How to make a do-it-yourself knife for metal from a diamond circular saw blade. How to make a knife from a circular saw blade with your own hands? Make a knife from a disc

There are a large number of knives in stores. They have a different design, purpose, are performed using modern technologies. In addition, the materials for production can be not only metal, but also ceramics of special rigidity. Such knives are very sharp, do not need sharpening for a long time, but at the same time they are quite fragile. When a chip is formed, it is not possible to restore the previous appearance of the knife, especially at home.

The blades of the knife should be made of hardened steel so that it is comfortable to use.

In order for the knife to be pleasant to work with and at the same time convenient to cut, it must sit securely and comfortably in the hand. With a comfortable handle, you can use it for a long time. But it is not always possible to find such a knife in finished form. Then you can do it yourself. This takes into account the features of the palm, the length and shape of the cutting blade. Knives must be made of hardened steel. Therefore, homemade saw blades will fully meet the requirements.

Knife options

Homemade knives can be made from a variety of metal parts that cannot be used for their intended purpose, as they have become unusable.

Among the details of which you can select a few:

worn motorcycle connecting rods, from which you can make a set of knives of various lengths;
balloon wrenches with 1 broken end;
crutches that are used when laying rails;
circular saw blades of various diameters and thicknesses;
damaged hacksaw blade of a pendulum saw.

With certain skills in forging, you can make a knife from a thick metal cable, a chain from a home assembly. A chainsaw is ideal for this. Her chain is strong enough, and a homemade knife will turn out like Damascus knives.

If the circular saw has a large disk diameter, and its damage is minimal, then two homemade knives can be obtained from it. The discs have a significant strength of the metal of manufacture, as the saw is used for various purposes for a long time.

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Materials and tools

To make a homemade knife, you will need the following equipment:

Woodworking Machine. If it is not there, then an electric jigsaw can be used to pre-cut the handle. For final polishing, sandpaper of different grain sizes is used.
Nails or better copper wire for rivets.
Wood.
Machine for grinding and sharpening. In his absence, you can use a grinder, a puncher, a high-power drill. In addition, you need nozzles or circles with which you can do these operations. One of these tools should be firmly fixed, and then work should be done.
Files with various types of notches.
Marker.
Brass plate and rod, if the handle is not attached to rivets.
Epoxy adhesive.

Knives should have a comfortable handle. For her, the most suitable material is wood. Most often used birch, oak bars. These rocks are the hardest, less susceptible to moisture with prolonged use. They are pleasant to the touch and have a beautiful texture. Since a large amount of starting material is not required for the manufacture of a knife handle, 1 parquet board, a piece of board or bar can be used for these purposes. It is important that the wooden blank is not damaged, cracked and does not contain chips and other defects.

After the blade is sufficiently calcined, you need to cool it.

In order to make a knife, it is necessary to use certain grades of steel. It should be remembered that its characteristics depend on how the metal was technologically hardened. For example, with increasing hardness, the brittleness of metal products increases. Steel grades R6M5 or R3M3F2 are suitable for the knife. At the same time, a metal thickness of 2 mm will be enough.

The strength of a homemade knife does not depend on the thickness of the metal. It is influenced by its geometric dimensions: length, width, shape of the blade and descent. With the right choice of these components and careful metal processing, an excellent knife is guaranteed. Such steel grades are used in the manufacture of discs, blades, tools such as, for example, a circular saw.

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Hacksaw blade knife

If it is decided to use a hacksaw blade as a metal blank, then it is necessary to take a blade from a pendulum saw. This saw performs work on thick metal (such as rails) and meets the requirements for rigidity and strength. The size of such canvases varies within the length / width / thickness, 400-500:30-40:2 mm. The color is determined by the type of manufacturing treatment the saw has undergone and can be black or grey.

Before starting the manufacture of a knife blade, it is necessary to check the integrity of the metal. This can be done by ear, but this requires some experience and skill. A whole canvas makes a sonorous sound, a damaged one - deaf. If it is difficult to do this by ear, then it is necessary to carefully examine the metal blank.

On a whole piece of canvas, the contour of the future knife is applied with a marker.

The blade angle should be 20 degrees.

At the same time, it should be not only a blade, but also an allowance, which will then be hidden in the handle. After that, on a metalworking machine (or a carefully fixed grinder with a circle), it is necessary to gradually and carefully remove the excess.

This should be done slowly, as the metal can heat up. To cool it down and continue working, take a bucket of water. This capacity should be enough for the workpiece to be placed completely in the water. The same machine performs the contours of the blade. It should be borne in mind that a feature of this steel is that with a sharp change in the temperature of the metal, tiny cracks can form in it. This can lead to the fact that even with a small effort, the knife breaks. Therefore, overheating of the metal during its processing should not be allowed. Particular attention should be paid to the point, because with a decrease in thickness, the metal heats up faster.

A very useful project with a detailed video of the process of making a knife from a web of old circular discs. All stages of manufacturing are present here, including hardening and sharpening. I especially liked the horn from an ordinary hair dryer. The persistence of the author is surprising - the entire manufacturing process was carried out without the use of electrical tools. Well, he had this fantasy. On the other hand, a good experience. With a certain amount of perseverance, such a knife can be made practically “on the knee”.

My friend and fellow YouTuber wanted to make a joint video. We bounced around some ideas and eventually decided to shoot ourselves in knife making. The catch was that I would do it by hand (except for the drill and oven) and he would do it with power tools. We both started out with the same blade, the same steel, but the rest of the design aesthetic was left up to us. I also wanted to do this because I read many times all you have to do with a knife a few files and a drill or something like that. I was wondering how long it would take me to make a knife by hand and to see if I could do it without cheating and using my tools. So I realized that this is a great opportunity to try it. It was fun to build, took much longer than I expected, and gave me a whole new appreciation for people who make knives entirely by hand. Overall I'm very happy with how the knife turned out and I hope it helps someone out there that wants to give it a try.

Step 1:

I tried to increase the size of the knife with the designs that are used for the saw as much as possible. I made a paper template using card stock, which is just a heavier weight paper so I could easily trace the paper template onto the saw blade. I used a thin tip marker, although this is a small thing in my opinion, it is very important. Fine marker tip leaves fine lines to cut or file too unlike conventional marker tip. The cut line can become ambiguous if it's too wide, which can affect the overall shape and lead to breaks in shape and more problems down the road.

Step 2:

With the saw blade clamped onto the worktable I started by cutting out the rough shape of the blade using straight line segments. If you have never used a hacksaw, first make sure that the blade is correct, the direction of the teeth should be directed forward or away from your body. The cuts are on the cut so make sure to set the blade correctly.

Step 3:

In order to cut out the curved parts of the handle, I made several perpendicular cuts in the relief along the entire length of the curved part of the handle. Then, using a hacksaw at a slight angle, I would cut out a small section from each. Reset reduction make it easier to follow the curve as you cut.

Step 4:

I needed to refine the shape of the blade, so I attached a 2x4 piece of crowbar to my workbench and clamped the blade into a 2x4. This allowed me to work forms from my file, and the blade was nice and safe. I also used the file to evaluate which areas needed more work. The spine design was slightly tilted and I could use the flat part of the file to check progress on the curve. If the spine has a flat spot it will be visible.

Step 5:

I used multiple files to get the shape or as close to the line as possible. At this point, it starts to look more like a knife and the flaws are harder to spot by eye. If I notice that a zone needs work, I would use the marker to re-draw the shape and then file with that new line. It served as a guide, so I'm not in favor of correct and mess up the design. The last picture of the blade after it has been filed and sanded down. I don't have any photos of me sanding the blade, this is the last step to shaping that removes any file marks. I would start with 150 grit and work my way up to 220.

Step 6:

I originally planned to dip with a nice high bevel, but my modest skills weren't up to the challenge. The saw blade is pretty thin material and I don't think I can extend the blade to reach the takedown line and the slope I was after. More on this subject later. At this point I also measured the placement of the pin center and punched and then drilled the holes with my drill.

Step 7:

Using a marker, I marked the entire length of the blade. Then, using a drill with the same thickness as the blade I scored a line down the center of the blade. The last picture shows, on the line it is not visible well in the picture, but it is there. This line will come in handy when filing a blade tilt, it will keep me from crooked and lopsided edges.

Step 8:

I used the bastard file to define the bevel just then I realized that I didn't have the skills to make a nice dip line by hand. So I chose a smoother angle and filed the working blade my way from edge to spine. I'm new to this and inexperienced, so I took the more conservative route in terms of pickup. Once I was happy with the bevel, I sanded the entire blade to 220 grit.

Step 9:

Here is the blade after all shaping, filing and sanding ready for heat treatment.

Step 10:

Before I leave I would like to say that while you can heat treat a blade with an open wood burning fireplace I personally don't recommend it. This is one of those cases where I really don't feel safe doing the operation. And I wasn't sure about the heat it took so I ended up using my mini forge (here's my Instructable on how I made my mini forge http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to- Make-a-Mini-Forge/) to heat instead of healing the blade. If you don't have a mini forge you can actually send your blades from their heat treatment. There are several companies that offer this service for a fee, of course. With that said, I'll explain my setup. I built a fire. Then, using a hair dryer with a tube attached to it to act like bellows, I turn on the hair dryer and eat the coals red hot. It does not take much time. I put the blade on the fire and warm it up until it was magnetic and then quenched it in a container of peanut butter. The last peak shows what the blade looks like after hardening. While open flame heat treatment is possible, it is not recommended.

Step 11:

Now it's time to harden the blade, but first I sanded all the scales from quenching. Then in my oven I set the temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (in my oven, setting it to 375 degrees Fahrenheit will reach 400 degrees Fahrenheit). degrees Fahrenheit) and placed the blade in the oven for 1 hour. At the end of 1 hour I turned off the oven and let the blade spin inside the closed oven door until it was cool enough to process. You can see the blonde-ish or light bronze-ish color that the blade is obtained after hardening. After tempering I sand the blade to clean it using 220 grit and work up to 400 grit. For the last pic I use a wooden block with 400 grit sandpaper wrapped around it and sand from the handle to the tip of the spatula in one direction only. This leaves a uniform sanding line on the blade.

Step 12:

Using the blade as a template, I trace the shape's handles onto the wood. This piece of walnut was given to me by one of my neighbors, a piece was cut off which he ground down. Here again using my 2x4 piece of crowbar and clamps I sawed two 1/4 thick pieces. In my excitement, I threw myself into wood cutting, if I took some time to think about my operation I could do it easily and with the best possible results. My first mistake was to cut off the waste material. I could use this material to pinch a piece down and then cut out two handles. Here again my inexperience, in this case with hand tools, rears its ugly head. I managed to make two useful pen pieces, but I'm sure I worked a lot harder than smarter to make them.

Step 13:

In order for the handles to attach to the blade with a snug fit I made sure to sand one side of each handle on as flat a level surface as possible and sandpaper. This will ensure that there are no gaps after gluing. At this point I decided what the handle shape would be and drew a reference line on the blade to make sure I liked the look. I then traced the blade handle back into the woods. Using a jigsaw I rough shape on one handle and then take the handle and track it on the other handle. This will ensure that they are roughly the same shape that will come in handy when gluing on the handles. The last peak is a test fit to make sure they cover all the tang.

Step 14:

Time for more polishing and refining the shape. It is important at this point to finalize the shape to support the section, or rather the top of the handle, because once it is glued to the knife, it will not be easily accessible. And any further work on this area after gluing can lead to scratches on the blade. So I sanded down to 800 with sandpaper and made sure the special section was finished in terms of sanding and finishing.

Step 15:

When drilling dowel holes through wood, I made sure after the first hole was drilled that I used a bit the same diameter as the hole to index that hole. In other words, this keeps the blade from moving or getting mixed up when drilling another hole. I used the same indexing process for the opposite side to make sure all the holes would line up when inserting the pins.

Step 16:

I used a 3/16 inch stainless steel pin that I cut from a stainless steel rod. Before sealing the mask blade and clean everything with acetone or alcohol to remove any dirt, dust or oil.

Step 17:

After everything is dry from cleaning. I mixed up the epoxy and slathered a generous amount on the pens and pins. Then I clamped everything together and let it cure for 24 hours.

Step 18:

Once the resin has cured I cut off the pins with a hacksaw. Then, with the help of a rasp, I began the shape and contour of the handle.

Step 19:

A handicraft knife made from a circular saw blade, a hacksaw blade for wood or a saw for metal will serve for many years, regardless of the conditions of use and storage. Let's talk about how to make a knife from prefabricated steel elements, what is required for this and what you need to pay close attention to. We will also tell you how to make handicraft cutters for woodcarving lovers.

Working tools and materials

The raw material for creating a handicraft knife can be any used or new cutting component made of hardened steel. In the role of a semi-finished product, it is desirable to use saw blades for metal, for concrete, saw blades for pendulum end and hand saws. A decent material would be a used gasoline saw. It is possible to forge and make a blade from its chain, which, in terms of its properties and appearance, will be no worse than the legendary Damascus blades.

To create a knife from a circular disk with your own hands, you will need the following equipment and materials:

angle grinder;
emery machine;
electric drill;
ruler;
a hammer;
sandpaper;
whetstones for sharpening;
files;
punch;
epoxy;
copper wire;
felt-tip pen;
container with water.

Additionally, you need to consider the issue with the pen. The finished item should fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.

To create a handle, it is preferable to use:

non-ferrous alloys (silver, brass, bronze, copper);
wood (birch, alder, oak);
plexiglass (polycarbonate, plexiglass).

The material for the handle must be solid, without cracking, decay or other flaws.

Metal handling techniques

To make the blade strong and tight, in the course of its creation, it is required to adhere to the rules for handling iron.

The semi-finished product should not have noticeable and unexpressed defects. Before starting work, the workpieces need to be examined and tapped. An integral element sounds sonorous, and a defective element sounds muffled.
Corners must be avoided when creating a design and configuration drawing of a cutting component. In such areas, steel is capable of breaking. All transitions must be made smooth, without sharp turns. The bevels of the butt, fuse and handle must be ground off at an angle of 90 degrees.
When cutting and processing, metal overheating should not be allowed. This leads to a decrease in strength. An “overcooked” blade becomes fragile or soft. During processing, the part must be regularly cooled by completely dipping it in a container of cold water.
When creating a knife from a saw blade, you must not forget that this element has already been hardened. Factory saws are designed to work with very strong alloys. If you do not heat the product beyond measure during turning and processing, then it will not be necessary to harden it.

The tail of the blade does not need to be made excessively thin. After all, the main load will be applied specifically to this area of \u200b\u200bthe knife.

Knife making

If the saw blade is large and not very worn, then it will be possible to make several blades for various purposes from it. The effort put in is worth it.

A knife from a circular circle is made in a certain order.

A template is attached to the disk, the outlines of the blade are outlined. Scratches or dotted lines are applied on top of the marker with a center punch. After that, the picture will not disappear in the process of cutting out the part and adjusting it to the required configuration.
Let's start sawing the blade. For this purpose, it is worth using an angle grinder with a disc for iron. It is necessary to cut with a margin of 2 millimeters from the line. This is necessary in order to grind off the material burned with an angle grinder. If there is no angle grinder at hand, then you can cut the rough part with a vice, chisel and hammer or a hacksaw.

Everything unnecessary is removed on an emery machine. This must be done carefully and slowly, trying not to overheat the metal. To prevent this from happening, the part must be periodically dipped in water until completely cooled.
Getting closer to the contour of the future blade, you need to be more careful not to lose the outline of the knife, not to burn it and keep the angle of 20 degrees.
All flat areas are smoothed out. It is handy to do this by attaching the part to the side area of the emery stone. Transitions are made rounded.
The workpiece is cleaned of burrs. Grinding and polishing of the cutting blade is performed. For this, several different stones are used on an emery machine.

Blade hardening

Turn on the largest burner on the gas stove to the maximum. This is not enough to heat the blade to 800 degrees Celsius, so use a blowtorch in addition. Such heating will demagnetize the part. Keep in mind that the tempering temperature is different for different types of steel.

After the part has warmed up to the point where the magnet stops sticking to it, hold it in the heat for another minute to make sure it warms up evenly. Dip the part in sunflower oil, heated to approximately 55 degrees, for 60 seconds.

Wipe the oil off the blade and place it in the oven at 275 degrees for one hour. The part will become dark in the process, but 120 grit sandpaper will take care of it.

Making a pen

Separately, it is necessary to focus on how the handle is made. If a tree is used, then a single piece is taken, in which a longitudinal cut and through holes are made. Then the bolt is strung on the blade, marking holes for fasteners is made in it. Fixing the handle on the blade is carried out by means of screws with nuts. In the version with screw mounting, the heads of the hardware are recessed into the wood structure and filled with epoxy.

When the handle is assembled from plastic, 2 symmetrical plates are used. We form the contour of the handle. Armed with files of various grain sizes, we begin to form the contour of the handle. Reduce the roughness little by little as you build it up. In the end, instead of a file, sandpaper comes to support. Through its handle is formed completely, it must be made completely smooth. Finish with 600 grit sandpaper.

The knife is almost ready. We impregnate the handle (if it is wooden) with linseed oil or similar solutions to protect it from dampness.

Knife sharpening

If you want to get a really sharp knife, use a water stone for sharpening. As in the sanding option, the graininess of the water stone must be gradually reduced, bringing the canvas to perfection. Do not forget to constantly wet the stone so that it is cleaned of iron dust.

We create homemade cutters for woodcarving

Wood cutters are hand tools used for artistic wood carving, the cost of which is not affordable for everyone. As a result, many people want to make their own.

The cutter has in its structure a cutting steel component and a wooden handle. To make such a knife, you need an elementary set of tools.

Tools and fixtures:

emery machine;
angle grinder for cutting workpieces;
jigsaw;
circular cutter;
sandpaper.

In addition, you will need the material itself, in particular, carbon or alloy steel to create a cutting tool.

Source materials:

a round block of wood with a 25 mm cross section;
a strip of steel (0.6-0.8 mm thick);
drills (for thread);
disks for a circular cutter.

A consumable is also an abrasive disc, through which the cutter will be ground. Used discs from a circular are useful as a key material for creating incisors.

Step by Step Guide to Making a Wood Cutter

Creation of semi-finished products under the blade for the cutter

Elements under the blade of the cutter are made from a used circular disk. To do this, the marking disc is cut by means of an angle grinder into several rectangular strips approximately 20x80 millimeters in size. Each strip is a cutter in the future.

We give the outline of the main incisors

Each cutter needs to be machined to the required configuration. The process can be implemented in 2 ways: by sharpening on the machine and forging. Forging is necessary to form a deflection, and turning is necessary to form a single blade configuration.

sharpening

To sharpen the blade, you need an emery machine with a small grit stone. Sharpening is performed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees, and the length of the pointed part is about 20-35 millimeters, taking into account the total length of the cutter. The blade itself can be sharpened both by hand and on a snap.

Creating a handle for comfortable carving

To use the tool was exceptionally comfortable, you will need to make a wooden handle. The handle is made on special equipment or by hand, by planing and subsequent grinding with sandpaper.

The first cutting tools made by man were made of stone. The ancestors of modern knives were very fragile and required a lot of time and labor to manufacture. The metal blade is devoid of these major drawbacks. The steel is relatively easy to process and has good physical characteristics.

A handmade knife is the pride of the owner. In self-manufacturing, those characteristics that are necessary are selected. First of all, it is the shape of the blade and handle. The highest quality blades, such as damask or Damascus steel, are made by forging. The blade material at the same time has the necessary hardness and carbon content.

But forging requires a certain tool and skills. What to do if you want to make your own, unique blade, but only a minimal set of tools is at hand? In this case, you should pay attention to the circular saw as a blank for the blade. The metal from which the saw blade is made lends itself well to hardening and has the necessary elasticity, so the saw will be the best workpiece for making a knife with your own hands. A homemade knife from a circular saw holds sharpening well, does not break and can easily compete with industrial knives.

Creating a knife layout

The first step is to create a layout of the future knife from the saw. At this stage of work, you can decide on the shape of the blade of the future blade and the shape of the handle. The layout is best made from thick cardboard or thin plywood. You can also use thick plastic. A rigid pattern will allow you to understand how the knife from the circular saw will lie in your hand and how convenient it will be to use.

When making a layout, it is important to adhere to the following rules:

Right angles must be avoided. A right angle is a place of stress concentration. The knife blade most often breaks or cracks in this place.
The shape of the blade must be chosen based on the purpose of the future knife. The most versatile forms with a straight or lowering butt. Such a blade is equally good at both cutting and stabbing.
The dimensions of the layout must match the size of the saw blade.

When making a layout, it should also be remembered that a knife can be classified as a melee weapon. It all depends on the shape and size. The manufacture and possession of edged weapons is a criminal offense. Therefore, in order not to fall under the article of the criminal code, it is necessary to create a layout that meets the following rules:

The length of the blade or cutting part should not exceed 9 centimeters. Exceeding this length even by 1 mm will make it possible to classify a homemade blade as a melee weapon.
A knife with a blade thickness of more than 2.6 mm is also a melee weapon. This parameter can be neglected, since the thickness of the saw blade is usually 2 mm.
Hardness should not be more than 42 units. This parameter refers to hardening, so we also skip it at the stage of making the pattern.
The handle must have a limiter protruding beyond its limits by no more than half a centimeter. If there is no limiter, then the subdigital recess should be less than 4 mm deep.

After the layout that satisfies the letter of the law and personal preferences is drawn, you can proceed to transfer the layout to the saw blade. The pattern is applied to the saw blade and outlined with a marker. It is best to use a thin marker. A thin line will allow you to more accurately cut the workpiece and avoid unnecessary processing of the workpiece with a file.

Cutting and pre-processing of the workpiece

Sawing the workpiece is fastest with a grinder with a thin cutting disc for metal. If it is not possible to use a grinder, then you can use a manual hacksaw for metal. It is important to correctly install the file in the hacksaw. The teeth of the file should be directed forward and the hacksaw should cut when moving “away from you”.

First, with the help of straight cuts, the approximate shape of the knife is cut out. Then cut out the folds. They are easiest to cut with several oblique cuts converging at one point. It is important to leave an allowance of 2-3 millimeters to the drawn contour. This is due to the fact that when using a grinder, the metal at the cutting site overheats. Grinding 2–3 mm with a file and sandpaper can remove the overheated edge of the metal.

Giving the workpiece its final shape

A rough workpiece is brought to its final shape with a file or emery. In order to avoid overheating of the future knife from the saw, when processing it with emery, it is necessary to periodically lower it into a container of water. This will allow the workpiece to cool. When processing the workpiece with a file, additional cooling is not required. It would be most optimal to approximately process the workpiece on emery, and then fine-tune it with a file.

During finishing, special attention should be paid to the smoothness of the folds. It is important to ensure that the bend is even, without depressions or bulges. Miniature depressions are easy to check with a file. To do this, using a marker, the checked end of the workpiece is painted over. Next, carry out a file with light pressure along the workpiece along the entire bend. In those places where the trace of the marker remains, there are depressions.

Processing continues until the moment when there is not a single depression left.

Next, the workpiece is cleaned of burrs and polished with sandpaper. You can start with 60 grit and finish at 320 enough. The workpiece will still be subjected to heat treatment, so the final grinding of the blade will be later.

Shank drilling

The handle on the shank can be fixed with rivets or with glue. The most reliable option for attaching the handle is to use rivets. To install them, you need to make holes in the shank. The holes are marked on the shank so that they are approximately in the middle of the future handle. In order to prevent the drill from slipping at the initial stage of drilling, holes are punched.

Due to the fact that the circular saw is made of alloyed tool steel, it will not be so easy to drill it. Ordinary metal drills won't last long here.

Drilling should be done with cobalt drill bits or a ceramic drill bit with a pobedit tip.

During the drilling process, it is important to add oil to the drilling area and not allow the drill to overheat.

Drilling hardened steel is quite a difficult task. Therefore, it is possible to make holes in the shank electrochemically. To do this, a wire is attached to the workpiece, then the shank is completely covered with bituminous mastic or plasticine. In places of future holes, the protective layer is scratched to bare metal. Next, a saturated solution of sodium chloride is prepared, into which the blade shank with a wire and an unnecessary metal plate are also lowered with a wire. Both wires connect to the battery or car charger. “Plus” is applied to the future knife from the circular saw, “minus” to the plate. The etching process is accompanied by gas evolution. After 30-50 minutes, the holes will be ready.

Formation of the cutting edge

Before proceeding with the formation of the cutting edge, it is necessary to carry out preparatory work. It consists in drawing markings on the edge of the workpiece. The markings are placed exactly in the center and serve as a guide for making a symmetrical descent.

To do this, the edge is painted over with a marker, which will be cutting, and using a drill equal in thickness to the workpiece, the markup is scratched. The drill has a conical sharpening. Therefore, if you place the drill and the workpiece on the same plane, the tip of the drill will be exactly in the middle.

Then, using a file with a large notch, you can begin to form the cutting edge. In the absence of the proper skill to create a smooth edge, you can use a simple device. It consists of a base, a corner and a guide with a platform for sandpaper. Sandpaper with a grit of 180 is glued onto the platform with the guide. Several holes must be pre-drilled vertically one above the other in the corner. The knife is fixed flat on the base and the guide is inserted into the hole at the height so that the angle between the base plane and the platform with sandpaper is the one chosen for the formation of slopes. An angle from 22 to 30 degrees is universal.

Having made a smooth descent to the middle of the thickness of the workpiece, the knife is turned over, then the same descent is made on the reverse side. Using such a simple device, you can easily form an even blade.

Thus, a finished blade with a given sharpening angle is obtained. But at this stage, the blade is only conditionally ready. It does not have the necessary hardening in order to confidently keep sharpening. Also, it has not been tempered to reduce brittleness. In fact, this is a semi-finished saw knife that can already be used, but it is better to take a few more steps.

hardening

Heat treatment will give the knife the necessary hardness, it will not become dull during operation.

For hardening, a saw blade must be heated to a temperature of 750–920 degrees. If you do not reach such a temperature, then the steel will not be hardened, and if you heat it too much, the blade will be too brittle.

At home, it is not possible to determine the exact temperature. However, there is a way out. A simple magnet will do to control the temperature. As soon as the blank for the blade ceases to be magnetized, it is heated to the desired temperature.

After the temperature of the workpiece has reached the desired limits, it must be kept in this state for about 1-1.5 minutes for every 1 mm of thickness. In the case of a homemade saw blade, the holding time for hardening is 3–5 minutes. This will be enough. Further, the workpiece is lowered into vegetable or machine oil preheated to 50 degrees. This procedure must be carried out carefully. Oil fumes can flare up from a hot workpiece, so keep a fire extinguisher handy.

A little about the forge for hardening. If it is not possible to use industrial equipment, then the forge can be made by hand. To do this, it is necessary to build a fire of such dimensions that it is possible to evenly heat the workpiece. Further, as the firewood burns out and coals appear, a homemade knife is placed on them. As bellows, you can use a household hair dryer or a mattress pump.

Vacation

After hardening, the blade must be released. This procedure is carried out in order to reduce brittleness, as well as to give the saw blade high elasticity. For tempering, the blade is cleaned with sandpaper from the scale formed during the hardening process, and placed in a conventional oven heated to 190 degrees. There the blade is aged for an hour, then the heating of the oven is turned off.

The knife should cool down smoothly to room temperature.

After this procedure, the workpiece has the necessary hardness and elasticity.

Sawing the handle blank and preparing for gluing

To complete the work with the knife, you need to make a handle. There can be various variations of materials used as a handle. The most popular material is wood. The wooden handle is impregnated with linseed oil to prevent the harmful effects of moisture on it.

A flat plank is selected from a tree of the species you like. The thickness of the plank should be at least half a centimeter for convenience. A thick plank can be sawn lengthwise. Using the knife blank as a template, markings are applied to the board, including holes for rivets. For a good fit of the future handle to the shank, it is necessary to remove the fit plane with sandpaper.

Formation of the upper part of the handle

The upper part of the handle is prepared in advance for the reason that after gluing the handle to the shank, processing the upper part will be difficult. Also, during processing, you can scratch the blade, which is highly undesirable. According to the markings applied during the preparation, holes for rivets are drilled. A rod of suitable diameter is inserted into them. It allows you to firmly connect both parts of the workpiece and will not allow them to move during processing.

Forming occurs with the help of files and sandpaper. At this stage, it is important to remember about the allowable dimensions of the limiter, the sub-finger recess.

The final processing is carried out using sandpaper with a grit of 800. Before gluing, all parts must be thoroughly degreased. This can be done with acetone or thinner. After the degreaser has dried, glue or epoxy can be applied.

Making staves

The adhesive fastening of the handle to the shank is not reliable. To avoid breakage of the handle, wooden plates must be fastened with rivets. Rivets are made of metal, which is not subject to corrosion. It can be non-ferrous alloys or stainless steel. You can also use a copper or brass tube as rivets.

A blank of future riveting is sawn off from a bar of suitable length. It should be 2-3 millimeters longer than the thickness of the handle. Clamping the riveting in a vise, use a hammer to flare one end. It should look like a fungus at one end of the rod. Further, the riveting, previously lubricated with epoxy glue, is inserted into the holes in the handle and is also flared on the other side of the handle. For flaring a rivet made from a tube, it would be best to use a ball from a bearing.

Shaping the handle

After the glue has dried, proceed to the processing of the handle. First, with the help of a needle file, the protruding parts of the riveting are ground. Then, with a rough rasp, the wood blank is shaped. First, the profile of the knife handle is formed. Grind the tree until the metal of the shank appears. Then the sharp corners are ground down and the handle is shaped into a shape that fits well in the hand.

Grinding and varnishing the knife handle

Finishing is done with sandpaper. Gradually increasing the graininess, it is necessary to remove all the coarse marks from the coarser grained paper. It is enough to complete the process of grinding the knife handle with 600 grit paper. The last step in the manufacture of the handle will be its impregnation.

There are several ways to impregnate the handle for better preservation. These are oil impregnation, wax impregnation or varnishing.

Each of the methods has its own advantages and disadvantages. So, for example, wax must first be melted by heating it, and heating adversely affects the strength of the glue with which the handle is glued. Oils need to be updated periodically. And the lacquer is only a surface protection function.

The final line in the manufacture of a knife from a circular saw will be its final sharpening. To do this, it is best to use a sanding block made from a wooden plank. Sandpaper with a grit of 1000, 1500 and 2000 is glued onto even boards, one grit on each side. A piece of leather is also glued to the board for sharpening. With a little practice, as well as gaining skill, you can sharpen the knife so that it will cut paper on weight and shave hair.

So, with a minimum of tools and skill, but with the necessary knowledge, you can make an excellent knife from a circular saw. The characteristics of a homemade circular saw knife are often higher than store-bought counterparts in the budget segment. Is there still room on the saw blade after making one knife? Another knife needs to be made!

Knife making is an exciting process. You are creating a fundamental instrument - one of the first ever created by man. The difficult part of the process is the creation of the blade. If you have a forge and quality tool steel on hand, that's great, but unlikely. Fortunately, there is a very good alternative - to make your own knife from a circular saw blade.

Homemade knife from a saw blade.

Necessary materials and tools

First of all, you need to get the canvas itself for the manufacture of the blade.

Old circular saw blades are made of high quality steel. You can find them in abundance at swaps, garage sales. The big advantage of using an old saw is the absence of complex metallurgical work. If you make a blade from a disk for concrete, it will immediately have the necessary hardness to maintain sharpness and other characteristics of a high-quality knife.

To create melee weapons, you will need the following list of tools (we will use the tools available in any garage, if you have an alternative to some items, use it):

marker;
scissors;
Bulgarian;
hacksaw for metal;
protective equipment (glasses, gloves);
Grinder;
vise;
clamps;
wood saw;
files;
sandpaper;
pliers;
drill and drill;
gas oven and blowtorch;
lighter.

Materials:

saw blade;
paper or cardboard for a sketch;
towels (rags);
quenching oil;
wooden blanks for the manufacture of the handle;
rivets;
epoxy resin;
sharpening abrasives.

Metal handling techniques

In order for the blade to be strong and tight, during its creation it is required to adhere to the rules for handling iron.

The semi-finished product should not have noticeable and unexpressed defects. Before starting work, the workpieces must be examined and tapped. An integral element sounds loud, and a defective element is muffled.

Circular disk for making a knife.

Corners must be avoided when creating a design and configuration drawing of a cutting component. In such areas, steel is capable of breaking. Transitions should be smooth, without sharp turns. The bevels of the butt, fuse and handle must be ground off at an angle of 90 degrees.

When cutting and processing, metal overheating should not be allowed. This leads to a decrease in strength. An “overcooked” blade becomes fragile or soft. In the process of processing, the part must be regularly cooled by completely dipping it in a container of cold water.

When creating a knife from a saw blade, you must not forget that this element has already undergone a hardening procedure. Factory saws are designed to work with hard alloys. If you do not heat the product beyond measure during turning and processing, then it will not be necessary to harden it.

Do-it-yourself circular saw knife - step by step instructions

To obtain the desired product, it is necessary to follow the technological process. A homemade knife from a saw blade, a hacksaw for wood or from a saw for metal will last for many years, regardless of storage and use conditions. Consider how to make a knife from factory-made metal parts, what you need for this and what you should pay attention to.

Creating a Layout

At this stage of work, you can decide on the shape of the blade of the future blade and the shape of the handle. The layout is best made from thick cardboard or thin plywood. You can also use thick plastic. A rigid pattern will allow you to understand how a circular saw blade will lie in your hand, and how comfortable it will be to use. Try to avoid right angles, as they concentrate a lot of stress on impact. Try not to use complex forms if you are new to this business. Finding a suitable drawing today is easy using the Internet and then cutting it out without bothering with drawing.

If you or a friend has a knife of the desired shape and design, you can simply transfer it to cardboard.

Cutting and pre-processing of the workpiece

Using a marker, draw a sketch on a steel circle. If your future knife is not very large, you can make several blades from one circle. For cutting, you can use both a grinder and a hacksaw for metal. It all depends on your skills and resources. We clamp the steel profile in a vise and slowly cut it, departing a few millimeters from the drawing line to prevent errors.

The resulting workpiece will bear little resemblance to the desired knife: the lines will be crooked and rough. Therefore, primary processing will be required, which will include aligning the sketch along the desired line, sawing out small additional elements and giving it a smooth shape. This can be done with a grinder or a regular file, securing the workpiece in a vise. You can set the future angle of sharpening the blade with the same file or in another convenient way.

Giving the workpiece its final shape

The gradual grinding of the workpiece to the line outlined by the marker makes it more like a normal knife, allows you to see small flaws and inaccuracies, as well as get as close as possible to the final shape. It is necessary to use different sizes, grits and types of files to achieve the result. In order not to grind off too much, you can also attach a cardboard sketch and circle it again. There is no need to move beyond the intended line.

Preparation for the manufacture of a knife.

And also this stage implies fine-tuning of the blade, not sharpening, not polishing, but precisely fine-tuning. We do this with sandpaper, which should remove rough marks from the file. This manipulation must be carried out with the entire body, removing burrs and irregularities.

Shank drilling

When drilling, you need to take into account the future size of the handle and the diameter of the rivets. It is necessary to measure the distance between them according to the drawing. We select the necessary drills (it will be easier to work with the use of diamond), put the workpiece on a wooden block and make holes. It can be seen that small protrusions appeared on the blade, we carefully align them with emery.

Formation of the cutting edge

Draw a line along the future cutting edge of the blade with a marker. Then, using a drill the same thickness as the blade, make a mark exactly in the middle of the blade line. This mark will be convenient when filing the cutting edge with a file, so as not to make it with an uneven slope.

To form the cutting edge, we use a file with a large notch, moving from the edge to the butt. After the cutting edge is properly machined, we pass sandpaper over the entire area of the blade.

finished blade

We get a finished blade, but it still does not have sufficient sharpness, since it will be set after hardening, before polishing.

Hardening and tempering

Hardening will give the metal additional hardness, and tempering will give flexibility, such a blade will be no worse than a factory blade.

Hardening of the cutting edge of the knife.

After the part has warmed up to such an extent that the magnet stops sticking to it, hold it in the fire for another minute to make sure that it warms up evenly. Dip the part in sunflower oil heated to 55⁰С for 60 seconds.

Wipe the oil off the blade and place it in the oven at 275°C for one hour.

Use all precautions: thick gloves, long holder, goggles and keep your distance.

Sawing the handle blank and preparing for gluing

Using the blade as a reference, draw the outline of the handle on the block of wood. Make the handle from any wood at hand, but alder has a higher density and practically does not absorb moisture and odors. We cut out 2 symmetrical parts about 0.6 cm thick.

Now we put them on the tail for trying on. In order for the workpieces to fit well to the shank, after gluing with epoxy resin using a flat surface and sandpaper, we make one side of each of the parts as flat as possible. So there will definitely be no gaps after gluing.

At this point, we determine the shape of the handle and draw its approximate outlines. Then we again transfer the outlines of the shank to the wooden part of the handle. We cut out the shape on one of the parts with a jigsaw and then, attaching it to the other, we transfer the contour to the second. This will get the same parts.

Formation of the upper part of the handle

You will have to work hard with sandpaper and a file to give a more accurate shape to the handle. It is desirable to completely complete the upper contour, because after gluing it will be difficult to work with and, moreover, you can scratch the blade. Therefore, we achieve the final shape, grind it, and only then proceed to the next step.

We drill one hole for rivets in the blanks, taking into account their diameter in advance, and insert a drill of the appropriate diameter into it to avoid mistakes when making the second hole.

Making rivets

You can buy rivets so as not to bother. But we decided to make a knife with our own hands, and this is its component, and we will also make it ourselves. There is nothing complicated here. We cut a steel rod of the required diameter, leaving 5 millimeters more than the width of the handle. You need two such rivets, it is desirable that they be stainless.

Shaping the handle

Now we glue our halves, having previously treated the surfaces with acetone. We cover the blade with a rag or paper so as not to smear it. We insert the rods so that all the holes match, align the two halves and clamp them with special clamps or a vice, leave to dry according to the instructions.

The handle of the knife is made of wood.

After they have stuck together, it remains only to give the handle the necessary shape. First we grind the rivets to the level of the handle, then we work with a file and sandpaper.

Grinding and varnishing the knife handle

After the handle has received the outlines of the future product, we proceed to its final polishing. Starting with a large grain and ending with a very fine one, we grind until the product becomes smooth and shiny.

We wipe the finished handle with acetone and varnish it. After the first layer has dried, apply the second. The number of layers is 3-5. We also polish the varnish with fine-grained sandpaper.

Blade sharpening

It remains only to give the already formed cutting edge a razor sharpness, and the knife can be considered ready. We do everything according to the standard scheme: we set the required level of sharpening by eye so that the blade is not too thin (it will quickly become dull) and too thick (it will not cut well). We sharpen from the tip to the butt, starting with coarse grain and ending with fine grain. The last step is polishing with very fine grit and a felt wheel or denim.

If you have done all the steps correctly, putting your soul into the work, you will get a quality knife made by yourself.

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