You Can Make a Knife

Yes you can! It’s not that difficult and it’s a lot of fun too. With a few tips you can make a knife out of a file and be totally satisfied with the end result.

For my first homemade knife, I used all hand tools, but I’ll never do that again. I’ll provide a list of tools and supplies on a later post.

Heat It Up – Get your coals going and throw in your file. Use your blowdryer to stoke it and get the whole thing red hot.

Cool It Slowly – I put mine in a pile of sand. There are better ways to do this however. The slower it cools, the softer it will be when you’re ready to work it. Do not skip this step when using a file. It is too hard, and it’ll either break or wear out your blades and bits during the whole process.

Shape It – Cut out your profile using a hacksaw or angle grinder and drill your handle holes. If you chose to use a file for your knife material, this is where you can knock down the groves a little. Or if you prefer, sand them off completely. Personally, I like the look of the lines myself.

Grind the Primary Bevel – There are a lot of bevels to choose from. Once you’ve made your choice, take off a little at a time and keep it cool. Leave about a dime thickness at the cutting edge and don’t sharpen it yet.

Re-heat the Blade – Back it goes into the fire. Have a can of canola oil ready for the hardening process. I heat a piece of bar stock and stick it in the oil first to warm it up. Very important. Get the blade red hot again. If a magnet wont stick it’s ready.

Quench the Blade – While it’s red hot, stick it right into the warm oil. You might see flames. Don’t pull it out again unless you want to start a fire. Leave it there until the flames are out and move it around in the oil a bit.

Sanding – Get the gunk off of it. I started with 200 grit. Move up the grit scale to the desired finish, but don’t yet sharpen it.

Tempering – Preheat your oven to 300 degrees (this is why I use canola oil to quench it). Put the blade directly on the rack for an hour. If it turned a golden straw color it’s done. Put it in cold water to stop the tempering. If it’s gone blue or purple it’s ruined. Sorry.

Glue the handle scales – Drill and glue your handles. Clean off any glue from the blade portion with rubbing alcohol and a Q-Tip.

Shape and finish – Contour the handle and sand it to the desired look and feel.

Optional – I dunk the knife in white vinegar. High carbon steel is prone to rust if not protected. Putting it in vinegar will force a patina to help protect it. I like the way it looks too.

Sharpen It – This is what you’ve been waiting for. Choose your own method, but when you’ve finished you will feel relieved. Add a thin coat of 3 in 1 oil and this blade should last a lifetime.