Basic Knifemaking

Alan Smyith of Darkdale O.L.

1010 N. 6^th Street

Independence, Kansas 6301

620-870-9112

There are four steps to making a knife: get a piece of metal, make it look like a knife, make it cut like a knife, put a handle on it. That's it.

Step one expanded: Not just any metal, you want steel. The Bronze Age was better than the Stone Age but steel is superior to both. Suitable steels include the 10XX series, L-6, W-1 5160 and O-1. The metal needs to be annealed. You can do this in a wood stove, grill or forge.

Step two expanded: Before working the metal you need to have decided how it is to look. The main things which need to be decided include, but are not limited to, such things as fittings, blade profile, blade thickness, blade cross-section; (convex, flat, concave) and tang. (hidden, through, slab handle)

Through Tang

Partial Tang

Slab Handle

The metal can be removed with power tools or by hand. The concave grind is very difficult without power. Both the flat and convex grinds are relatively easy to achieve by hand. Grinding metal is just like sanding wood, it just takes longer. I start with a 36 grit grinding disk then move to 60 grit sandpaper. The last power work is usually 120 grit. You don't want to get too close to finished yet. The blade needs to be heat treated and it is usually done before you put all the work into a great finish on the blade.

Step three expanded: Heat treatment. The blade in the annealed state will bend. It will not hold an edge. To harden the blade it must be heated to a dull red color and quenched. The steels listed above will all harden in oil. There are also water and air hardening steels. Try those later. The entire blade should be heated to a dull red. The proper temperature is reached when a magnet will not stick. The blade should then be submerged in a flameproof container of oil. I use old motor oil. Purists will insist on various different oils, some moderately priced and some very expensive. The container should be deep enough to fully submerge the knife. Have a cover ready to slap on the container in case it flares up. There will be a lot of smoke as the blade cools. Keep the blade vertical and stir it around until it has cooled to the temperature of the oil. At this point the metal is very brittle. If you drop it the blade may shatter. This is an incredibly upsetting event should it happen to you.

The blade is ready to temper. The hardening will have made it black. Sand the surface shiny with 120 grit paper. It may help to use a solvent to get the oil off first. The blade needs to be heated gently to somewhere in the 350 to 450 degree farenheit range. Some makers use an oven set for the proper temperature and bake the blade for a couple of hours. The "neatest and coolest" thing in custom knives is a "graduated temper". Instead of heating the entire blade to the same temperature, the back is heated more than the edge. I use a propane torch and heat the back of the blade.  Hold the blade with the edge down and play the flame of the torch along the back. This softens the back for tough strength and leaves the edge harder for edge holding ability. Leave the edge about a "dark straw" color. Hrisoulas recommends a bright yellow for small knives, dark straw for larger knives like Bowies, etc. purple for swords and blue for things like rapiers which must be able to bb bent and spring back to shape. The softer the blade the less the chance of breakage because it is tougher, however, the knife will not take or hold as good an edge. The maker must compromise depending on the end use of the knife.

If you use a file you can skip all of this. It will hold an edge very well in the annealed state.

Step two Revisited: or Making it have a more finished look. You could stop now, sharpen and install a handle. It looks pretty rough though. Your blade should be finished to 120 grit before heat treating. The next four grits I've been doing by hand: 220, 300, 400, 600. They are available from automotive supply stores or good hardware stores. Use wet-or-dry paper and start with it just barely damp. That will help keep the grit which comes loose from the paper on the surface you are working. You get more mileage damp. Use each section of the paper only as long as it is still cutting. With the 200 and 300 grits that is not very long. Paper is relatively cheap and your arms will get tired. The sound of fresh paper is different from that of worn abrasive. For a typical 6" blade I would figure one sheet of 220 and 300, half a sheet of both 400 and 600. I cut a piece of pine to about 3/4" x 3/4" by 12" and wrap a sheet around it. If you try to just use the paper with no backing you will be rounding things over instead of straightening them out.

Warning: As you work the blade down it may develop an edge. This will cut. It HURTS! It makes your finger leak red stuff and may require stitches.

Sand the blade enough with each grit to remove the scratches from the previous grit. This is easiest to see if you change directions with each grit change. It is worth spending a few more minutes before changing to a finer paper. It takes much longer to remove scratches from two sized back since the fine stuff does not remove much. Take your time and be careful. At about 220 grit you are probably sharper than the average store-bought knife.

This system can be used to sharpen any knife. Wet-or-dry paper is a lot cheaper than a whole assortment of sharpening stones. Want more information? Search for "Scary Sharp" on the web.

Once your blade is finished except for final sharpening cover at least the cutting edge with several layers of masking tape. This is for your protection!

Step four expanded: Put a handle on it. This is purely a woodworking exercise unless you are doing a brass finger guard or something like that. Do the metalwork for that like anything else; cut, drill, and polish. It does not need to be heat treated. The closer things fit the nicer it will look. The guard can be brazed or riveted in place or held on with epoxy as part of the assembly step. When you decided tang style in step 2 you committed yourself to the handle construction method.

If it is to be slab handles the tang should have the full profile of what the handle is to look like. Clamp the tang to one scale or handle side and drill rivet holes from the tang side. Now clamp the other scale in place and drill through the whole sandwich, using the first holes as guides. This will help with rivet placement and alignment of the holes. A layer of epoxy glue under each slab will fill thin cracks and help keep everything snug. Brazing rod makes good rivets. Pean it a little on each side and file/polish smooth. Don't pean too much or you will crack the handle material. Epoxy in the rivet holes will help keep them in place too.

Clean the tang area, apply epoxy then insert rivets. Let it set up, trim the rivets close and pean slightly

 

 

If it is a partial tang you have in mind, then form the wood to the handle shape and use a drill bit which is slightly thinner than the thickness of the tang. Drill a series of holes in the handle and work the bit back and forth to make a slot. Drill straight and be careful not to stress the bit too much. It can break off in your handle and you will not like yourself. The tang of the knife is then heated to red hot and is used to burn the hole to exactly the right size. This works for horn handles too. Do the burn-in outside or in a well ventilated place. It stinks!!!!

A through tang handle requires a longer piece of metal to start with. It should be thinned down to go through the handle. You will need to thread the end so a nut can be installed to hold the knife, finger guard, and handle sandwich together. The nut can be plain or it can be as decorative as you wish. On a roundel dagger the whole roundel end could be the nut.

Selected Bibliography

Step-by-step Knifemaking David Boye, Rodale Press. 1977. A thorough discussion of modern techniques and tools. A great selection of different knife styles and uses of each. Probably a good place to start your book collection.

The Complete Bladesmith Jim Hrisoulas, Paladin Press 1987. A very good basic book. How to set up a shop, discussion of metals, steps in knife production, scappard making, etc. Hrisoulas is Master Atar in the SCA and has a Doctorate degree in Metallography. He does "historic styles"; functional not fantasy.

The Master Bladesmith Jim Hrisoulas, Paladin Press 1991 More of the same. A much deeper discussion of techniques.

The Pattern-Welded Blade Jim Hrisoulas, Paladin Press 1994. "Damascas" steel discussed and taught.

Knives and Scabbards Cowgill, Neergaard and Griffiths, The Museum of London, 1987. Knives and other cutting tools found in excavations in London. They date from the 12^th century. Styles are discussed and half of the book is outline drawings of knives at 1/2 scale. Copy at 200% and you have your pattern. Pattern source for period English knives.

Custom Knifemaking Tim McCreight, Stackpole Books, 1985. Ten different knife projects in ascending order of difficulty.

One I don't own (yet) but looks interesting: $50 Knife Shop Wayne Goddard, Krause Publications.

Sources: Jantz Supply, 800-351-8900 http://www.jantzsupply.com/

Texas Knifemaker's Supply 888-461-8632 http://www.texasknife.com