First knife grind

[mitunnelrat]

I decided to try my hand at knife making this week. Its with a 1/16" thick, rusty chunk of scrap metal I picked up, and cut to size along some pre-drilled holes for a width of just over 1".

The oal is around 11", and I think I'll be able to get about a 6.5" edge out of her.

I'm doing a wharncliffe blade and my thought is to give it a chisel grind so all I need to carry with it is a strop to keep it sharp. That may be subject to change though.

Here it is, still in rough form.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn165/mitunnelrat/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20151121_211847933_zpstgftvitr.jpg (http://s304.photobucket.com/user/mitunnelrat/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20151121_211847933_zpstgftvitr.jpg.html)

Just in case some of you aren't familiar with it, a wharncliffe design is what you see on utility knife razor blades. I'm just making a much larger, more gnarly version. I figure the length and grind would make it a reasonable compromise between a fighting and utility knife. A strop would also pack lighter than many stones. So goes my thinking.

I'm just gonna cord wrap the handle on this one.

[Sniper-T]

Interesting... any idea of what kind of steel it is?

[mitunnelrat]

None whatsoever! Lol

[Sniper-T]

so you could be playing with an A36/44W which would make a nice wall hanger, but would dull catastrophically while dicing grapes?

[mitunnelrat]

Yes, I could be. Lol. For a free chunk of steel and access to tools though, it was worth a shot. I have further ideas if I like this though

[mitunnelrat]

Yes, I could be. Lol. Is there any way to test it? For a free chunk of steel and access to tools though, it was worth a shot. I have further ideas if I like this though

[Sniper-T]

it is a lot easier to play with crap steel and refine some techniques.

There is no way to tell what it is by looking at it, but how it handles a file or grinding disc can lend some clues to what it is. The only way for sure is lab work.

[jamesneuen]

You can guess steel content from the way it throws sparks on a grinding wheel as far as high or low carbon.

[ElevenBravo]

My suggestion is move forward with your project and learn, theres a damn good chance its typical mild steel, which wont be a good blade.


Moving forward, check more details on google, youtube and forums... I learned a lot from them.


I read things such as saw blades and lawnmower blades tend to be better than typical mild steel.



There are also sources for knife blanks...


GL,
EB

[bacpacker]

Old saw blades and lawn mower blades are good. Newer blades not so much.

[realist]

You grindeded gud. Nothing wrong with any type of project like that. Have fun and learn.

[mitunnelrat]

Did not grind so gud today, but I didn't do it on the knife I'm making for myself. A coworker wanted one too. I'll give him my first attempt and use what I learned on mine to keep it cleaner

[realist]

Ah typical taking care of others first. You are like the mechanic whose car doesn't work because he is working others.......

[greytoothe]

An old Ford leaf spring is 5160 tool steel, suitable for either forging or grinding a knife. After it is shaped, but not sharpened, you'll need to harden it and then temper it to 58-61 Rc hardness to make it suitable for a knife edge. Then you can sharpen it to a razor sharpness. A whole leaf spring will also give you dozens of knives. Cheaper is an old file or rasp which can be made into a nice knife for a lots less money.

[Sniper-T]

Rasps and files are good hard steel... but very brittle.

grind slow, and keep it cool!