did chickens turtles and other assorted animals. It had a blade almost 3/8 thich at the back 6" or so wide and 8-10" long. a full tang in the heavy handle. As kids we spent alot of time there helping them out and That cleaver worked better than any axe of the jobs used. It was heavy had the momentum to take a head or feet of in one shot. I learned to clean turtles and other small game from him. At the estate aution the autioneer saw it hanging and grabbed it up His call started with a fine piece of americanna is on the block and every antiuqye collectors ears perked up and the bidding went crazy. I know this old gentleman made this himself. Id like to see another hanging on the old maple tree there, and it would be real handy when helping Mom do chickens or other tasks. It would be to heavy for in the kitchen as most counters and cutting boards today wouldnt stand up to it. Could be an interesting project. get the form hammered out from cold roll split the edge and inert a piece of 3/32X1/2 d-2 tool steel and hammer blend to the cold roll. I do like the looks of the ulu and can see alot of uses for it in the kitchen.

This jogs my memory! The bottom of a field plow has a plate of straight steel with holes for bolts(I forget the correct name- not the frog) That piece would be a awesome piece to use. I am gonna do that when I change mine, maybe next year.

[CastingFool]

A piece of old car or truck springs (the flat kind) would make a fine cleaver. I have made knives out of old industrial hacksaw blades. Ground off the teeth, as they were hardened, but the back of the blade was soft enough to drill holes for the handle and filing to shape, yet would hold an edge.

[leebuilder]

Reply to Hamish
if i grind from the edge to the center of the blade, usually you can see the difference in the metal. Or I get a sliver and harden it now. The best way. If it is not marked bimetal.

[nekshot]

I found some laminated blades seemed to melt on the grinding wheel

[tomme boy]

Anyone want to put a handle on a little skinner blade for me? I even have the wood. A really nice piece of burl walnut.

[bedbugbilly]

Neat! Great idea!

A couple of years ago, I picked up a knife that a guy made utilizing one of the blades from a pair of the old style squeeze (scissors style) sheep shears. He cut the blade off leaving part of the piece that is attached to it and used that to expxy into a stag type horn handle. Those blades really hold an edge! It's a little different as the blade is somewhat convex but mine will slice anything from cheese to steak.

I don't have it with me here in AZ (it's back in MI) or I'd post a photo of it.

[cabezaverde]

I sent the link for this thread to my son who is a farrier and blacksmith. He really liked some of the ideas you guys presented.

[Antietamgw]

l125659

That's a great idea. I'm going to put a few blades in handles and use them for cutting the wrap or twine on round bales. It's hard on good knives and junk ones don't hold up.

[customcutter]

Some great ideas here. I used to make knives from ATS-34. I especially liked the uloo from a circular saw blade. I used to work at the phosphate mines and when we would pack the pumps we had to cut the 1" packing to length depending on the shaft diameter of the pump. The guys would grap a cheap 1" scraper and run it across the bench grinder a few times. They help an edge suprisingly well and were cheap.

[ABluehound]

I believe the old industrial hack saw blades are high speed steel I made many fillet knives out of them over the years. Be careful not to get the steel too hot when making them. HSS is tough to harden properly without good temperature control and without a proper temper in the steel you would be better off sharpening a butter knife.

In my youth I got my hands on old files that were worn out from a friend of mine who said they were tool steel and suggested I could anneal them and grind out some knives. I made several very nice knives (including a double edge boot knife I carry to this day).
Start by heating them and letting them cool slowly between graphite slabs or fire brick that were also heated in the forge. Then grind the tang long enough for a handle and round the end and threaded it, shape the blade by grinding and polish it (it cuts down on the scale build up in hardening), and then harden it again by heating and quenching in oil. Then stack the handle with a finger guard, leather skives and a screw on brass butt piece to keep them tight and shape the handle (glue helps too). If you get a file that is big enough you can make them with a full tang and put slab scales on. The knives I made hold an edge for an incredibly long time. There is a little more to tempering and then softening the edge again to make it easier to sharpen but…
I have also made simple knifes without all the annealing and hardening just by grinding the files, but it ate up grinding wheels. It also left the blade hard, brittle and difficult to sharpen.

I have also made small knives using the biggest stamped concrete nails (High carbon steel) I could get my hands on. They make awesome detail carving and bowling knives and if you are good, you can make some nice folders out of them. I can’t think of an easier way to get your hands on high carbon steel without taking leave springs off your truck.

[Remiel]

neat idea, but when i am done with sawzall blades they are beat, bent and warped, so no good for knives.

[bedbugbilly]

I went back and hunted up a photo of the knife I spoke about in a previous post on this thread that was made from the blade of an old fashioned "sheep shear". Sorry for the other items in the picture but it's the only one I had of the knife. These blades really hold an edge and the possibilities are unlimited on what you could use for a handle.

Just for added information - the holster/cartridge belt is one I made a few years ago for my Ruger New Vaquero. The holster is modeled after an original one that was made at Tombstone in the late 1800s.