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holmsy2000
25th Apr 2006, 08:56 PM
well i promised andy mac that i would post some pics of some of the knives i've made, the first one is the first i ever made(about 10 months ago)its a fixed blade skiner, the steel is an old file and the handle is an old fence post, red gum i think.
the second one is the third knife i made its a lock back folder with brass bolsters, handle of the same fence post and this time the blade is an old drop saw blade.
i tried to upload more pics but it ouldnt work but they were similar knives to these ones, i just made a nice hunter with a leather sheath and will finish two real nice ones in a week or so, stainless steel profesionaly heat treated, the whole nine yards. i'll be posting those two everywhere. anyone else made knives, i'd like to see em.
brett

Andy Mac
25th Apr 2006, 09:53 PM
Nice work Holmsy, thanks for posting.:D
Tell us some more...did you anneal the file, any hot forged work, how did you drill it, how are the scales held on etc?
I posted some knives in Handmade tools, under whittling knives.

Cheers.

knucklehead
25th Apr 2006, 11:17 PM
After mallets, the knives I've made are the most usefull homemade tool in the shed.
So far I have only managed simple marking type knives, but they work a treat. The whole heat treating thing realy limits what types of knives I can construct at the moment but one day......

Brett, where did you get the blades heat treated?

CameronPotter
26th Apr 2006, 09:49 AM
I really like the folder - clean work. I might get around to posting some of my knife piccies here soon. :rolleyes:

As for heat treat, it really depends on the steel. If you have a simple carbon steel, it is pretty easy to do at home. All you need is a HOT heat source, a magnet on a rod and a bucket of warm oil.

Most files (such as Nicholson etc) are 1095 which is a simple carbon steel.

However, if you are using a stainless or a specialised tool steel (such as the HSS steels) you often need to do a bit more - meaning sending it away might be the best option. Note however the some tools steels, like L6 and O1 are easy enough to do at home too...

Feel free to ask any questions for more info.

Cheers

Cam

holmsy2000
26th Apr 2006, 07:00 PM
thanks for the commets guys, ady, i aealed the file by building a real hot fire on the groud with a blower ad the once it was orange i just turned it off ad left it to cool slowly in the coals then ashes, it didnt fully aeal but it was a heck of alot better than workig hardened steel.
for the heat treat on both of them i just heated till they were at critical(sort of a orange colour) and then dunked them in water, should have used oil like camero mentioned but i was young and dumb. I just profiled two more from 440c stainless ad i set them to hills heat treat in bayswater this morning, cost 8.80 per blade but its the only way i ca get stainless treated, its just to hard to do at home without expecive ovens.

holmsy2000
26th Apr 2006, 07:01 PM
thanks for the commets guys, ady, i aealed the file by building a real hot fire on the groud with a blower ad the once it was orange i just turned it off ad left it to cool slowly in the coals then ashes, it didnt fully aeal but it was a heck of alot better than workig hardened steel.
for the heat treat on both of them i just heated till they were at critical(sort of a orange colour) and then dunked them in water, should have used oil like camero mentioned but i was young and dumb. I just profiled two more from 440c stainless ad i set them to hills heat treat in bayswater this morning, cost 8.80 per blade but its the only way i ca get stainless treated, its just to hard to do at home without expecive ovens.
on the file one, the scales are just held on with epoxy because i forgot to drill pin holes but on the folder there is epoxy and 3/32nd rod as well. No

holmsy2000
26th Apr 2006, 07:01 PM
thanks for the commets guys, ady, i aealed the file by building a real hot fire on the groud with a blower ad the once it was orange i just turned it off ad left it to cool slowly in the coals then ashes, it didnt fully aeal but it was a heck of alot better than workig hardened steel.
for the heat treat on both of them i just heated till they were at critical(sort of a orange colour) and then dunked them in water, should have used oil like camero mentioned but i was young and dumb. I just profiled two more from 440c stainless ad i set them to hills heat treat in bayswater this morning, cost 8.80 per blade but its the only way i ca get stainless treated, its just to hard to do at home without expecive ovens.
on the file one, the scales are just held on with epoxy because i forgot to drill pin holes but on the folder there is epoxy and 3/32nd rod as well.

holmsy2000
26th Apr 2006, 07:04 PM
Thanks for the commets guys, andy, i anealed the file by building a real hot fire on the ground with a blower and then once it was orange i just turned it off and left it to cool slowly in the coals then ashes, it didnt fully aneal but it was a heck of alot better than working hardened steel.

For the heat treat on both of them i just heated till they were at critical(sort of a orange colour) and then dunked them in water, should have used oil like cam mentioned but i was young and dumb. I just profiled two more from 440c stainless and i set them to hills heat treat in bayswater this morning, cost 8.80 per blade but its the only way i can get stainless treated, its just too hard to do at home without expencive ovens.

On the file one, the scales are just held on with epoxy because i forgot to drill pin holes but on the folder there is epoxy and 3/32nd rod as well. No hot forging on these ones andy, however i just forged one from some leaf spring last weeked but its no where neer as nice as those whittlers of yours. its so ugly i cant even get motivated to finish it.

Cam, me and andy have shown ours so you have to pony up now! im on the look out for one of those vacyvin pumps, looked in kmart but i couldnt find any, might have to try a specialty homewares shop.

Brett

CameronPotter
27th Apr 2006, 10:25 AM
I got mine from Habitat (a homeware shop - but I don't know if it is just Tasmanian...) In the past Cliff (I think) said you could buy them from bigger bottleshops???

I don't have any piccies here.

I will try to remember when I get home though.

Cam

CameronPotter
27th Apr 2006, 12:09 PM
Found them!

The two small knives are made from O1 steel. One handle is blackwood, the other is something that I found that is disgusting hard. I mean really immorally hard. I would love to know what it is - although I suspect it may have been treated as it was lying around in the Engineering Dept. at uni... :D Anyway, these two knives are my first two knives.

The next one was my third or fourth - I can't remember now. It was made from a car spring. The handle is Tas. Myrtle as is one of the sheaths (hand carved). The handle has a black leather spacer at either end of the myrtle and brass fittings. The blade is double edged with soft edged sabre grinds.

The top sheath is THICK black leather with a red leather welt. It is doubles stitched and rivetted for looks only.

The bottom sheath is hand carved myrtle with a black leather welt (to maintain sharpness). It has been lined with black felt and the black around the top is thin calf hide glued and stitched (at the back) for look and to tidy up the felt lining.

I wish I had a photo of my latest knife. It is nicer than these. It is a precision ground bowie style with a clip point and a burl eucalytus gum handle (again with the trusty black spacers.

Cam

holmsy2000
27th Apr 2006, 09:27 PM
loooove that dagger cam, im a huge dagger fan and that one does it for me although i would have put a larger chunk of brass at the base of the handle, although thats just personal preference, interesting design on those first two very slender.
how are they all made, forged or stock removal, a leaf spring would sugest forge but the O1 could be either, also profiled the hard way or the smart way, files or horsepower?

brett

Andy Mac
27th Apr 2006, 11:33 PM
Hi Cam,
Nice looking knives, especially like the lower one in the first photo. A photo of the Bowie would be good too. Do you read the Aust Knife mag?
I scored a funny thing today, a pocket knife with no scales in a bag of junk...not that old but pretty stiff, and no loop. Opened up the main blade and its a Swiss army knife. Never owned one before (Leatherman fan:D ), so I'll refurb it and I'm sure it'll be of some use!

Cheers,

CameronPotter
28th Apr 2006, 10:14 AM
I have tried forging, but I didn't really get all that close to the finished product - so most of it is stock removal.

These were pretty much made with my linisher, but most of the finishing work was done by hand.

My bowie which I will post soon was roughed with an angle grinder, then finished from there completely by hand.

I have looked at various knife mags, but never really got into them - most of them seem to have more ads than anything.

Nice score on the Swiss Army Knife, but I understand your liking for a Leatherman!

Cam

holmsy2000
28th Apr 2006, 01:12 PM
i have to agree with the coments about the knife mags, theyre all about factory made which i have little interest in and the australian one seems like a huge ad for the AKC mail order, even half of their articles are about their products. the only ones i read regularly are the free downloadable ones, heaps of great pictures.
brett