Steel: The “Welding steel” at Tractor Supply/ Lowes/ Home Depot is mild steel and useless for knives Buy new, known, annealed blade steel. Use commercial quench oil & match oil speed to the steel type Here is a good post by Kevin Cashen with the Explanation and classification of oil speeds. For heat treating yourself with minimal equipment, find a Eutectoid steel 1080, 1084.
A knife handle of this size can be used on blades that are up to a half-inch longer than the project blade. Adjust the jig on a knife blade that has a wedge that you like, lock the wing nut and then put the blade you’re working in the gauge to see if it is thin enough;. With knife work, the draw filing is used to get the blade flat prior to heat-treating the blade.
Well equipped makers usually use a larger belt grinder, or a belt grinder made specifically for knife making. A knife maker enjoys making knifes with his belt grinder. Most important is that a knife maker enjoys making knifes with his belt grinder.
how to make a knife without a belt sander Related Question:
Can I make a knife out of a file?
Once you’ve located a steel file, you need to anneal it. To do this heat it until it’s glowing yellow-orange either in a barbecue or fire pit and let it cool slowly. This helps soften the steel of the file. After it’s cool, sand the file and cut out the knife shape with a hacksaw.
Can you make a knife from a wrench?
Do wrenches make good knives? Wrenches are not ideal for making high-quality knives since the carbon content is lower than what you would normally want. This means that the edge retention isn’t great on wrench knives. Technically, though, you can make a knife out pretty much anything, even a piece of flint.