Homemade knives with your own hands. How to make a quality knife at home. Manufacturing of steel billets
We are not always satisfied with the quality of the purchased instrument. Sometimes the most best option- make what you need yourself.
The knife is an object that has become firmly established in our lives. There are many photo instructions on how to make it. Definitely, this is labor-intensive process and not everyone can make a good blade at home. But made with your own hands, it will delight you with its quality for many years.
Tools
Selecting from the available equipment what is needed to make a knife is not so easy. Some tools will have to be purchased or rented additionally. However, a lot depends on the technology.
To make a knife by hand forging we will need the following:
- Large and small hammer;
- Bake;
- Coal;
- Blacksmith's tongs;
- File;
- Pliers;
- Sandpaper;
- Adjustable wrench;
- Grinding and grinding machine;
- Anvil;
- Bulgarian.
Metal selection
Before moving on to detailed instructions on how to make a knife correctly, it is important to carefully select the material from which it will be made, taking into account all the necessary technical characteristics:
- Wear resistance (resistance to abrasion and deformation; depends directly on hardness);
- Ability to withstand high temperatures;
- Strength (maintaining integrity when a certain external load is applied);
- Viscosity (the ability to hold its shape without deformation or destruction during use);
- Hardness (the ability to resist the penetration of foreign materials into its own structure).
Sketch
Before you make a knife at home, you need to have an idea of what it will look like, what to make a handle and sheath for it from, and what size it will be.
A preliminary sketch is drawn on paper, and then a labor-intensive work process begins, which takes place in several stages: making a knife blade with your own hands, a handle and a sheath with grinding and turning to the required parameters.
Blade making
The work technology will depend on what kind of workpiece is used for the knife. Can be purchased at hardware store a sheet of metal (plate) of a certain thickness and cut a blank according to the sketch. Temper the metal in a furnace. Then process it with a file or grinding machine.
It will be much easier when the blank for the future knife is made from:
- Old braid;
- Lawn mower blade;
- Double-sided file;
- Drills of suitable diameter.
It is important that the workpiece is thicker than the final blade obtained after processing.
Knife handle
What you can make a knife handle from is limited only by your own imagination.
Ancient craftsmen sought to make their blades a model of perfection, using all the available material at hand. Original ideas knife handles using whatever is at hand change over time.
Currently, a knife handle can be made from the following materials:
- Plastic;
- Plexiglas;
- Tree;
- Ceramics;
- Ebonite;
- Quartz glass;
- Bronze;
- Silver;
- Ivory;
- Gold;
- Textolite;
- Antler.
Methods used in the manufacture of knife handles
After making the blade, it is important to carefully connect it to the handle so that it subsequently sits firmly and does not dangle or fall out.
There are the following methods widely used in the process of making knife handles:
- On rivets;
- Fixation with a hairpin;
- Hot attachment of the blade to the body of the handle;
- Use of bolts, pins and nuts;
- End riveting.
File knife
Let's take a step-by-step look at the process of making a blade and handle from simple material, which can be found at hand. From a two-edged file.
- We preheat the metal in the furnace;
- We give the workpiece the desired shape according to the drawing. We use a blacksmith's hammer, then a sharpener. Ultimately, two clearly distinguishable zones should form - for the handle and the blade itself;
- We perform rough (rough) sharpening of the knife for a razor or blade type knife;
- We make handles from any material. Cut it to the size of your own hand.
- We bring it to the desired shape on a sharpening machine;
- We dock the handle with a metal blank (with rivets);
- We grind and polish the knife (with sandpaper or grinder with the necessary attachments);
- We perform final sharpening of the blade;
- We use velvet cloth or polish to give the knife its final finished look.
Making a scabbard
After the knife is made, a sheath is made according to its dimensions or a cover is sewn together. For this, you can use various materials - plastic, leather, wood.
In the design of the sheath, it is necessary to provide for the outflow of moisture and guides for the blade, and the sheath itself must be made so that the blade can move in and out freely without jamming or any inconvenience.
Thus, making a knife is an entire art, to which in ancient times they devoted their entire lives, achieving the best quality blades and chopping properties. Such knives were successfully used both at the feast and on the battlefield, and each specimen was a model of perfection.
Photos of homemade knives
There are many different types of knives on the edged weapons market, but there are still people who want to make their own knife at home. And rightly so, because it will be exclusively their product, original and unlike others.
This article will help a beginner understand the business of making knives in the absence of special conditions and will tell you how to choose the right materials for making knives and in general outline will tell you what to do with them, so don’t judge too harshly :)
To make a knife at home from start to finish you will need:
- blade or material for its manufacture;
— materials for the handle;
- additional parts for making a pommel, guard, bolster - or ready-made ones from the store;
- fasteners (depending on the manufacturing strategy - epoxy, screws, etc.)
Blade for making a knife
First, let's consider the question of what to do with the blade. Firstly, making it yourself at home will be extremely problematic - if you do not have the opportunity to forge the blade yourself, so the best solution will buy a ready-made, for example, Lauri 125 blade made of carbon steel.
Where to buy a blade for making a knife?
Sources selling prepared for homemade there are quite a lot of knife blades: you can buy them from private craftsmen on the same guns.ru or at bladed weapons exhibitions, buy blades in other online stores; Or you can order an industrial blade from the manufacturer, including on Chinese auction sites such as ebay or aliexpress.
There are very high-quality and inexpensive catalogs of blades from Finnish (and generally Scandinavian) manufacturers, I can recommend them.
If you really have difficulty finding a suitable blade, just take a sheet of metal, for example, a sawn-off piece of a spring, give it a shape and work with it.
Of course, the purchased blade should be modified. To do this, you need to take a file or even a circle and rough water stones (if your product is very “raw” and you still need to remove the slopes) and sharpen the blade to the desired type and shape, and then use sandpaper to smooth out any irregularities.
The easiest way to check the quality of a product is this: wipe the finished blade and breathe on it. From a high-quality blade, perspiration will come off without any unevenness, and it will lie there without breaks. In this case, it is better to carry out such an experiment several times and from different sides.
What steel to make a knife from - questions for other articles, you can read the materials on our website, for example the article.
DIY knife handle
Next, let's look at the future handle of your knife. It is best and easiest to take wood for it, since in the future the wooden handle of a self-made knife will look nice, and your hand will not freeze from it. Absolutely any type of tree is suitable - especially since you are just learning.
The simplest handle for a knife with your own hands is made from old legs of Soviet tables, chairs, sofas or armchairs, because previously furniture was made to perfection. Using a hacksaw, we cut off the piece to the required length, then roughly cut out the shape of the handle that we would like to see on the finished product. It is also necessary to make a recess in the handle for the shank of your blade - for example, drill and process with needle files. Whether this hole is through or not through depends on finished design knife
Ideally, you would also need to draw a rough drawing of a knife that is made at home. You already have a blade for this and the approximate dimensions and outlines of the handle. And according to the drawn layout it will be easier to make a finished knife, finishing it after assembly with sandpaper.
If you already more or less know how to make a knife with your own hands, you can buy blocks of stabilized wood (you will get very beautiful and strong handles), or try to make a handle from birch bark or pressed leather; you can make a wicker handle - there are a lot of options. You will move to the next level of “knife building”, so to speak :)
Important details for making a knife at home
In addition to these two main parts of the knife, there are also additional elements:
The guard is a part specially designed to protect the hand of the knife owner. You can make it from metal or wood, or buy it ready-made in specialized stores. You can make a knife without a guard or a combat rest at all - such a knife is not a bladed weapon.
Bolster - serves both to decorate the knife and to relieve the handle from excessive load. You can make it from wood or metal - for example, make a bolster from a coin or a soldering iron tip.
The pommel of the handle is opposite to the blade and performs functions such as: changing the balance of the finished knife, an aesthetic function (for beauty). Also, the pommel often plays the role of a nut that is screwed onto the shank (if you have a through shank). The pommel of a knife handle is made from various materials - but it is better to stick to a single style.
Knife assembly
Having examined all the details of the future knife, putting everything together, a little preparing and processing the constituent ingredients of this “recipe”, you can turn directly to the assembly of the knife itself. To do this you will need a few more simple things: sandpaper for finishing handles and polishing finished product, two types of binary glue (epoxy and " cold welding"), a hammer or mallet, paper tape (to seal - to protect the blade and other polished metal parts of the assembled knife from scratches when sanding the handle and giving the homemade knife its final shape).
First you need to dilute the epoxy and coat the leather gasket with it, which we then apply to the part of the blade that will be inside the wood - the tang. Next, the “cold welding” is cut and quickly placed at the bottom of the hole drilled in the handle under the tail of the blade, where it is, in fact, inserted.
Gently driving the blade inside with a hammer or mallet will give the knife its final look. It would be ideal to hold the assembled knife with a clamp for a while while the epoxy hardens. In the end, a knife made with your own hands at home will only need to be polished and decorated at your discretion.
As more simple option you can make an overhead handle - from two plates (wooden, for example), which are attached to the shank of the blade on the right and left. This type of handle is usually attached with screws, in addition to epoxy, but usually looks simpler.
When you have given the ideal shape to the handle and made sure that your homemade knife is assembled reliably, you can start making it :)
Currently, there is a huge selection of different knives available on the market. highest quality from manufacturers from all over the world. However, even despite such a wide range, it is the hand-made forged knife that remains the most popular. Such knives are particularly attractive and have high energy. Making a forged knife is not easy. But, having understood the features of forging a knife with your own hands, you will receive a reliable, durable and high-quality product that will serve for many decades without losing its original qualities. For the job to be successful, you need to understand the properties of materials and the features of their processing, be able to handle tools and know the basic rules.
Forged knives are very reliable and durable, which is why they are in demand.
What steel is suitable for forging a knife with your own hands?
Forged knives owe their reliability and durability primarily to the steel used for their manufacture. To obtain quality knife with good strength and high cutting characteristics, you need to select a suitable source material. When making a knife with your own hands highest value have 5 characteristics of steel, namely:
Metal for forging must have high strength characteristics.
- its resistance to wear;
- hardness indicators;
- strength characteristics;
- material viscosity;
- red fastness.
Hardness characterizes the ability of a material to resist the penetration of third-party materials that have higher strength. Thus, hard steel resists deformation much more strongly under various external influences. Hardness is determined by Rockwell. For steel it can be 20-67 HRC.
The resistance of steel, like other materials, to wear should be understood as the resistance of steel to wear during operation. This indicator is directly related to the hardness of the material.
Strength indicates the ability of steel to maintain its integrity under various types of external influences. This indicator is checked with a powerful blow or bending.
The red resistance of a metal characterizes its resistance to temperature influences.
Plasticity refers to the ability of a material to absorb and then dissipate kinetic energy generated during deformation and impact.
Red resistance characterizes the resistance of a metal to temperature influences and its ability to maintain its original characteristics during the heating process. The lowest temperature at which it is possible to begin forging steel depends on this characteristic.
Each of these characteristics is inextricably linked with the others. If one indicator begins to predominate, this will certainly lead to a noticeable deterioration of the other. Each of the listed properties of the working material depends on the content of various types of additives in it. The composition of steel can include molybdenum, carbon, cobalt, vanadium and chromium, as well as nickel and tungsten.
The presence in the composition of each of these elements and their use in the process of metal manufacturing, knowledge of the qualities imparted by certain substances, makes it possible to create a material for certain tasks and goals. Each steel, depending on the percentage of additional elements, has an individual marking. Metals of foreign and domestic production are marked differently. For greater convenience, the marking indicates the main composition or several alloying elements. For example, if steel is designated with the index U9, this means that it contains carbon in tenths of a percent.
An analogue of this marking is 10xx materials. In this case, “xx” indicates the carbon content of the steel. The lower this index, the less carbon contained in the steel. If the metal is marked as X12MF, this means that it contains a relatively large amount of chromium and molybdenum. This steel is stainless and very durable.
Be sure to check the possibility of using the material you have by looking at the steel and alloys brand.
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Preparing tools
Forging a knife is done using certain blacksmithing tools, which you can purchase in a specialized store without any problems. However, you can try to forge a knife with your own hands and using a non-professional tool. You will need:
The forging hammer should weigh 3-4 kg
- hammer weighing up to 1 kg;
- hammer weighing 3-4 kg;
- welding machine;
- vice;
- grinder;
- Bulgarian;
- blacksmith's pliers (can be replaced with ordinary pliers, always without insulation on the handles);
- anvil (you can use a homemade analogue of this device from an I-beam);
- adjustable wrench;
- bake.
If with simple tools everything is quite clear, then separate explanations need to be given about the stove. To forge a knife, the steel must be heated to a temperature of 900 degrees. This is almost impossible to do in a simple hearth. Therefore, the hearth needs to be modernized a little. If you have never had to harden steel before, you will have to assemble a stove from thick-walled metal from scratch and connect an air supply pipe to it. The air can be supplied by an old vacuum cleaner or a fan. This design is perfect for heating workpieces up to 900-1200 degrees. The stove can be heated with ordinary charcoal. The best one is the one that burns as long as possible and produces the maximum amount of heat.
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Design features of a forged knife
Before you decide to start forging a knife, you must prepare a sketch of it. Forged knife- enough simple design. Its main elements are the handle and the cutting blade. However, each of these elements consists of a set of different parts.
It will not be superfluous to understand what the profile of the blade may be. This will help you decide on the most suitable option.
Select the most suitable knife profile and then start drawing up the sketch. Experienced blacksmiths, as a rule, work without such sketches, but if you have never had to do such work before, it is better to prepare a sketch and keep it near you at all times while forging a knife.
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Step-by-step instructions for forging a knife with your own hands
Most often, drills are used to forge knives yourself. They are made of R6M5 steel.
This material is characterized by high strength and good wear resistance, and is easy to sharpen. That is why forging a knife in this example will be done from a drill.
Once you understand the technology, you can forge your own knife from other steel products.
When choosing a drill for forging a knife, you need to consider one very important point. The working part (it has a spiral shape) of large drills is made of R6M5 steel, and the tail is made of plain steel. Small drills are usually made entirely of P6M5. If you use a large drill to make a knife, you need to immediately figure out where the line between different steels lies. This is done very easily. You just need to slightly sharpen the existing drill to length. Plain steel will produce sparks of a yellow-orange hue and there will be quite a lot of them. Alloy steel produces sparks of a reddish hue in relatively small quantities. By doing this, you will be able to understand where the blade of your future knife will begin and where the shank will begin. After this, you can proceed directly to forging.
Light a fire in the stove, turn on the blower and wait until the coals get quite hot. Place the drill into the crucible. Use pliers for this. The drill must be placed in the furnace so that most of its shank did not fall into the fire.
Without experience, it can be difficult to determine when the steel has reached the required temperature. Because of this, you can simply ruin the drill. Before working with a drill, practice a little with heating and forging ordinary reinforcement. Watch for changes occurring in the metal. Remember what color it had when it was forged as softly as possible. Take into account the fact that in the light of the sun, even steel heated to 1000-1100 degrees will look quite dark.
After the drill heats up to the required temperature (over 1000 degrees), remove it from the furnace. Clamp the bottom of the drill shank in a vise. Take an adjustable wrench, clamp the top of the drill bit and make a circular motion. As a result, the spiral should straighten out. Do everything quickly before the metal cools down, otherwise the product may break. If you cannot do this in one go, you need to heat the metal again and repeat the procedure. Do this until you have a relatively straight strip of metal.
Heating of metal for forging must occur at high temperatures so that it can be heated to 1000 degrees.
Next you need to roll out the metal to the required thickness. This is done quite easily. Heat the metal, take a heavy hammer and apply strong, but as even blows as possible, giving the workpiece an even shape. Do this until you get a strip of steel about 0.5 cm thick.
During forging, watch for changes in the color of the workpiece. If the metal begins to dull and takes on a cherry hue, return it to the forge immediately. It is better to heat the steel again than to break it with a hammer.
At the next stage, the tip of a homemade knife is forged. This is where things get a little more complicated. You will need to give the workpiece a rounded shape without changing the thickness of the blade. This is jewelry work that will require some skill from you. Forging should be done so that the tip of the knife gradually becomes rounded and the blade extends in length. Apply fairly strong, but extremely careful blows. You may not succeed the first time, it just takes a little practice.
After this, you need to forge the cutting edge of the knife. This is a difficult but very important stage. Prepare a light hammer, with a rounded head if possible. Start processing from the middle of the blade, gradually moving the steel down towards the cutting edge. You need to try to make the cutting edge as thin as possible. Make sure that the knife blade remains smooth and straight. Strike as carefully as possible, applying exactly the amount of force required to slightly deform the hot steel. Do not forget to monitor the color of the material; if necessary, send it back to the crucible.
Next you will need to forge the shank. This job is much easier than forging a blade. Heat the round tail of the drill and roll it out with fairly strong blows. The shank can be wide or narrow. It depends on your personal preference. You can make either a simple pad or a stacked handle.
In order to understand how to make a knife with your own hands, you need to understand its design. The knife consists of a short blade and a handle. The shape of the blade is curved and bent upward. This is necessary so that they can cut and stab. To protect the hand, there is a limiter between the blade and the handle. For self-made required correct selection steel and the availability of tools for work.
For a hunter, a knife has the same meaning as a gun. It is rarely used for finishing off animals or game, but is an indispensable item when cutting it up.
Hunters often go into the taiga for long time. The presence of such a device replaces a whole set of tools - with its help you can not only skin an animal, separate fat or gut game, but also equip your home, repair clothes, and repair equipment. When making a fire, branches are cut with a knife.
An ordinary table knife is not as effective as a hunting knife, because it is not adapted to perform different operations. Working with it, calluses quickly appear on your hands. The hunter serves for different types activities. During operation, it does not need to be intercepted to change the direction of the cut. During monotonous, lengthy operations, the hand does not get tired, since the hand is in a comfortable position.
Distinctive features
There are many varieties hunting knives, each of which is capable of performing a set of operations. They are all unique in their own way. A type of knife that would be completely universal has not yet been developed. Often such devices are made individually.
Hunting knives have their own distinctive features:
- For convenience and efficiency of work, the center of gravity moves closer to the handle. As a result, the load on the hand is reduced, and the work progresses much more productively.
- The handle size is made wider than the blade.
- Depending on the hunter’s habit, the length of the blade varies, but the average is 12-15 mm.
The material for the handle is selected depending on where you live. In severe frost conditions, it is made of wood; the iron one will freeze to the hand. There should be no patterns or grooves for fingers on its surface.
The blade must be placed in a sheath. At the same time, the blade is protected from influence external conditions, and the person is eliminated from the risk of unexpected injury. They are made of leather or wood. Supplied with straps for gartering clothes.
Self-production
Making a knife at home is a complex process. The reasons why hunters go for this is that it is difficult to find a species on sale that would meet individual needs.
The manufacturing process consists of the following stages:
- Selection of tools and material for the blade.
- Drawing up a drawing and making a knife.
- Tool sharpening.
- Making the handle.
- Making a scabbard.
Tools and materials
The following tools are prepared:
- Crafting table.
- Vise.
- Emery.
- Drill.
- Pobedit drills.
- Sandpaper of varying degrees of grit.
- Abrasive wheels.
- Diamond nutfils.
- Hammer.
- Chisels.
- Rectifier current.
The ideal material for the blade is Damascus steel. However, it is difficult to find because technological process its manufacture is very complicated. Therefore, blanks are prepared from high speed steel grade R6M5. In addition, you can use the following brands: 40Х13, 65Х13, 50Х14МФ, 95Х18, 65Г, Х12М, Х12МФ.
The types of wood used for the handle are: cherry, birch, beech, maple, pear. A good option is the material of old furniture.
A brass or bronze plate for the bushings is prepared. For rivets, brass rod.
Blade making
Before starting work, a drawing is designed. Whatever type of blade is made, the operating principle is the same. The only differences are in the configuration.
A blank is taken and a stencil drawing, which was made on a scale of 1:1, is superimposed on it. On metal, use a marker, pencil or a special metal scribe to trace the outline of the product. It is important that the lines are clearly visible.
Using sandpaper, remove excess metal to the drawn lines. Radiuses are formed at the transition points between the blade and the shank. An angle is not allowed, since stress concentrators immediately form in these places, which will lead to fracture under heavy loads.
Next, a hole is made in the tail section for the rivet. If it is not possible to make it using a pobedite drill, then production is carried out by electrolysis. To do this, table salt is dissolved in water and a DC source with a voltage of 27 V is connected.
The workpiece is varnished and wrapped with insulating tape. The tape is cut out at the location of the future hole. During the electrolysis process, a positive charge is applied to the workpiece, and a negative charge is applied to the electrolyte. Upon contact, a hole is formed. It takes 3 hours. A diamond file is used to give it an oval shape.
Blade sharpening
Sharpening a tool at home is done using abrasive stones. They are up to 25 cm in length and have a fine or medium grain size. The operating procedure is as follows:
- A medium-grain abrasive tool is placed and secured on the workbench.
- During operation, the blade heats up, so the bar is first moistened with vegetable oil.
- The blade is placed on it at a certain angle.
- Holding it with both hands and pressing down, the blade is pulled forward with force. This is done several times on one side, and then on the other.
- Pulling is carried out until identical, shiny stripes appear on both sides, which occupy 2/3 of the blade in width.
- The block changes to fine-grained.
- The same movements are carried out, only without pressure. This stage is called finishing.
- The last stage is editing. It is carried out by sliding along the surface of the belt on each side of the blade.
- Quality control of sharpening is carried out by cutting a sheet of newspaper located vertically.
Making the handle
Before work, the wood is dried. The length of the workpiece is taken slightly longer than the blade.
- For a tight fit brass tube, a cut is formed on one side of the handle.
- A hole is made in the sleeve for the shank. If it turns out to be smaller than the required size, then the tail part is ground off.
- Using an awl, the desired place for the rivet is marked on the tree.
- Epoxy resin is poured into the hole.
- The shank is inserted. The blade rests on wooden surface and there is strong pressure so that it takes its position.
- A hole is drilled and a rivet is installed into it.
- The surface of the handle is treated with sandpaper.
Making a scabbard
If the scabbard is planned to be wooden, then it is better to use wooden planks from boxes. As a rule, they are pine.
In both components, wood is selected in such an amount that the blade fits. Using a hacksaw, the sheath is given the required shape. Using epoxy glue, both halves adhere. A hole is drilled at the bottom to allow water to flow through it.
If the cover is made of leather, then old boots are suitable for this. The knife blade should fit tightly into the sheath. For wearing, straps are sewn onto it.
Hunting knife necessary tool for the hunter. You can't go hunting without it. Before making it, you need to have a good idea of what functions it should have. The main emphasis is on the selection of steel. The quality of the knife depends on this. A project is drawn up, tools are prepared, and the manufacturing process begins.
Today, even with such a large assortment of different knives of excellent quality from famous manufacturers, hand-forged knives are still very popular. This is not surprising, since such knives have a special energy and attractiveness. And if the blade itself is made of alloy steel and with skill, then such a knife is priceless. From in various ways When making a knife with your own hands, the most labor-intensive is forging a knife with your own hands. It should be noted that forging a knife allows you to create the most durable and high-quality blade that will last for decades and at the same time retain its qualities. Forging a knife with your own hands is a task that requires a master high level tool skills, knowledge of metals and their properties. For those who have decided to forge a knife for the first time, the recommendations described below will help you make your first blade.
How to choose knife steel
Qualitative homemade knife What makes it different is the correct selection of steel for it; the cutting and strength characteristics of the knife itself will depend on this. To choose the right steel, you need to know and understand what properties the steel itself has. To forge a knife with your own hands, you need to focus on the five main properties of steel - wear resistance, hardness, strength, toughness, and red-hardness.
Hardness- this is a property of steel, indicating its ability to resist the penetration of another more hard material. Simply put, hard steel resists deformation better. The hardness index itself is measured on the Rockwell scale and ranges from 20 to 67 HRC.
Wear resistance- resistance of the material to wear during operation. This property directly depends on the hardness of the steel itself.
Strength indicates the ability to maintain integrity under the influence of various external forces. You can check the strength by bending or with a strong impact.
Plastic- the ability of steel to absorb and dissipate kinetic energy during impact and deformation.
Red fastness- this is an indicator responsible for the resistance of steel to temperatures and the preservation of its original qualities when heated. The minimum temperature at which it can be forged depends on how resistant the steel is to heat treatment. The most red-resistant steels are hard grades, working temperature forgings for which more than 900 °C. It should be noted that the melting point of steel is 1450 - 1520 °C.
All these properties are interconnected and the predominance of one of them leads to the deterioration of the other. Moreover, this or that property of steel depends on the content of various alloying elements and additives in it, such as silicon, carbon, chromium, vanadium, tungsten, cobalt, nickel, molybdenum.
The presence of certain alloying elements and their proportional use in the manufacture of steel, knowledge of the properties that alloying elements and additives impart, made it possible to create steel for specific purposes and needs. These steels each have their own markings. At the same time, domestic and foreign steel grades are designated differently. For convenience, the steel grade indicates the main composition of one or more alloying elements. For example, steel grade U9 indicates its carbon content in tenths of a percent. An analogue of steel grade “U” is steel 10xx, where “xx” is the carbon content. And the smaller the value, the smaller its content. Or steel such as X12MF indicates a high content of chromium and molybdenum, which indicates the stainless and high-strength properties of the steel.
Domestic brands, which are often used when forging knives at home, include all steels marked from U7 before U16, ШХ15, 65G, R6M5, X12MF. Among foreign analogues, steel can be distinguished O-1, 1095 , 52100 ,M-2, A-2, 440C, A.U.S., ATS-34, D-2. Each of the above brands is used in the manufacture of knives, various instruments and spare parts. For example, steel grades R6M5, U7-U13, 65G are used for the production of drills, drills, cables, springs, bearings, and files. Therefore, it is from these items that folk craftsmen make hand-forged knives.
Of course, you can find other products made from one or another steel. To do this, it will be enough to read Full description grades of steel and its use in the Making of Steel and Alloys, and then use a product made from it to forge a knife.
To forge a knife you will need a certain blacksmith's tool, which can be purchased at the store. But you can also use a non-professional tool:
- a hammer of 3 - 4 kg and a hammer of smaller weight up to 1 kg;
- blacksmith's tongs or ordinary pliers, but without insulation on the handles, as well as an adjustable wrench;
- vice;
- an anvil or its homemade analogue from an I-beam;
- grinder and welding machine;
- grinder;
- bake.
If everything is more or less clear with a conventional tool, then some explanations need to be made regarding the furnace. The thing is that in an ordinary fireplace it is difficult to obtain a temperature of more than 900 °C. And the workpiece will take forever to warm up there. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the hearth a little. If you have not previously at least hardened metal, you will have to make a small furnace from scratch from thick-walled metal. Then attach a pipe to it, through which air will flow using a fan or an old vacuum cleaner. In this simple way, you can get a fairly reliable crucible for bringing workpieces to a temperature of 900 - 1200 ° C. Regular fuel is used as fuel. charcoal, preferably one that gives as much heat as possible and burns longer.
Before starting the work itself, you need to do sketch the knife itself.
In fact, a knife is a fairly simple object, consisting of a blade and a handle. But each of these elements has a whole set of components. In the photo demonstrating the design of the knife, you can see all the elements of the knife and what they are called.
You also need to know about some basic blade profiles in order to make the most suitable sketch. The photo below shows the profiles of the knives.
Having chosen the most suitable profile for you, you can safely begin creating a sketch. Certainly, experienced craftsmen do without sketching, but for a beginner it is still important to make a sketch and keep it before your eyes during the forging process.
Forging a knife from a drill
Drills have become very popular when forging knives due to the alloy steel R6M5 used in them, which is durable, easy to sharpen and wear-resistant.
When choosing a drill for forging, there is one important point to note. Large drills consist of a working spiral part made of P6M5 and a shank made of ordinary steel. Small drills are usually made entirely of P6M5. When forging a knife from a large drill, you must immediately determine which steel is which and where the boundary between them is. This can be done quite simply, just by sharpening the drill a little along the entire length. Where there is ordinary steel, the sheaf of sparks will be large and yellow-orange in color. But where there is alloy steel, the sheaf will be sparse and closer to a reddish tint. The procedure described above is necessary in order to determine where the blade of the knife will begin and where the shank will begin. Having finished with this, we move on to the forging itself.
At the beginning light a fire in the stove, turn on the blower and wait until the coals get hot enough, after which place the drill in the crucible. But we do this with the help of pliers and in such a way that the shank remains mostly out of the fire.
Important! When forging a knife for the first time, you may not immediately determine when the metal has heated to the required temperature. As a result, more than one drill can be damaged. Therefore, before you start forging a drill, you can practice a little with heating and forging metal on ordinary fittings. In this case, it is necessary to remember what color the metal was and when it was forged most softly. It is also worth remembering that the sunlight even metal heated to 1100 °C will look dark.
As soon as the drill will heat up to the required temperature, which is more than 1000 °C, it is immediately necessary remove from the crucible, and clamp the bottom of the shank in a vice. Then take an adjustable wrench, hold the top of the drill with it and make a circular motion, straightening the spiral. Everything must be done quickly so that the metal does not have time to cool, otherwise you risk breaking the drill. If you couldn't do it in one go, that's okay. Just reheat the drill and repeat the procedure. The result should be a relatively smooth strip of metal.
The next step would be forging drill And rolling metal to an acceptable thickness. Everything is quite simple here. Having heated the metal to the required temperature, we take a heavy hammer and begin to level the metal with strong but uniform blows and give it an even shape. The result should be a strip of metal about 4 - 5 mm thick.
Important! When forging metal, you must constantly monitor the color of the workpiece. As soon as it began to fade, acquiring Cherry color, we immediately return it to the forge. It is better to heat the metal one more time than to break it under a hammer blow.
Further the edge of a knife is forged. Everything is a little more complicated here. The fact is that it is necessary to give a rounded shape and at the same time maintain the required thickness of the blade. All the work is practically jewelry and will require a certain dexterity. Forging is performed in such a way that gradually rounding the tip, the blade is gradually drawn out in length. The blows must be strong, but careful. A beginner may not succeed the first time, but a little practice will improve everything.
The next step would be forging cutting edge knife. This is a rather important and difficult stage. This will require a lighter hammer and preferably one with a rounded head. Starting from the middle of the blade, we gradually move the metal down to the cutting edge. We try to make the cutting edge as thin as possible. At the same time, we make sure that the blade itself remains straight and even. We apply the blows very carefully and try to apply only as much effort as is required to slightly deform the hot metal. We remember the color of the workpiece and, if necessary, send it back to the crucible.
After we managed to forge the blade and point, move on to forging the shank. The work itself will be much simpler than when forging a blade. First, we heat the round shank of the drill and then roll it out with strong hammer blows. Depending on the sketch, the shank can be either narrow or wide. Here, who already likes to make the handle of a knife. Some people make simple overlays, while others make a stacked handle.
Upon completion of forging, let the metal cool gradually and then let's move on to polishing. Using a grinding machine, we remove excess layers of metal and unevenness, making the knife perfectly smooth and shiny. When sanding, up to 2 mm of thickness can be removed, and the knife will become much lighter and thinner. You can also sharpen the knife at this stage. Finally, we harden the knife. How this is done will be written below.
Forging a knife from a drill video review:
Another popular material for forging knives is the bearing, namely its inner or outer rim. Moreover, the internal one is even preferable. All work on forging a knife from a bearing is almost identical to forging from a drill. With some exceptions.
First, we cut out the blank from the bearing rim using a grinder. We try to take the length with a reserve, so that there is enough for the knife and another 1 - 2 cm left. Secondly, at the initial stage of forging, the cut blank should be welded to the reinforcement bar. And in this form, heat and forge. Thirdly, if in the case of a drill the workpiece was rolled out from round to flat, then for the bearing race it simply needs to be aligned. And the further steps for forging the blade itself and the shank are completely similar. The only thing worth noting is that it is still more convenient to make a knife with applied handles from the bearing.
Forging a knife from a bearing video review:
In search of suitable steel for a quality knife, many people use springs. The metal of this car part is highly elastic and durable, which makes it an excellent example for hand-forged knives. In fairness, it should be noted that a knife from a spring can be made by simply cutting out the profile of the knife with further sharpening and hardening. But still, in order for the knife to be truly reliable, it is better to forge it, especially since the thickness of the spring is quite large, and for a good knife it should be reduced.
We begin forging a knife from a spring by cleaning off rust with a grinder and marking the plate. Only a small part of the spring will be needed, so mark it and cut it off using a grinder. Next, we weld the workpiece to the reinforcement and heat it up. Then we gradually forge it, bringing it to required thickness. We forge the tip and cutting edge; how to do this is described above using the example of forging a knife from a drill. Having achieved the desired result, we leave the knife to cool gradually and then grind and sharpen it.
Forging a knife from a spring video review:
Forging a knife from a file
Wear-resistant and durable steel can be found in a variety of locksmith's tool and the file is a prime example of this. Making knives from a file is quite a popular activity. Moreover, the blades are extremely durable with an excellent cutting edge. But forging a knife from a file has its own characteristics.
First of all, you will need to clean the file from nicks and possible rust. This can be done using a grinder. Next, if necessary, cut the workpiece from the file required length. Then we weld it to a piece of reinforcement and put it in the furnace. Having heated the workpiece to the required temperature, we begin to roll the workpiece to the thickness we need. Then we make the point and cutting edge. It is best to make the shank of a knife from a file under an overhead handle.
Forging a knife from a file video review:
Forging a knife from a rope
Making a knife from steel cable quite a rare occurrence. Since, unlike all the workpieces described above, the cable consists of scattered wire fibers, and it is quite difficult to forge them. In addition, cable steel does not have such high performance, like the steel of a drill or file. Most cable knives are forged because of their unusual pattern on the wedge, vaguely reminiscent of Damascus steel. In order to make such a knife, you need to put in a little more effort than when forging from a regular steel bar.
Forging a knife from a cable begins like regular forging. There are just a few little secrets. Firstly, this concerns the shank. Many craftsmen make a knife shank from a cable in the form of a finished handle. It looks very unusual and beautiful. And here there are two approaches to making a handle. Take a thick cable and then weld its end, making it a monolithic piece. Or make a handle in the shape of a loop, and forge a blade from the ends. Secondly, forging a cable is a difficult task due to the scattered wires that make up the cable. To make a knife, you will need to weld them together. But this is a whole art and you shouldn’t expect that you will get a knife out of a cable the first time. Welding can be done in two ways. The first is to electric weld along the large grooves. The second is to perform forge welding. The second option is more complicated and at the same time preferable.
So, having chosen the method of creating the handle, we proceed to forging the knife. To do this, heat the cable until it turns bright red. Then we take it out and sprinkle it with borax. After which we send it back to the crucible. This is a simple way to prepare for forge welding. is a salt of tetraboric acid and is used by craftsmen for welding individual layers of steel. Essentially, it is a flux that facilitates the melting process and protects the molten metal from oxygen and eliminates metal oxides. Borax can be found in the public domain without any problems.
After the cable has been treated with borax on all sides and it has heated up from 900 to 1200°C or more, we remove it from the furnace and begin to forge it. We strike with a heavy hammer, but at the same time we try to keep the cable fibers together. The difficulty of forging a cable lies precisely in this. But with practice you can achieve acceptable results. In the end, the cable can be heated and forged as many times as desired. But at the same time, every time you heat it in the forge, sprinkle the cable with borax. The result is a monolithic piece of steel consisting of many layers, almost like Damascus steel. After which all that remains is to forge the blade of the required shape. Videos demonstrating the forging of knives have repeatedly shown exactly how to roll out a blade and create a cutting edge and point.
Blade hardening and tempering
As noted earlier, hardening a knife is one of the most important stages its manufacture. After all, the performance characteristics of the knife depend on how correctly it was performed. The hardening process itself is performed after the knife has cooled and been ground on a sharpening machine.
Begins by heating it from light red to orange color. After which the knife is lowered into water or oil. In this case, 2 - 3 tablespoons of table salt per 1 liter are added to the water, and the water temperature should be 18 - 25 ° C, the oil 25 - 30 ° C. Hardening is carried out quite quickly and for everything to go well after hardening, the blade must be released. The steel hardening itself occurs in the temperature range from 750 to 550 °C. The moment of hardening can even be felt when the steel begins to “tremble and groan” in the liquid. As soon as the process ends, the blade must be removed and allowed to cool naturally.
Blade release performed after hardening. The process itself involves weakening the internal stress of the steel, which makes it more flexible and resistant to various kinds loads Before tempering, the blade should be cleaned of possible scale and then heated again. But the temperature during vacation is much lower. The knife itself must be held over the flame and observed. As soon as the entire surface is covered with a yellow-orange film, remove the knife from the heat and let it cool naturally.
Sometimes quenching and tempering are done with oil or water, and sometimes through oil into water. This type of hardening is done very quickly. First, the blade is lowered into oil for 2 - 3 seconds, and then into water. With this approach, the risk of doing the hardening incorrectly is minimal.
Forging a knife with your own hands seems like a simple task. In addition to the fact that you will have to swing the forging hammer quite a lot, even without experience in the matter of forging metal, you may not be able to forge a knife the first time. Therefore, you first need to get good at it and practice a little, and then start forging a knife.
