On the edged weapons market there are many various types knives, 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 will tell you in general terms 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 a 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 Scandinavian in general) 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 coarse water stones (if your product is very “raw” and you still need to remove the slopes) and sharpen the blade to the desired look and shape, and then use sandpaper to sand off all the irregularities.
The easiest way to check the quality of a product is this: wipe the finished blade and breathe on it. Perspiration will come off from a high-quality blade 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 a tree for it, since in the future wooden handle A self-made knife will look nice, and your hand won’t freeze. Absolutely any type of tree is suitable - especially since you are just learning.
The most simple pen for a knife with your own hands, it 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 it and process it with needle files. Whether this hole is through or not through depends on the finished design of the 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 approximate dimensions and the outline 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. For some time it would be ideal to hold still assembled knife clamp 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.
Once you have the perfect handle shape and are confident that your assembly is secure, homemade knife– you can start making :)
How I made a knife with my own hands and what came out of it.
There are many offers on the Internet from a piece of steel with the required parameters (length/thickness/grade of steel) to ready-made blades. I chose the option with a ready-made blade, since I’m unlikely to be able to make a blade so accurately myself.
So, about the blade itself. Steel 65X13, stainless steel. Steel 65Х13 is used for manufacturing cutting tool, kitchen knives, saws, removable blades, scalpels, razor blades, in the food, woodworking, medical and other industries. Hardness 54-56 Roxwell units. And if translated into Russian,
- It does not rust, you can forget to clean it after use, the knife will not lose its “marketable” appearance.
- Common, cheap.
- Easy to sharpen, no expensive whetstones/tools needed.
- It gets dull easily.
- It bends, the knife will not split from a small transverse force.
Guard and heel made of nickel silver.
The little tail decided for me how to mount the handle. It can be mounted or overhead. Here only horseback is possible, and it is necessary to lengthen the tail.
We take a pin and grind a groove. Tools - hacksaw, needle files, files.
I drilled 2 holes in the hairpin corresponding to the holes in the tail and tried it on. Sits with tension. Fastening with screw + nut. I sanded it down in 5 seconds. In the absence of sandpaper, you can do it by hand, it will take up to half an hour. In principle, it was possible to do without grinding, but then you would have to enlarge the hole in the wood for the tail, and this would waste glue.
I cut out the mounting hole. A little sloppy, uneven edges visible.
More fittings!!! I was in a hurry and ended up with a hole that was too wide. It’s good that these flaws will be covered with a blade.
Don't forget to protect the blade from accidental scratches.
Final landing. No large gaps were noticed, which means you can fasten the pin.
I ground the nuts and bolt heads on a grinder. Now the hairpin is a continuation of the blade. It can be bent, broken, and can no longer be taken apart.
A blank made from two pieces of oak, most likely glued together with PVA. At that time there was no solid piece of wood, we had to make it from what we had. For the handle you can use oak, beech, birch, walnut, birch bark and, in general, almost any tree except conifers. But for some reason I respect oak. I don’t understand why. The structure of oak is coarse-grained, individual fibers are clearly visible. The same beech has a fine-grained structure, it is easier to process (my personal opinion, I do not claim to be the ultimate truth).
As my Trudovik said: “There’s a hole in the ass, and this is a technological hole.”
Looming general form"Products No. 4".
The mistakes with the guard were beneficial. Marking, fitting every step, or better yet every half step.
With this machine I sand thin areas of the workpiece.
On right seat under guard. A cavity from a knot has opened on the left (you will have to fill it with glue). The shape of the handle is more or less classic, barrel-shaped with a separate place for the index finger.
The final shape of the handle. The front divider has worn off. It has become more convenient.
I soldered a piece of metal rod (paper clip) to the heel. This rod will fit into the hole next to the stud and will be filled with epoxy.
Shall we give it a go?)) I mix epoxy and have some wood shavings on hand. It is convenient to dose epoxy with a syringe.
It is possible without sawdust, but with them they will speak stronger. Who's speaking? - everyone says. There are special forums for knife makers; anything that was unclear was asked there.
The knife glued together pleases with its appearance. All that remains is to sand it clean and coat it with some kind of compound to prevent moisture/sweat from being absorbed. Impregnation is necessary and is not discussed, but there are a huge number of ingredients. At first I thought of soaking it in linseed oil and covering it with wax, but it was too painful ( linseed oil unrefined) takes a long time to dry. But there is no special purified one. I read that you can cover it with “lifesaver” ointment. Ingredients: ghee, olive oil, sea buckthorn oil, beeswax, ... Just what you need. Both oils and wax are included. Just in case, the fireman checked it on a piece of wood. In 3 days it dried to zero.
After sanding, filling the cavities with glue, sanding, sanding, sanding, polishing the cupronickel heels and guards with sandpaper and goya paste, coating with “savior” cream, drying in the NU, manually rubbing the remaining cream with a soft cloth and removing with a cloth/napkins, we have the final result. "Product No. 4."
I'm not much of a photographer either, I apologize for the quality.
The tools that I used in production: a hacksaw, needle files, files, a drill press/drill/screwdriver with a special sticky disc, an angle grinder, an engraver, a sharpener.
Knives are currently popular not only in the kitchen, but also among people who have connected their lives with extreme types of active leisure - fishing, hunting, tourism, etc.
There are various knives on the market today: variable models, different sizes and designs. But none of them can replace a knife that you make yourself.
People often write on the Internet about how to make a knife with your own hands, but you have to try hard to make them.
Knives: types and basic properties
In the photographs of the knife on the Internet, you can see that each product is a creative element created from various mechanisms.
There is a large classification of knives depending on their functionality: combat, tourist, folding (for example, butterfly), knives designed for hunting, multi-tools, bivouac knives, as well as ordinary kitchen knives.
Kitchen knives are bought ready-made, but knives intended for hunting or tourism can easily be made at home yourself.
There are also such knives as survival knives, the main purpose of which is to help one survive in the wild. This option is relevant for tourists and hunters.
The blade of such a knife is usually no more than 12 cm. This length is sufficient for cutting wood, processing game, cleaning fish or other similar actions. Small dimensions make this knife easy to transport.
When making such a knife, great attention should be paid to the material intended to create the blade. Steel is often preferred.
Procedure for creating a knife
To get a positive result when making a knife, you should first sketch out a drawing of the knife. In this case, you can know in advance what exactly you want to achieve in the end.
Instructions on how to make a knife at home include a number of rules.
Making a knife step by step
Cut out the blank for the future knife. Relying on finished drawing, cut out the shape for the knife.
You will need a knife sharpener. With its help, the base is brought to the required shape. And after this you will have a clear blank in your hands, where you can distinguish the places of the handle and blade.
Rough sharpening of knives. At this stage you need to clearly know what your future knife is intended for. If it is made for hunting, fishing or hiking, then it is better to give preference to the blade type of sharpening.
And, if a knife is created to function in the kitchen or in the garden, then a razor type is suitable.
Don't expect anything from this stage perfect sharpening, because this is just a draft intended to determine the future form.
If the blade is pre-prepared, then you can start working with the handle. To create the handle, the most various materials– this is: wood, plexiglass, bones, thick types of leather, etc.
Note!
Having cut out a blank to create a handle, you should check whether it fits comfortably in your hand, as well as its proportionality relative to the blade. The knife handle is secured using the riveting method.
The shape for the foot handle is given using a sharpening machine.
The knife is ground and polished using sandpaper.
The final sharpening of the blade is carried out after sharpening on a sharpener, also using sandpaper.
At the end, the finished knife is polished with velvet cloth or polish.
Note!
As you can see, the process of making a knife with your own hands is not that difficult, so everyone can try their hand at this area.
You can also give the future knife the necessary and desired design. Special attention pay attention to the handle during the design process.
Knife design
Because it is by the handle of the knife that others can then judge your creative thinking and status.
Some write their names on the handles of the knife, draw certain patterns and sketches in the form of tattoos.
The simplest knife can be built in an emergency in the forest; the main thing is to find the materials necessary to create it.
Note!
You just need to find the cutting part for the knife, and then you should insert it only into the handle, which will be in the form of a piece of wood, rope or leather.
Photo of a knife with your own hands
no-rik 21-11-2010 01:17
Do you want to quickly and inexpensively make a guard for a knife? Nothing could be easier! The legality or illegality of this procedure can be determined, according to the current legislation of the Russian Federation, only
examination of bladed weapons (carried out in laboratory conditions). If you don’t want problems with the law, or engrave a number on a knife and write it on your hunting ticket,
or look at the current version of the law on weapons and check your product for compliance with the parameters of a household knife. All responsibility lies with you, so it’s better not to tell anyone that you had a hand in making the knife, the information here is provided for informational purposes only.
Everything you need (bolts, nuts and cable clamps are purchased from
any hardware store).
And now, actually, the technology:
DesignerHP 21-11-2010 01:23
Are you okay?
chizhoff 21-11-2010 01:34
no words.
Sagamore 21-11-2010 01:40
no-rik, urgently patent your invention! Actually, I should have posted my idea yesterday, today is already Saturday.
quote: Originally posted by no-rik:
so it’s better not to tell anyone that you had a hand in making the knife
Yeah, that would be very hard to prove.
FIXXXL 21-11-2010 02:29
did bullshit and praised
respect to you in all your pockets
Ivan Tsarevich 21-11-2010 03:32
Come on, the dude decided to make people laugh. He did it, don't take it too seriously)
FIXXXL 21-11-2010 03:50
quote: to cheer up
no, the Petrasyans with anal lubricant are far from
Matvey72 21-11-2010 07:06
Id@t-dig the invention..... :-O
Just don’t tighten the nuts too much, otherwise you’ll break your “knife” in half :-)
Kazbich 21-11-2010 07:43
If you cut the studs right behind the nuts, it would be quite elegant. And with such “tails” it’s more of an “artistic guard, dangerous for injury.”
Although, initially, the knife itself is rather a pure “metal” and is quite unsuitable for anything else (at least in terms of the length of the arc and hardness).
GreenKir2901 21-11-2010 10:10
LAG 21-11-2010 10:24
Well done, resourceful...
Puha 21-11-2010 10:25
Sometimes you get cool topics))
BigMonster 21-11-2010 10:29
Do you think being transferred to the Workshop will be sufficient punishment?
Avotar 21-11-2010 10:39
There is no need to go to the workshop, the man is already punished - out of fear he made such a guard for self-defense.
GreenKir2901 21-11-2010 11:17
although, for a Jedi sword, it is a very self-sufficient design if you don’t wrap it with strings. as in 6 photos
TopperHarley 21-11-2010 11:55
Jedi sword requires two batteries
GreenKir2901 21-11-2010 12:26
agree
DerRock 21-11-2010 13:06
What a horror.
It would be fair to move it to the workshop. We laughed, let them laugh there too. Laughter prolongs life
Kazbich 21-11-2010 13:59
We laughed, let them laugh there too.
Well, if you make not a “quickly manufactured” guard, but a “quick-release” guard, everything is done a little differently. How it turned out here really made me smile a little. The approach is non-standard and quite “elegant”.
ETE 21-11-2010 14:27
Liked. No, not the guard. I liked that the head worked.
DerRock 21-11-2010 14:40
No, making horror stories doesn’t require much intelligence. Such guards can be made from anything. Here's an example: the blade is made of some kind of piece of iron using a huge scary file, the handle and guard are made of some things bought at a car store. It was done 15 years ago, so I’m also a former knifemaker
Kazbich 21-11-2010 14:59
quote: Originally posted by ETE:
I liked that the head worked.
The solution is indeed a little non-standard. It’s not even a “wrapping” of the handle, but almost like a “knitted jacket” around the “stops”. Damn, well, almost like a kind of web design, nothing more.
IMHO - if the “source” is not at all for those purposes, then the “result” is perceived as a “designer’s delight”, and not as a “working tool”.
And I can “stick” it with a simple screwdriver from a spare parts kit from the S-200 air defense system, manufactured in 1976, with no worse results. Even with a slightly cracked handle. And you can’t even imagine what kind of screwdrivers were made for the “Assembly” at TsKIB SOO from fragments of tetrahedral bayonets.
Sky 21-11-2010 16:38
current 1 question... WHY???
Dimon Hell 21-11-2010 17:03
Ipat, if they don’t pick at it, then it’s definitely a pick-me-up!
I just want to say: “What kind of blizzard are you stupid bitches talking about?” (c)
What kind of nonsense is this? At first I thought it was a joke, you know, a joke of humor, like Pedrosian’s... But it seems like TS is simply not in himself for such a homemade product.
ironwolf 22-11-2010 01:22
1. The design is scary, but you can glean something from the idea.
2. Reminded me of someone's designer dagger with a skeleton handle, winding, and blue anodized inserts. Sorry I lost the photo)))
3. It would be better, of course, on Friday
4. Why did they attack the person? Photographed in detail, described in detail, was not rude to anyone, did not spoil rarities with tuning... We are becoming evil
dgx 22-11-2010 14:24
it turned out to be a normal junk punk knife, why are you guys fighting?
if you don’t wrap it with thread, it’s even kind of cute, not like a “working knife,” God forbid, but like a metal sculpture. It's probably worth looking at in this context...
HCDM 22-11-2010 15:52
IS THERE A FORWARD?!
No, well, it’s somehow not fast. Quickly - tie something out of rope.
SCoffer 22-11-2010 16:23
Where is the constructive discussion?
I suggest screwing the guard perpendicularly through the holes (openings) in the blade, so at least it won’t be removed back through the handle at the most inopportune moment.
But it will be just as inconvenient and traumatic.
quote: Originally posted by DerRock:
No, making horror stories doesn’t require much intelligence.
Nothing like that, even terrible things to do require not only the mind, but also properly sharpened Hands
Kazbich 22-11-2010 16:38
quote: Originally posted by dgx:
Why are you guys fighting?
According to the original title of the topic - “Quickly make a guard for a knife” - what’s wrong? Fast - accurate. The guard - well, I would have made it more carefully from the same components. But definitely longer.
There is nothing to argue about - they offered the option "Fast, cheap and cheerful."
The original wording is completely consistent.
Palitch 25-11-2010 19:58
I’ll tell you, shuriken, they won’t believe it, but the poke guards are really nutritious
Argus_A 25-11-2010 23:05
osanos 26-11-2010 13:06
quote: Originally posted by Sky:
current 1 question... WHY???
No, it would be more correct to ask this:
-What, aminazine no longer helps?
preved-medved86 19-12-2010 09:11
quote: Originally posted by Palitch:
I’ll tell you shuriken, they won’t believe it
Luxembourg 20-12-2010 12:12
TS, I would advise this tactician to convert the plan into a serrator.
To do this, RKoy knock on the ax.
Will be cool!
no-rik 30-11-2011 18:02
My goal was to use the guard to increase the functionality of a store-bought knife as a tool. Therefore, I turn a deaf ear to the angry comments of aesthetic knife lovers. By the way, it is not a fact that after installing such a guard, the knife will be regarded by the police as a bladed weapon. But for those who don’t want problems, such a guard can also be made quick-release. To do this, you will need three cable clamps: N8, N6 and N5.
First, in clamp N8, use a round file to increase the size of both holes towards the center so that the distance between inner edges holes in clamp N8 coincided with the distance between the inner edges of the holes in clamp N5
Then we sand down the outer parts of the N8 clamp to open the holes from the outside:
Also, using sandpaper, we slightly grind both parts of the flat area of the N8 clamp at an angle, so it will be easier to disassemble the hail
Then take the N6 clamp and use a round file to increase the size of the holes, holding the file as in the picture,
so that the rods in clamp N6 can diverge, allowing the workpiece to pass from clamp N8:
Then we install the grad on the knife in its narrow place, choosing the length threaded rods so that they are 4 cm longer than the width of the knife in this place (2 cm on each side)
Insert the workpiece from clamp N8
And adjust the nuts until they stop (do not tighten too much, just fit tightly).
Then we put clamp N5 on the rods. The design should fit tightly and not loosen, while being easy to disassemble when removing the N5 clamp from the rods.
Then we lock the nuts on the threads (by welding, riveting, punching, Loctite, or whatever) in the position in which we adjusted them. We put it back together and fix the N5 clamp on the rods with an elastic band.
It is better to take an elastic band with a fabric covering - it unexpectedly does not tear due to aging, it only loses its elasticity
So, after removing clamp N 5 from the rods, the guard is disassembled into 4 items:
Carry a small magnet on the sheath so that these items do not unexpectedly fall at the feet of police officers when you need to discreetly dismantle the guard.
Topicstarter decided to start the topic once a year? Why this necroposting?
In a couple of years, TS will come up with something really worthwhile...
Itzhak Stern 09-12-2011 20:33
Main question. Why do you need gardaí?
vconst 09-12-2011 21:32
quote: Originally posted by Itzhak Stern:
Why do you need gardaí?
especially since the guard offered by the vehicle is so traumatic. just wow, what will happen to his hand if, relying on this homemade horror, he hits his hand on these wretched screws
gwathedhel 09-12-2011 23:22
Just... The right lanyard turns into a belt guard in 30 seconds (well, it also depends on the knife). And it’s reliable if you need to control the safety of the knife, and it’s simple. And he was clean before the law: he did the work, untied the knot - everything was as it was.
Well, at the request of the workers... I finally found photographs of the knife making process that I took more than a year ago. I think it will be interesting to see the whole process of "witchcraft". My workshop is regular table in the basement, Dremel machine with various attachments, drill press, vice, various hand tool for metal and wood. This is the beginning of the knife - this is its design, after drawing several options, returning to them, correcting and throwing out the wrong ones, the final three candidates appear for production with the selected blade. In this case, the choice fell on a stainless steel blade from A. Biryukov, steel 95X18.
We make the final choice, here it is - the lowest one - the soul approved:
A guard will be made from a piece of bronze lying nearby. Transferring its outline to the metal
and begin to remove unnecessary drilling machine, first with a drill
and then using the Dremel grinder attachment
Roughly file the guard
And then we mark the profile of the groove for the blade
Drill a groove according to the markings
And the blade and guard must be adjusted especially precisely - the gap between them simply must be minimal
I remove excess metal from inside the guard using the same grinder on the machine
Then I change the nozzle to another profile and roughly cut out the profile of the guard from the outside
Well, the guard is planted and adjusted and roughly torn. During all operations, the blade is carefully protected using masking tape
Now we cut out the backplate (or bolster, as you like) from bronze in the same way.
We profile it in a similar way
Grinding the final profile of the parts
We cut a groove for attaching the lanyard with a Dremel using engraving cutters
After that, due to the lack of nickel silver at that moment, we cut the Hong Kong dollar into a spacer and bend it strictly according to the profile of the guard. The second spacer is simply made of thin stainless steel
It’s the same story with the butt plate, only it needs to be securely attached to the handle. Therefore, I drill it and solder bronze pins, which will be recessed and glued into the wood of the handle
We grind the dollar spacers to size and beautifully process the perimeter to match the branch, here it’s called filework
Then we cut out a piece from a block of amboyna root the right size. We drill and bore a through groove in it for the shank along the entire length of the handle - for strength. On the shank we make deep notches with sandpaper for reliable fastening to the glue in the wood. Well, it's simple, that's why there are no photos...
After this comes the most critical stage - the final adjustment to the profile of curved surfaces, tightly, without gaps
The entire structure is prepared for gluing. Between the spacers for contrast there will be layers of glove leather, impregnated with epoxy when gluing
We repeat this fascinating procedure with the backplate, taking into account that it needs two mounting holes for the pins
Here, everything is on epoxy, tinted black with a pen refill, in a clamp, drying
The least that remains is finishing of the whole product, and here (after the whole process, which took, if I’m not mistaken, about 30 hours in total):
