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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 04-18-2012, 01:25 PM
O∆N O∆N is offline
 
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Project 1

I've got two questions that would help me to no end if they could be answered as i can't rangle a single answer out of the internet.

1. I was told that if i bought metal of somewhere like knifekits.com i would just need to cut the knife out of it and not have to harden the material. Is this true?

2. There a good site to learn how to but rivets in for the handle.
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  #2  
Old 04-18-2012, 01:45 PM
czarjl czarjl is offline
 
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I can help with your first question.

You MUST heat treat the knife blade to harden it to be usable (unless you want to make a butter knife). My answer is assuming you are starting with a flat rectangular-ish piece of steel, were you are shaping the blade yourself. If you are doing one of the kits were the blade steal is already shaped and you are just adding handles, then most likely you do not have to HT the steel.

There are several places that you can send your blade to be heat treated if you need to. You can do a search for them on this forum or even Google.
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  #3  
Old 04-18-2012, 02:34 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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First, welcome to the forum. Second, fill out your profile so we know where you are - it can help a lot when we're trying to answer some of your questions. Third, please give us some kind of name to call you, most of us can't even type that delta symbol you're using (don't make things harder than they have to be!).

1. You were probably told that the steel would not need to be annealed and that would be true. That means you don't have to soften it before you can shape it into a knife blade. But, as czaril said, you will still have to harden it unless you bought a finished blade.

2. Yes, catalogs. The catalogs of most knife supply houses have small tutorials that illustrate the basics of knife construction. The simplest type of handle fastener to use is the Loveless bolt. It is also likely to be the strongest....


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Old 04-18-2012, 02:42 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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It would be theoretically possible to cut a knife out of hardened and heat treated steel but you would be making life a lot harder than it needs to be. As stated, most kit blades come ready to assemble and sharpen to a final edge.

Go to USA Knife Maker Supply. Besides knife making supplies, Tracy has a few tutorials on knife making that are free. Also look at the books he has for sale, I think that he has one that deals with installing handles and guards that's not too expensive. He also carries blades ready for finishing.

Doug


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  #5  
Old 04-22-2012, 08:26 PM
O∆N O∆N is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Auckland, New Zealand.
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Lightbulb Need some help and advice

Project:
To make an all purpose hiking knife for myself.

Materials:
Damascus steel mosaic DPMD11- Knifekits.com
Average piece of NZ Pine - Leftovers
other stuff? - ???

Tools:
Belt sander
Industrial drill thing
Welding torch (only means to harden steel)
???
???
???

So as you can see from the above i have no idea what I'm doing apart from the general idea of wanting to make a knife and hardening it with a welding torch

Any advice for me? Like what tools I need and whether Damascus is really the best steel to start with.

~O∆N
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Old 04-23-2012, 02:09 AM
metal99 metal99 is offline
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Youtube and google man your best bet is to start there
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Old 04-23-2012, 08:27 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Definitely NOT damascus! Damascus is far too expensive and would not harden properly with a torch. Or, you might get it hardened well enough to function as a knife but it will not etch cleanly if you harden it with a torch. If you're going to use a torch get some 1075 or 1080 or 1084 or some similar non-alloyed high carbon steel....


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Old 04-23-2012, 09:05 AM
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Eli Jensen Eli Jensen is offline
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If you get some 1080, 1084, 1095, or W2, you could do a hamon line. A nice etching alternative to damascus.
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  #9  
Old 04-23-2012, 05:39 PM
O∆N O∆N is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Rogers View Post
First, welcome to the forum. Second, fill out your profile so we know where you are - it can help a lot when we're trying to answer some of your questions. Third, please give us some kind of name to call you, most of us can't even type that delta symbol you're using (don't make things harder than they have to be!).

1. You were probably told that the steel would not need to be annealed and that would be true. That means you don't have to soften it before you can shape it into a knife blade. But, as czaril said, you will still have to harden it unless you bought a finished blade.

2. Yes, catalogs. The catalogs of most knife supply houses have small tutorials that illustrate the basics of knife construction. The simplest type of handle fastener to use is the Loveless bolt. It is also likely to be the strongest....
Thanks for the advice Ray, will do. So if I have to harden it can I do so without a forge? (i.e. use a welding torch)


Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug Lester View Post
It would be theoretically possible to cut a knife out of hardened and heat treated steel but you would be making life a lot harder than it needs to be. As stated, most kit blades come ready to assemble and sharpen to a final edge.

Go to USA Knife Maker Supply. Besides knife making supplies, Tracy has a few tutorials on knife making that are free. Also look at the books he has for sale, I think that he has one that deals with installing handles and guards that's not too expensive. He also carries blades ready for finishing.

Doug
Thanks Doug the tutorial was helpful but I'm more trying to make an actual blade than putting a knife together.

Last edited by O∆N; 04-23-2012 at 10:00 PM.
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  #10  
Old 04-23-2012, 05:42 PM
O∆N O∆N is offline
 
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I have started a more detailed thread called "need some help and advice"




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  #11  
Old 04-23-2012, 05:45 PM
O∆N O∆N is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Rogers View Post
Definitely NOT damascus! Damascus is far too expensive and would not harden properly with a torch. Or, you might get it hardened well enough to function as a knife but it will not etch cleanly if you harden it with a torch. If you're going to use a torch get some 1075 or 1080 or 1084 or some similar non-alloyed high carbon steel....
High Carbon steel because of the amount of carbon i would lose to the non-vacume environment?
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  #12  
Old 04-23-2012, 05:47 PM
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WynnKnives WynnKnives is offline
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I think he meant high carbon steel in the sense of just get a simple steel that has high carbon so it's heat treatable. Those steels are very forgiving in their heat treat as well, unlike damascus, and your higher end stainless types for example.
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Old 04-23-2012, 08:02 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Yes, what Wynnknives said. The steels that Eli listed would be good choices. If you don't have a forge or an electric heat treat oven - and you said you didn't - then you must stay with the simple unalloyed high carbon steels in order to be able to have a chance at achieving a proper heat treatment with only a torch. The more complex steels simply don't work well that way......


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