How_To_Build_A_Knife.pdf

Shaping and bonding wood, bone, horn, steel

Jim Small

(This is the book that was written by Jim Small, published by the University of Georgia,

and shown on Georgia Public Television in 1982. Jim has total rights to this publications

and has given his permission for reprint here. I hope you guys enjoy this. )

STEP #1

The first step in making any custom knife is, of course, to design a knife that is suitable to

your needs. Put your design on paper, drawing it to the correct dimensions. Show where

the blade grind goes and where the guard or hilt goes, and where the rivet placement will

be.

STEP #2

Once your drawing is done, it is ready to transfer to what will be call a template. The

template is what your design will be permanently cut and designed to. Cut your paper

design out, and place it on any hard material. I use plexiglass, but you can use stiff

cardboard or thin sheet metal. Once your design is transferred, cut it out and profile the

edge. Make your template true to size and dimension

Also show on your template where the grind line will start, where rivet holes will be

placed, and where the guard will go.

STEP #3

Now it is time to transfer your design to your blade steel. You might at this time want to

dye the steel so that your scribe line will show up better. For this purpose we will use a

product called Dye-Kem, a very quick-drying dye that tool –and – dye makers use. It

comes in two colors: red and blue. Either one is acceptable. Once you have painted or

sprayed this dye on the steel, let it dry. Place the template on the steel and with a sharp

pointed object scribe the outline of your design onto the blade material. Go over your

line two or three times so you will be able to see your line clearly. Also scribe where

your rivet holes will be drilled.

STEP #4

Once your design is on the steel, it’s time to cut out the blade. This step can be done in

any one of three ways:

(1) If your design fits closely to the outside proportions of your blade steel, you may

choose to grind away all the excess steel down to the scribe lines of your design; (2)

You can drill a series of hole around and to the outside of your scribe lines. Then

take a hacksaw and cut your design out; (3) Take your blade steel to a machine shop

and for a nominal fee have them cut out the design on a metal cutting band saw.

Always remember to cut just to the outside of the scribe line.

STEP #5

Once your blade is cut out, it is time to profile the contours. You will have to do this

either by filing or by grinding to the scribe lines. As shown, profiling should be done on

the flat platen of the grinder so that the edges are precisely square. When this step is

finished, you’ll begin to see your blade take shape.

STEP #6

At this time you might wish to clean the sides of your blade steel. When you get your

steel from the supplier, it will be a little rough. You may choose to clean the blade steel

before you start Step #3, as the timing really makes no difference. Cleaning can be done

by sanding or once again using the flat platen of the grinder.

Try to keep the steel as smooth as possible. Once the cleaning is done, place the template

back on your blade steel and mark the holes for the rivets. Since we will be using a

screw-type rivet (actually a bolt-on rivet) we will have to use a 3/16” drill bit. Chuck this

in your hand-drill or drill press, and drill the rivet holes. When you use a hand-drill,

place the blade steel upright in a bench vise for easier handling. If you use a drill press,

either clamp the steel to the drill press table or clamp it in a drill press vise. Always

remember to wear protective glasses when using any power tools.

STEP #7

You are now ready to cut out the guard and fit it to the knife steel. There are three basic

materials you can use for the guard: brass, nickel or German silver, or stainless steel.

For our knife we will use brass. We will start with a piece 1/4” thick, 3/4” wide, and

1⅝” long. Place your blade steel across the width of your guard material so that just

about 1/16” stick out above the top of the blade. Then scribe a line at the bottom of the

blade steel. This will give you the depth line to which you will cut. The steel we are

using is about 3/16” thick so center two lines down the guard material 3/16” on center.

This will give you the area you’ll want to cut out. An easy way to cut this center out is to

Scribing the lines

drill the hole at the bottom of the two center lines and use either a hacksaw or a metal-

cutting band saw to cut the center out. Cut just inside the two centerlines as pictured.

Once this is done, you will have to do some filing to get your guard to fit. You should

take your time so you will have a good snug fit. This is a must!

STEP #8

Slide your guard onto the handle area of your knife. Turn the knife so that you are

looking at the protruding part of the guard or the part of the guard that will eventually

protect your finger. Here we are going to scribe two lines on either side of the guard and

file a notch so that the guard will slide up into the notch. This will help anchor the

bottom the guard and assure that it will be strong. Once the notch is made, slide the

guard onto the knife handle and up into the notch. Be sure that it fits tightly. Now we are

going to drill a hole 3/32” in diameter through the guard material and into the steel part of

the blade. The procedure will stabilize the top part of the guard. Once the hole is drilled,

take the 3/32” pin material and place it into the hole. Now try to move the guard. You

should have a very solid and strong guard fit.

STEP #9

It’s time now to move toward the grinding process. There is one step that we are going to

discuss that will assure that your primary grind lines are even along the edge of the blade.

I am going to show you how to make a tool to scribe two lines just off-centered of the

edge of the blade. I have designed for you a tool that is made of hardened steel (harder

than the knife steel). In the drawing you will see how the cutting tool works in

relationship to the edge of the blade.

You may scribe these lines one of two ways: (1) clamp the tool to a flat surface and work

the blade edge against the tool, or (2) hold the blade on the flat surface and work the

scribing tool against the blade edge. Note: some knifemakers prefer only one centerline;

I prefer two. These are the lines that you will grind to in your primary grinding operation.

Before we start the grinding operation, we need to discuss a few important questions.

One of these is the reason for grinding with abrasive belts instead of grinding stones. A

belt is much faster and cooler. Moreover, grinding with abrasive belts produces less

vibration and does a more accurate job.

Abrasive belts come in different grits or different granular structures. Most knifemakers

use a belt that is 72” long by 2” wide. When we start our grinding process, we will use a

50-grit belt, which is very coarse. The second belt we’ll us is a 120 grit belt, which has a

little finer granular structure. Then we’ll go to a 320-grit belt, with an even finer

structure. We will stop at 320 before we send the knife off to heat-treating. Once the

heat treating process is completed, we’ll use the 320 belt again, then go to a 400 grit belt,

and from there to a 9 mil polishing belt. We will do 99 percent of the blade polishing on

the belt grinder, something you would not be able to do on a stone grinder.

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