Making a knife with your own hands: from start to finish. What are the types of kitchen knives? Making a kitchen knife
One user shared his first experience with making a kitchen knife.
I was tired of constantly sharpening my Brazilian stainless steel knives during the cooking process, and I caught fire on New Year's Eve, to arrange a gift for myself in the form of a good knife. I got into tyrnets to look for where I could buy one, found a couple of offers, more or less, but still not quite right. Either the shape or the dimensions did not quite correspond to my wishes. Even the price did not play a special role, in the region of 10 k I could spend it, then a gift to my beloved. Yes, and my wife said, you need, look and order, I don’t mind at all. There was an option to order, with its own sizes and shapes. But at work, two of my colleagues began to master this craft in the same way, though they buy ready-made blades, and there they already conjure with handles, and their blades are too small for me at all. But they advised me one steel, x12mf, they said look for it, strong, tough. And rushed.
Having studied the properties of this steel, having read many articles and reviews, it was decided to look for a knife from it. And when I came across the video
so generally an awl in the ass began to play. And then my colleagues bring a piece of such steel. Rolling true. But she. Having estimated the state of my arsenal of tools, the prices of the original parts, and the curvature of my hands, I decided that I would make myself a knife, the one that I needed.
It was not always possible to take a picture of all the stages, but for the most part, all processes are displayed. For the pictures, too, do not kick too much. All in different places, with different lighting and in different weather. The piece was declared as 4 mm thick, 40 wide, but took 35 cm in length, somewhere 20-22 cm for the blade, and 12-13 for the handle, but with a width of the jamb it turned out to be only 35 mm, but oh well. Then we will make a knife with a wide blade, in the summer, when it will be possible to unforge steel))) We draw either by hand or on a computer, the contours of our future knife and cut out of paper like a pattern. We apply steel to the canvas, and paint over everything that needs to be removed from the canvas with a black marker. We go to the machine and fuck. Here is the finished cutting edge. Here I have already roughly outlined the boundaries of the slopes, and began to draw them out slowly.
With the help of such a not tricky device, I made descents. This is the hardest and longest part. I melted 2 buckets of snow))) you need to cool the metal, otherwise we will overheat.
After the painful manufacture of descents, we draw the upper boundaries of the knife, that is, butt.
And we get something that looks like a knife. And with the help of that bar, very rough, we bring the descents and bring the cutting edge to the draft. Well, I walked a bit with the skin, see how it turns out.
The next step was preparing the handle. I asked the guys for a piece of red bourgeois walnut, not for free, of course. Here it is already cut into 3 parts. I thought for a long time what kind of pen to make, I wanted a cupronickel tip, but I couldn’t find a solid piece of cupronickel, only the casting was bad, but somehow it was not very suitable for my purposes. And I decided to make it purely from wood, but from 3 pieces, like a guard and a wooden handle. Yes, and holes are easier to make in small pieces. And from the blank of the knife we remove everything superfluous with a grinder and emery. In parallel, I also sanded the blade a little. It turned out crumpled, I did it in the evenings and at nights. Whatever he had time for, he did.
We mark the pieces of wood, and drill and clean the holes to put on the shank. I didn’t make it out of halves, I don’t like rivets, extra bridges, slack handles. Yes, and in cold weather, they will burn the hand with frost.
There are no photos of the device, I will describe it this way, a skin is glued to a flat board on a 2-sided adhesive tape, and with it we adjust our pieces of wood to each other so that there are no gaps between them. So dressing and taking off every time on the shank. and remove these gaps.
After all the dances with a tambourine, we wrap the blade with electrical tape completely so that the glue does not get in, dilute the epoxy according to the instructions and proceed.
We collect our future handle together with a knife. I tied it with a rope, tightening it with the help of improvised means, there are no pictures ((But if you find a large clamp, then it will be easier for you.
And after a day, intended for the glue to harden, we begin to process the handle. I sawed off everything superfluous from the top of the handle with a small margin for further processing. Marked the axis of symmetry and from it already the future edges of the handle. And he began to saw off everything superfluous.
The tree is dense, it is sawn with a hacksaw for a long time, but the main thing is sawn)) and quite evenly.
Having sawed off everything superfluous on the sides, we mark the contours of the future handle. And saw off everything from the bottom.
we leave a little for further processing, in this case it is better not to finish it than to cut it.
Thanks to my labor teacher for not drinking but teaching us, and taught us how to deal with different files))) We grind everything further with rough and not very files.
We round the edges of the handle, already with small files, and with a rough sandpaper. It’s good that my wife was already asleep and didn’t see a layer of sawdust))) but I lined everything with newspapers. and then wiped the floor with a wet cloth)) cleanliness is the key to success.
Well, then we skin, skin and skin again, as the great bequeathed. Gradually reducing the grain of the skin. Here is an intermediate step next to my previous kitchen love, Brazilian stainless steel.
We skin both the handle and the blade, leveling all surfaces. Sanded in any free time, and at work and at home.
Well, then we take a piece of an old felt boot and make such a device: a bolt, a large washer, a felt circle, a large washer, a nut. You can lock it with one more nut. By the way, taking a circle of skins and putting it on the outside of the felt, you can polish the product)))
After all the polishing, we apply goy paste on the felt disk, and grind the blade, I was already too lazy to bring it to the mirror, and I don’t really need this mirror. Yes, and there was no drill at hand, only a screwdriver, and it does not give such high speeds necessary for better removal.
And after the blade, we take another clean disk, and with it we clean the whole tree from dust and chips. According to the correct course, at first it was necessary to bring the blade completely to a shine. And then to deal with the pen, but I repeat, I was limited in time by different conditions, and did everything at once. Having studied a bunch of impregnations, I decided to impregnate in the ancient way, albeit a long one, but reliable. I bought a couple of bottles of artistic linseed oil. Since the handle is quite large and long, I had to buy a jar of some filth. We take a small saucepan, gauze or a rag on the bottom, an opened jar on a rag. Pour oil into the jar, water into the pan, do not confuse.
We heat the oil to 60-70 degrees, no more, epoxy does not like high temperatures very much, again wrap the blade a little with electrical tape so as not to stain it, and lower our handle into it. And we observe how small air bubbles stand out from the tree. When the bubbles stop, take it out and wipe it with a napkin. This procedure took me about an hour, with several heatings of the oil.
We put the knife on the windowsill under the sun's rays, we need ultraviolet light to polymerize the oil. But I wiped it a couple of times with a napkin with oil until the oil stopped absorbing at all. Do not forget to turn it over on the windowsill every day so that the oil polymerizes on all sides. And in the evenings we sharpen. Here I will not describe everything in detail, one more topic is enough, theories of knife sharpening. Yes, and I haven’t quite mastered it yet)) I’m still learning.
In the meantime, the oil dries, and the blade is sharpened, we will make a camping option out of our chef, we will make a sheath for it. I often go out into the countryside, and cook there, and I have to take my Brazilian stainless steel knives, twisting them around, and putting them neatly in my backpack so that I don’t hurt my hand if I need to get something, and I don’t pierce the backpack with a point. In general, hemorrhoids are still the same. And I decided, since the width of the blade is not ideal for me, then we will make a camping version out of it, I will make another one for the house. True, my wife will probably shoot me)) Well, that's another question. Again we turn to our colleagues, and take from them another small piece of wood. I decided to make everything from one tree. and handle and scabbard. Again, we figure out on a piece of paper how it will look, and what pieces it will consist of. We mark the bar, and cut into pieces. By this time, I rented a grinding machine from my brother, which grinds with sandpaper. And with this miracle device we bring the joints of the trees according to the plan into a more or less decent condition. That is, to fit exactly. No big gaps. Here at the next stage, my patience snapped. We drill a hole under the knife in each piece, I fiddled with it for a very long time, and the desire to finish everything as soon as possible was already great, and because of this, I hastily glued these pieces at night without fitting the joints well. As a result, in one place a jamb surfaced later. But certainly not critical. Yes, and I glued it on Friday night, but there was a desire to completely process the rest for the exhaust. And you still have to wait for days. and did not postpone and pasted.
I glued it with reinforcement, by the way, so that under transverse loads, it would not fall apart in the places of gluing. Reinforced with thin metal studs. 2 studs in each joint. Well, after the glue dries, we go to the garage, take a miracle grinder, and remove all unnecessary with its help. And we return to felt devices, take different skins for reduction and grind them to the maximum smoothness, and then clean them with clean felt. I decided to impregnate the scabbard in a cold way. True, he poured hot inside, there were particles of wax inside, and it was necessary to melt them, and soaked the outer part for a week, applying a small layer every day. In the first impregnation, of course, I applied layers for an hour until it ceased to be absorbed. Well, to their knife. On the windowsill. Turning constantly.
After the knife and sheath have dried out, and the oil has polymerized, albeit not completely, then more will come. We are preparing the composition for finishing. We take beeswax and our linseed oil in proportions of about 2 parts of oil and 1 part of wax, but I probably couldn’t stand it even by eye, but after reading the recipes before that, I realized that there are no exact proportions, you want 1/3 you want 1 /4, and if you want clean wax process. There was an opportunity to process it with carnauba wax, but I decided to make it from our bee wax. In a water bath, melt the wax in the oil until smooth.
I strained through cheesecloth to get rid of dead bee parts. Wax is natural, with all parts of the honeycomb, and the smell of honey)).
My task was a knife with which you can cut and butcher meat, and so that it retains its sharpness after that. I love tomatoes with meat dishes, and it’s bad to cut them with a blunt knife. I can say that the task is carried out with a bang. Brazilians can't do that. The knife, of course, turned out to be not perfect, there are a couple of jambs on the slopes, a couple of jambs on the sheath, but all these jambs are mostly aesthetic nitpicking, and do not affect practical application in any way. And I think it's forgivable for the first time)) Well, another small remark: the budget. a piece of steel - 300 rubles. wood for the handle and scabbard - 500 rubles (of course, a board of such a tree costs 5 rubles, but it is 2 meters, and I used 15-20 cm from the board in total) skin - about 500 rubles. linseed oil - 200 rubles. 1500 are further acquisitions for the knife, which remained at my disposal for the rest of my life, so it is difficult to consider them as the cost of the knife. files, needle files, and all sorts of little things about 1k ruble ordinary sharpening bars - 150 rubles diamond bar 1.5 k. vise small 300 rubles total about 4.5 rubles. Of course, it was possible to find a ready-made knife at such a cost, but to be left without such nishtyaks as a diamond bar. which then would have to buy anyway. Everyone, you can drink.
DIY kitchen knife at home. How to make a kitchen knife with your own hands at home. A kitchen knife is the main tool of a professional chef. It must be strong, sharp and reliable. Real, branded chef's knives are quite expensive, their cost can start from $200 to $3000 or more. We will try to make a high quality knife, investing only $ 10, and common hand tools will be used for work.
Making each such knife requires a lot of effort, so you will need a lot of patience. The author, working with hand tools, spends about 20 hours on each knife.
Of course, no one forbids the use of power tools, so the work process will be faster and easier.
Materials and tools.
List of materials:
- billet of high-carbon steel (such steel can be hardened);
- a wooden block or boards (for making a handle);
- brass rods (or ordinary nails for making pins).
- a hammer;
- hacksaw for metal;
- files for wood and metal;
- marker, paper;
- epoxy adhesive;
- pliers;
- gloves;
- sandpaper;
- wood impregnation oil.
Step one. Choosing the right steel
Only one thing affects the quality of a knife - the steel used. In order for the blade not to dull for a long time, and the blade to be as thin as possible and cut everything like a blade, the steel must have a high carbon content. The more it is, the stronger the steel will become. Due to the large amount of carbon, steel can be hardened, it is carbon that gives rigidity to the metal during hardening.
Such steel is usually used in tools, these are files, wrenches and more. It is also commonly used in springs, for example, you can use an old car spring. The author used steel 01 for such purposes, as well as 1084. Steel 1095 also gained quite wide popularity. In principle, you can always buy a finished workpiece from the desired steel.
Step two. Cut out a rough profile
First of all, decide on the shape of the knife. You can take a finished profile from already made knives. You can change the existing profile to your taste. We draw it on the workpiece, and then cut it out with a hacksaw for metal, holding it in a vise. If there is a grinder, great, you can cut the profile with it.
There is one more nuance here, if your workpiece is hardened, then it will not be possible to cut it with a hacksaw. To work with hand tools, you will need to release the metal. Heat it to red, for example, in good coals, and then let it cool in the open air. After that, the metal should become soft. If this does not happen, then the steel was poorly heated.
In order not to damage the workpiece with the steel lips of the vise, clamp it between two planks or blocks.
Step three. We form bevels
Bevels - this is the angle of sharpening, the wider the bevel, the smoother and thinner the blade will be, as a result, the knife will cut better. First, mark the bevel lines on the blade on both sides, and then draw a central line along the blade, as the author did. To draw the center line, you will need a drill with the same diameter as the thickness of the blade.
Now we take a file and evenly remove the metal. This is not done quickly with a file, but you have practically no chance of spoiling the workpiece, when compared with a grinder. Sew one end first, then the other. After a coarse-grained file, at the end of the work, take a fine one to remove deep scratches.
Step four. Blade surface grinding
Now you can start grinding the workpiece. The task will be to make the surface absolutely smooth and even, to remove various defects after rough processing. First we use coarse sandpaper, and then finer and finer. At the end, the paper grain should be 1200 units. If desired, after grinding, you can polish the metal, but for now it is pointless to do this, since hardening is still waiting for us, after which the metal will have to be polished again.
The handle is fastened with two pins, the author uses rivets as them, they are large and look impressive. We drill holes of the required diameter for the selected pins. At a minimum, you will need to make two holes, the rest are optional. Drill carefully, to be sure, clamp the workpiece in a vise. The steel is quite thick, so you can easily break the drill.
Steel needs to be hardened, so it will become hard, and the knife will keep its sharpness for a long time. For these purposes, you can assemble a simple oven powered by a gas burner. In the simplest case, we take coals, blow them up with a household hair dryer or other source of air supply. Steel must be heated to a bright red color, however, each type of steel has its own color indication. To check the desired temperature, find a permanent magnet. If the steel is properly heated, the permanent magnet will not be attracted to it. The workpiece must be evenly heated along its entire length.
Next, we cool the metal in oil, it is preferable to use vegetable oil. A motor one is also suitable, but it is not recommended to use mining, as it contains a lot of contaminants, which can damage the top layer of metal.
When the metal has completely cooled, handle it very carefully, as the steel is now very brittle. Metal release will allow the knife to be elastic. Thanks to this procedure, we soften the steel a little, and it acquires spring properties. For this procedure, you will need an oven, it is important for you to know the temperature, it should be in the range of 200-230 ° C. We place the workpiece in the oven for an hour and a half, and let it cool together with the oven, do not open the door. Everything, after that you will receive a workpiece of excellent quality.
Step seven. Sharpening and polishing
After quenching, the steel will have a lot of impurities, such as scale, burnt oil, and so on. This whole thing has to be cleaned up. We take fine sandpaper, moisten it in WD-40 or ordinary water and grind the surface. When you clean the metal, you can polish it. You can use GOI paste and other substances.
After polishing, sharpen the blade. This can be done with very fine sandpaper, you can use whetstones, and Japanese water stone is best, it comes in different grits. Moisten the grinding stone with water, this allows it to self-clean and it sharpens metal well. A quality knife should cut paper without difficulty.
Step eight. Pen
Before you finish the handle with wood, cover the blade with masking tape, tape it, or secure it in some other way so as not to cut yourself. The pads on the handle are made of wooden boards or a bar, which is sawn into two halves. We cut the blanks to the desired size, drill holes and then assemble them on pins. After making sure that everything is assembled correctly, glue the blanks with epoxy glue and clamp the handle with a clamp until it dries completely.
When the glue dries, we take a file on a tree and form a handle profile, this is not difficult. It is easier to carry out such work on a grinder with a coarse-grained stone. Well, then we take sandpaper and make the handle absolutely smooth. You can polish it if you wish.
At the end, we use impregnations for wood, otherwise it will instantly crack from water. Linseed oil will come to the rescue. Oil can be mixed with beeswax by heating them in a water bath. The resulting "ointment" is applied to the tree and allowed to soak. Finally, polish the surface.
As a result, we have an excellent kitchen knife that you can envy!
A custom made knife is a staple of most professional chefs and chefs. Its cost can vary from $200 to $3000. However, you can make one for yourself for as little as $10, with only hand tools to do the job.
I wouldn't call the knife making process very difficult, but the work takes a lot of time and patience, so get your favorite audiobooks ready. Each knife takes about 20 hours to make. There are ways to reduce this time, but then you will have to spend more money.
List of steps:
- Selection of materials and/or tools.
- Choice of knife design
- The choice of steel is based on your needs.
- Shaping a sheet of steel.
- Heat treatment of metal.
- Knife sharpening.
- Making a wooden handle.
With that said, let's continue.
Materials and tools
How to make and use a knife feed clamp
Here's what you need to make a good quality knife:
Materials:
- Steel (I will go into more detail on this issue in the next step).
- Wood.
- Brass rivets.
- Gypsum.
- Iron sieve.
- Gas-burner.
- Metal file (double cut).
- Hacksaw for metal.
- Hand drill and drills for it (you can use an electric one).
- Permanent marker (thin and thick).
- Metal scissors.
- A hammer.
- Kerner.
- Long nose pliers.
- Gloves.
- Nozzle (for burning propane).
- Metal or plastic brush.
- Miter box.
- Saw on wood.
- Sandpaper.
- Clear varnish or stain.
Steel for knives
The choice of steel you choose will greatly affect the final result. This is the most important part of the knife.
Steel is a combination of two substances: iron and carbon. The more carbon a steel contains, the harder it is. Harder steel can be used to make a thinner and sharper cutting edge of the blade, which will remain so for a long time. However, this will also lead to a decrease in its strength, since such steel will become more brittle.
Historically, these two elements were combined when a blacksmith heated iron in a furnace. The smoke that came out of the fire (mostly carbon particles) covered the steel and then joined with it during the shaping of the iron. That's how Damascus steel came about - the more layers in the blade, the more times they were folded and forged, so the carbon content in it was higher. Today, Damascus steel is produced automatically and is of the same quality as high-grade stainless steel. It has a characteristic texture that can be accentuated with acid.
With the development of technology over the past few hundred years, you no longer need all the equipment of a blacksmith to make a knife out of high carbon steel. Today, suitable metal can be ordered on the Internet.
There are two classifications of steel: stainless and rusty.
Stainless steel typically contains at least 13% chromium to keep it from rusting and corroding. Stainless steel is more difficult to heat treat, especially at home. Therefore, if you want to opt for such a metal, then you will most likely have to use third-party services for heat treatment.
A stainless steel blade contains less than 13% chromium. Such metal usually costs less and is easier to heat treat. Its knives are as sharp as those made of stainless steel. However, these metals are susceptible to corrosion and rusting to a certain extent, so they cannot be kept damp (no more than 20 minutes).
Now that you've finally decided on your choice of steel, it's time to decide on the dimensions.
My first knife was 230 x 2.5 x 40mm CVG. When making it, I recommend stopping at the thickness and width of the blade mentioned above. You can choose its length as you wish.
Choice of shape for knives
The shape of kitchen knives may vary depending on their purpose. I opted for a Western Japanese kitchen knife. You can find a better fit for yourself. I advise you to first cut it out of cardboard to check how it will lie in your hand. Then, if necessary, it will be possible to change its size.
After you have decided on the shape, you can order the appropriate metal. Remember that the larger the knife, the longer you will process it. So I recommend starting small.
If you use a vice when processing metal, then you will also need a pair of wooden blocks between which you will clamp the workpiece. Then there will be no traces of the vice on it.
Use a hacksaw to cut out the primary shape. This will take quite a lot of time. If you hold the hacksaw with both hands (one on the handle, and the other near the tension screw) and evenly distribute pressure during operation, the process will go much faster.
Formation of the blade profile
Usually there are two descents in the knife, sometimes three. One goes along the entire blade of the knife, and the second makes the cutting edge. There are many types of profiles, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. I will focus on the most common ones, and those that can be shaped with a file jig.
Wedge profile:
Both sides of the blade rise in a straight line to the butt. A very common profile as it combines sharpness and wear resistance.
Pentagonal blade profile with supply:
Such a profile contains three ribs of descent. The lowest, which is sharpened. Then the middle edge, which extends to the middle of the blade and then descends at a slight angle or even blade. This profile is not as sharp as the wedge profile, but is more resistant to wear and subject to less friction when cutting.
One-sided sharpening:
Only one side has a wedge-like slope. This profile is sharper and more precise as one side remains flat. Quite common in Japanese culture. With this sharpening, the blade wears out faster and for those who are not familiar with this profile, working with a knife may seem unusual. Such a blade is made the fastest, and it is easier to sharpen.
After choosing the blade profile, it's time to start the longest of the processes. For a sheet of steel with a thickness of 2.5 mm, you will have to spend at least two hours, and the thicker the sheet, the longer it will take to process it.
- The central sharpening line can be marked with a drill with a diameter equal to the thickness of the workpiece.
- If you're going to double down, after the first cut, the edge should be a little thicker than what you're planning on doing.
- Before each processing step, apply a new coat of paint with a marker.
- Sharpen with wide working movements. This is important, otherwise you can make uneven depressions in the surface, which can only manifest themselves when polished, and which will then be difficult to get rid of.
- The workpiece, if possible, is best placed on a wooden block, so the metal being processed will bend less.
- Listen to an audiobook, especially a long one.
- Be patient and use a large-toothed file.
- Use only a double cut file to reduce the chance of leaving deep scratches in the metal.
- Clean the knife and file with a brush every 2-5 minutes.
Polishing a knife blade
Watch the video:
A polished blade will not only look better, but it will also be more resistant to corrosion. The smoother the surface, the less likely it is that water will remain in the recesses and cause stains. To polish the blade, I used three types of stones. I started with a rough stone (with P300-P400 grit), moving on to a finer one (P800) and finished polishing with the finest stone, with P1200 grit. The result of such work will be a shiny blade, but without a mirror finish.
If you want to bring the result to a mirror surface, or you do not have whetstones, then sandpaper or wet sandpaper can be used for this work.
The process is known - just rub the blade on the stone or rub the sandpaper on the blade. We do this until the surface becomes homogeneous, then we reduce the size of the abrasive grain. While working with the whetstone, move from one side to the other so as not to leave them wet for a long time. If it is possible to use a whetstone that can be worked with oil, I recommend using one to avoid staining the blade. This stage will take quite a long time, but no more than the formation of a blade profile.
Drilling holes for rivets
To fix the lining on the knife handle, two holes for rivets must be drilled in the shank. This is important to do before heat treatment. I suggest doing a test assembly to make sure that the edges of the raw rubbers extend beyond the edges of the shank. In order for the drill to quickly cut into the metal when drilling, the drilling site must be marked with a center punch. Then select a drill of the required diameter and drill two holes in the shank. If you use a hand drill, then the risk of breaking the drill will decrease. For example, I broke two using an electric drill. Plus, drilling with a hand drill is slightly longer than working with an electric one.
Making a bugle
To heat treat a knife, you have to heat the metal to the required temperature, at which the internal structure of the metal undergoes changes. This happens at about 750 C. I've seen some people use an oxy-acetylene torch, but I haven't tried it myself.
Therefore, if you are going to heat treat yourself, you will need a forge. I think most people would rather make their own than buy one. Information on how to make a bugle can be found on the Internet. To do this, you will need sand and gypsum. To check the temperature, you can heat some kitchen salt. If it melts, then this temperature will be enough to harden the metal. But if you are using a steel grade that is more difficult in terms of heat treatment, you can turn to third-party enterprises for this.
Heat treatment of knife blade
Heat treatment is the process that reveals the true qualities of a knife. Up to this point, the metal was quite soft and pliable to work with. After hardening, the blade will be more difficult to work with, so check again if everything suits you.
Heat treatment has two stages: first, the steel is made harder, then it is slightly weakened. The second process is called vacation. It will allow the metal to be more resistant to wear (less brittle).
The temperature to which steel must be heated for hardening depends on the steel grade. As a rule, the temperature to which it is necessary to bring carbon steel is lower than that of stainless steel.
Regardless of which mountain you decide to use, it's time to start the process. It is best when the flame moves towards the exit in a spiral, so the metal heats up more evenly. At this stage, gloves will not be superfluous, since you will be in close proximity to the source of such a high temperature. Change the position of the blade periodically to make sure it heats up evenly. The steel will begin to change color. When it turns bright red, hold a magnet close to it. If the metal is magnetic, then the blade is not heated enough. If not, then the temperature is just right.
Most tool steels use oil as the coolant. Used engine oil is good, however, when a hot knife is lowered into it, flames will come out of it. If you don't want to deal with petroleum products, you can use canola or olive oil. However, no matter which method you choose, be prepared and keep a fire extinguisher or a box of baking soda nearby. Never try to put out a burning oil with water. The amount of oil must be sufficient so that the metal in it can be completely immersed. However, when making a kitchen knife, it is not necessary to harden the shank. The container must not be made of burning materials. No plastic or wood. I used an old artillery shell.
As you dip the blade into the oil, move it back and forth as if you were about to cut something. Do not move it from side to side, as this may cause the blade to warp. After two minutes, the knife can be removed. Be careful as at this stage the knife has become too brittle and could crack from a slight fall. Wash the blade in soapy water to remove any remaining oil. Black scales may form on the surface, this is normal. After hardening the blade, try to lightly file it, it should slip and leave only small scratches. If it cuts well into the metal, then you need to repeat the hardening process again.
Now it's time to release the blade. This process reduces its hardness but improves the flexibility of the blade. The ratio of hardness and flexibility can be adjusted by the temperature height and tempering time. Most steelmakers have metal heat treatment tables. The hardness level can be measured using the Rockwell scale. For a kitchen knife, this indicator should be at the level of 60-64 kgf.
The tempering of my CVG steel blade took two hours.
After tempering, the blade is finally polished. Everything is done quite quickly, only a very thin top layer is removed with a stone or sandpaper.
Sharpening quality knife sharpening
Watch the video:
Sharpening is an art that needs to be learned diligently. Although certain systems of this process have already been developed. One way is to fix the file in a special holder. I do not recommend using sharpening tools in which the sharpening angle of the cutting edge cannot be changed. Most likely, it will not fit our version.
I sharpened my knife in a very traditional way. He drove the blade along the touchstone without changing the angle of the blade. This is not as difficult as it may seem, because you choose the angle of sharpening, and you will know how to hold the blade. The smaller the angle, the sharper the knife will be, and the more fragile its cutting edge will be. Having heard a hissing sound in the process of work, we turn the blade over and work with the other side. Only this time do less movement. Continue to switch sides and reduce the number of working movements (up to three on each side). After that, we switch to a stone with a smaller grain of abrasive. I finish sharpening my knives on a P8000 grit stone.
I would recommend sharpening the knife (at least partially) before you glue the handle linings. Small particles that are formed as a result of working on the whetstone can eat into the wooden lining, changing their color.
Handle making, finishing touches
Depending on the style of knife you choose, you may want to hide the tang in the handle, or more commonly, line it up. For my knife, the handle is made in the second way, when the wooden lining is polished along with the shank and fastened with rivets.
Start by cutting wood, preferably hardwood. It is best when the tree has a larger texture of growth rings, and the thickness of one lining is from 5 to 10 mm. Depending on the dimensions of your knife, you can change their thickness. Having decided on the dimensions, use the miter box to cut out the linings of the same thickness. For other measurements, accuracy is not needed at this stage, the main thing is that the linings protrude beyond the shank.
Once the tabs are cut, line them up on the shank and mark where the rivets should go. Then drill those holes. Start with a drill with a thickness equal to the diameter of the rivet head. The hole needs to be made a little deeper than the height of the head. The rest of the hole must be made with a drill with a diameter slightly smaller than the thickness of the rivet. Thus, the lining will be more securely fastened.
Now it's time to insert the rivets into the handle and secure the tangs (which are still more like bars) to the shank. Use a vise to press the rivets into each other until they are flush with the wood (this will take less time to grind). Next, clamp the nail in a vise with the head up. Position the knife handle so that the rivet is on the head of the nail. On the opposite side, similarly place another nail head down on the rivet. Hit the top nail, thus deepening the rivets in the handle, to the depth of the wider hole.
After that, use a jigsaw to saw off the excess lining. Then, for more precise work, you can give the tree the desired shape with a sharp knife. His blade copes with this task quite accurately, then you just need to wipe everything with sandpaper.
Usually I make the back of the handle thicker, and the front parts of the pad smoothly descend to the blade. Then you can immediately apply a clear varnish to the handle, or sand it with P220 grit sandpaper.
When the wood is smooth enough and the handle is comfortable to hold, you can apply stain or varnish, depending on the type of wood you are using. If you like the look of the wood texture, then apply varnish to help protect the handle from moisture and chipping. When the wood is smooth enough, use the remaining pieces of wood to experiment with the choice of stain. After a layer of stain, apply a clear varnish.
Now your quality kitchen knife is ready.
You have just saved an impressive amount of money and now you can enjoy using a high quality knife that was made by you. Thank you for your attention!
A knife for a person has long been the main weapon. After all, people have neither fangs nor claws to defend themselves - the blade has become their replacement. Initially, it was stone, but humanity moved forward, and knives were also improved. Steel appeared, and then they learned how to make its various grades, thanks to which it became possible to give products different properties. A knife for a person is now indispensable. Here we will study in detail the question of how to make a knife with your own hands so that it meets all the requirements of the owner.
A good blade is especially necessary for people involved in extreme sports far from civilization, as well as foresters, rangers, fishermen - that is, all those whose activities or hobbies are connected with wildlife. If something unforeseen happens under such conditions, then a durable and comfortable knife, with its skillful use, can save a life. The most important thing is that it is convenient for the blade to perform various work. For example, butchering fish, cutting wood, and defending yourself when attacked by a beast. Now on sale there are many different variations of knives, but in most cases their quality is very poor. It remains nothing more than to make a knife with your own hands at home. Only then will it be possible to know that the blade will definitely not let you down and will be able to fulfill all the obligations assigned to it.
What is the easiest way to make a knife?
Depending on the material and manufacturing technology, the blade is different from blade to blade. The simplest way is to make a knife by cold forging. Various garden tools can become the material: shovels, choppers, saws - there are a lot of options. This material is quite malleable, and a knife made of such steel does not dull for a long time.
Manufacturing process
Thinking about the question of how to make a knife with your own hands at home, you need to first get the tools. We will need:
- Hacksaw for metal.
- Files: one large and the rest smaller.
- It is not necessary to have a vice, but with them the process will be more convenient and faster.
- Sandpaper.
- Drill.
- A hammer.
- An anvil or a piece of rails.
We take a broken or unnecessary garden tool and draw a sketch of the future knife on it. After we start creating this form. To do this, you can use a drill: drill a lot of holes in the shape of the workpiece, then break off the excess and level the surface. If the shape of the knife is simple, then immediately proceed to sawing with a hacksaw. To do this, it is easier and more convenient to clamp the material in a vise - this way it will hold tightly without jumping out. When the shape is cut out, it needs to be finished with a file. Where a lot of metal needs to be removed, a large file is used, after which it is processed with a smaller one. So, the knife blank is ready, we move on to understanding how to make a knife with our own hands.
Secondary processing
In order for the cutting edge of the blade to hold the sharpening well, it must be riveted. This is called the cold forging method, because, without heating the metal, it is simply riveted. Garden tools have carbon steel, but it can be riveted. On a rail or anvil, we rivet the workpiece in the place where its cutting edge will be. During this process, the shape of the blade can be slightly bent, because the metal is deformed, on the one hand, shrinking, and on the other, expanding. However, such a deformation is insignificant and almost does not change
Finishing the knife
After the cutting edge is riveted, the knife is ground - this is required in order to remove bumps from impacts. Some people like to see marks like that on their knife and leave them. But here everyone has their own preferences regarding how to make a knife with their own hands and what it will look like. However, from a practical point of view, it is better to make the blade smooth so that all dirt can be easily wiped off its surface. After all, moisture can linger between the dents, which will lead to corrosion, and this is undesirable. Also, when cutting hard wood, it is better for the blade to pass well through the fibers, and not cling to them.
Hot forging method
To make a serious knife, the blade of which could cut nails, requires a more complex processing process. First, choose the right material. You need steel with a high carbon content. From what you can find at home - these are files, drills, springs from cars, as well as spring steel. You can make your own from this material, which will be much better than those offered in stores.
hot forging process
To do this, you need a furnace in which you can strongly heat the metal. It can be built of red brick, plastered with clay and heated with coal, providing a strong air flow so that the temperature is higher. After the iron is hot, you can start forging. And then - to form a blank until the blade takes the desired shape.
Knife hardening process
Blacksmiths learn for a long time to determine by the color of hot metal when it is worth tempering it by immersing it in water or oil. However, for the layman there is one universal way. When the steel is red-hot, you need to bring a magnet to it: if it is attracted to the blade, then you should continue to heat it, and if not already, then you need to immerse it in water or oil - for hardening. Knowing the basics of how to make a knife with your own hands, you can improvise to create various models of edged weapons.
An excellent knife can be made from a drill. They heat it up and, holding it in a vise, untwist it. After you get an even rectangle, the blade is given the desired look. From such material you can make your own hands of excellent quality. After the workpiece has taken the form of a blade, it is hardened, as described above.
How to do it yourself?
To make such a weapon, it is not necessary to have good steel. After all, if you take a material with a high percentage of carbon, then with an unsuccessful throw, the knife may break. Therefore, softer steel, but with a thickness of 5 mm or more, is quite suitable. This is necessary so that, firstly, the blade has sufficient weight, and secondly, it does not bend. It is easy to make it by cold forging, after which you just need to grind it to make the surface even.
However, it must be remembered that the center of gravity should be strictly in the center or shifted more towards the blade. The manufacturing process of such a knife is quite easy, on the one hand, however, on the other hand, it is quite painstaking due to the fact that it is necessary to center the knife. The handle can be made lighter by drilling it.
Switchblade knives
They are quite convenient for the city, because they take up little space and are very convenient, but with prolonged use, their mechanism can become clogged and work poorly. It is not very convenient to constantly use such a knife during work, but if there is no alternative, then for a short period of operation it can be a great helper. To make a switchblade knife with your own hands, you need to choose a reliable mechanism in which the blade will not loosen. It is better to give preference to a model in which the blade pops up from the side. Indeed, as practice shows, if the blade is well tightened and equipped with bearings, it will not loosen for a long time. But in knives with a frontal ejection of the blade, the backlash of the blade is inevitable and only increases in operation. It's more of a toy than a tool.
In this article, all the ways of how to make a knife with your own hands were considered. Of course, this is a rather time-consuming process that requires considerable effort, and in some cases, technical devices. However, the result is worth it, and the thing will last for many years.
MANUFACTURE OF KITCHEN KNIVES
Having redone a lot of any cold, piercing - cutting, I suddenly noticed that in the kitchen there is no sensiblekitchen knife. Well then, let's start making it. First, let's decide on the workpiece: you can take steel 65G or 95X18. I do not consider other options, due to their lower quality and low prevalence. If there are problems with workpieces and subsequent hardening, you can simplify the process by using a piece of a saw blade or other metal-cutting tool for a knife.On the emery wheel, we give the iron the desired shape. Pre-scratch the contour of the knife according to the template. I use fiberglass templates for this.
After removing excess metal, we bring shine with a circle with sandpaper.
Having drilled two or three holes with a diameter of 3 mm for fastening, we get this:
Now it's time for the handle. Someone uses plastic for these purposes, some are caprolon, some are plexiglass, some are metal. But the best results are obtained from a simple tree - and durable, and comfortable, and pleasant to hold. For the preparation, a wooden leg is taken from the chair.Cut in half with a hacksaw
These two halves will be the handle of the knife. Fastening is done on rivets made of aluminum wire.
Having firmly attached them to the iron, we drill mounting holes and put them on M3 screws for further processing.
To give a preliminary shape to the handle, we use an abrasive grinding wheel.
Already something like a knife. Now you can replace the screws with rivets.We finally shape the handle with a rasp and polish it with a strip of sandpaper, first coarse-grained, and then finer.