First knife

[Thisguy313]

Hey guys, Im new to this site but I have been looking into and studying custom knife making for a little while. I plan to start building my first blade (not handle) soon. It is one of those crappy 20 dollar bowie knives that has the hollow handles and mini survival kit in them. When you buy them, they have about an inch of tang and ridiculously cheap materials. I plan to remove the blade, and build a new one from scratch. That part is easy because its a hollow handle knife held in by a screw. So I will remove the blade but keep the handle and compass. I will be using a circular saw blade for the blade itself.
If you have any input, suggestions or comments feel free to post them. Thank you for you time.

[Ray Rogers]

First, welcome to our forums! Second, forget the circular saw blade unless it came from a lumbermill and the teeth on the blade are not carbide tipped. No point in replacing one crappy blade with another crappy blade. A piece of good blade steel from a reputable dealer only costs a few dollars. With known steel, you know exactly how it must be heat treated and what to expect each step of the way.

We're glad you want to learn to make knives and there's dozen's of us here willing to help. Part of learning to make a blade - a very big part - is knowing what to make it from. Get some good steel so we know how to help you and so you'll actually end up with a functional knife ...

[Thisguy313]

Also, if I decide to or some people think that I should, I might just make the blade a 6 inch kukri type blade. If anyone has experience with kukris for skinning and regular bushcraft, please tell me if I should go with the kukri style, or regular bowie.

[Thisguy313]

And thank you for the input, I will definately try to find good steel. I only wanted to use the saw blade because I heard they were strong and already heat treated. I havnt got a clue on heat treating.

[cnccutter]

good evening Guy.

I agree with Ray about the blade steel. might as well start your new found hobby on a good note. you said you didn't know anything about heat treating. there is a wealth of info here on the forum and the guys are ready to help anyone that wants to put in a little effort. I would recommend you get some O1 steel. it is readily available and I think pretty fool prof if you take a little care as you go along. you can harden it with a small torch and temper it in your kitchen oven.

you didn't say what tools you might have at hand. will you be doing this all by hand tools or use a little power?

as for the kukri style blade. it wouldn't be my first thought for a skinner, but don't let that deter you. make a knife you'll like and don't worry about what we think. most of us have styles / shapes we gravitate to. for me I would prefer something on the order of a Randal, or a Bob Loveless drop point for general skinning and camp life.

happy grinding

Erik

Erik

[Thisguy313]

Hey thanks for the input. I chewed over what you guys said and realised you are probably right. I asked around and found out that some local stores sell better steel than the saw blade. I will pick some up tomorrow and start work on the blade sometime this week. I want to get the blade done before the 23rd because I am going trapping and would like a good blade by my side.
I am going to save the kukri idea for my second or third knife and Im going to just stick with the bowie blade for now. I might post a few pics of the finished product if I can figure it out.

[Ray Rogers]

It's unlikely that you'll find better steel in a local store - not impossible but very unlikely unless the local store happens to be a steel distributor. You need some 440C if you are not going to heat treat this first one yourself. 440C will make a very high quality stainless steel blade and it is very easy and inexpensive to have it professionally heat treated although you'll have to send it to the USA unless you can find someone local. If you want to heat treat a blade yourself you'll should get some 1080 or 1084, that's the simplest carbon steel to heat treat with a torch.

And, you should probably forget about having this knife ready by the 23rd. You're not ready to move that fast. You'd have a difficult time getting a pre-made kit blade finished in that length of time....

[ckluftinger]

Check out www.knifemaker.ca for a Canadian heat treating service. He did a few stainless blades for me and he's GOOD!

[BCROB]

Originally Posted by ckluftinger

Check out www.knifemaker.ca for a Canadian heat treating service. He did a few stainless blades for me and he's GOOD!

I'm sending two RWL 34's for heat as we speak