Building the Everyday Work Knife

BY WAYNE GODDARD

Here’s the author at work in his backyard as it was setup for “The $50 Knife Shop” project. Originally a series of articles in BLADE® Magazine, a book compilation, titled “Wayne Goddard’s $50 Knife Shop,” is available from the publisher of this book.

GETTING STARTED

My experience has taught me that there’s nothing like digging in and getting started. I’ve often said the hardest part of the most difficult project I ever completed was getting past the decision to get started. Once I get started, it becomes a matter of problem solving and never giving up. The great inventor Thomas Edison wrote, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

I have some strong opinions about how a new knifemaker should get started. I recommend the first knives be made with simple and even makeshift tools. That’s the kind of thing that lets you ease into knifemaking without spending a lot of money. See the photo of a backyard knife shop. If the simple method is not for you, it won’t hurt my feelings—just grab your checkbook and credit cards and head for town. Don’t forget the list of basic tools.

OLD SCHOOL

I’m what you would call an old-school knifemaker. That’s because I never learned CAD (Computer Aided Design) or CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing). I don’t work with titanium or drill and tap a lot of holes in order to put knives together with screws. To me, “old school” is riveting together the handle and blade tang, giving the knife a unique personality by hand finishing all the parts. There are no square corners—everything is rounded, smooth and friendly.

This is the first knife the author ever made, and his only excuse is that he didn’t know any better. He says to put this one in the “ugly file.”

Computer magic shows the project knife with two different handle lengths.

ABOUT DESIGN

It’s been said that good designs evolve, and I believe it. When I got started in knifemaking, I didn’t have one clear thought about design. I grabbed the only suitable knifemaking material I could find and went to work grinding on it. There was no thought as to knife proportions or design principles. I had built myself a grinder, and the thrill of shaping steel drove my activity.

The result was a blade that wasn’t practical and a handle that was too short. See the related illustration. The knife models I’ve developed to date are good designs because they evolved. It just isn’t possible to get everything right the first time. A maker starting out today has some advantages. He or she typically has access to books and magazines full of good knife designs to study and analyze. Today, there isn’t much of an excuse for making ugly knives.

Perhaps the best thing I can teach about design is to consider the flow of the lines that define a knife’s shape. Don’t do things that disrupt the flowing lines of the knife. The new knifemaker should try different styles, shapes and sizes when starting out in this field. With experience he or she will find a unique style.

BLADE AND HANDLE LENGTH

Years ago, I settled on a length of 3 7/8 inches as the ideal size for a hunting knife blade. A blade that stretched 4 inches seemed a bit too long, but a similarly shaped blade at 3 3/4 inches was too short. Splitting the difference gave me a blade length of 3 7/8 inches and I was comfortable with that size.

When you become accustomed to using a knife with a 4-inch blade and then switch to one that’s slightly shorter, or longer, you’ll notice a difference, and you might not feel comfortable. I’ve offered a basic hunting knife blade of 3 7/8 inches to my customers as a standard size ever since deciding on it and they seem to be comfortable with that length.

An ideal handle length can be difficult to determine, mainly because people’s hands all come in different sizes. I’ve got short arms and small hands for my height, and at first, I made knife handles that were too short for some folks. I finally learned to make the handles longer to accommodate the general public. On occasion, I might even go oversize on handle length in an attempt to keep the grip from being too short.

I outfitted the “project knife” for this book with my standard 4 1/4-inch handle. A knife handle of this size can be used on blades that are up to a half-inch longer than the project blade. See the accompanying photo for two versions of the knife. The knife on the right in the photo is the full-sized project knife, and on the left is a computer-enhanced version with a slightly shorter handle. Use your judgment on handle length but don’t opt for a grip shorter than 4 inches.

Over the years I’ve received many beautiful drawings of proposals for both fixed-blade and folding knives. Many of the fixed-blade drawings were not practical to make because the handles, as drawn, were too short.

Knives on paper look quite a bit different than they do when mocked up in wood or cardboard. The folding knife drawings were often attractive in appearance but had blades that would not fit into the handles when folded. For these reasons, it’s always good to make mock-ups of new designs. This gives you non-working models to hold in your hands, and that’s just one more step towards real knives of good designs.

Paper drawings don’t work out too good for me because I can’t draw a straight line or an evenly curved one. What I can do is use the belt grinder to grind straight and curved lines that are what they should be.

A drawing can be scanned into a computer and then printed out to whatever size is wanted. Once the design on paper is finalized and printed out, I use rubber cement to glue the printout to a piece of thin hardboard or plywood. The pattern is then sawed, sanded or whittled to shape. The physical pattern gives me something to hold in my hand and some idea as to proportion and size. This is where needed changes become more obvious and can be made. If the pattern isn’t right, I’ll use whatever parts of it are right to make another pattern that will get me closer.

Once the hard pattern is satisfactory, it is transferred to steel and the real work starts. I keep a lot of the hard patterns I make. Having a collection of rough models on hand gives me a head start on size proportions when I have a new design to develop. Storage of the physical patterns has become a problem, so for the last several years I’ve kept many of them as tracings in a big book.

I’ve found it useful to have a collection of handles. My customers furnished some of them, while others came off of knives I customized, and at least three came from broken knives. There are lessons in all of them, both good and bad. Often, a new design comes together quicker because I have an actual handle to work from. See the photo of Wayne’s handle collection.

Wayne’s handle collection hangs around under a high shelf until one in the collection is needed.

A bowie knife design has been scaled to three different sizes.

THE COMPUTER AS A DESIGN TOOL

A scanner hooked to the computer is a valuable design tool. Drawings, illustrations or photos are scanned into the computer where they can be scaled down, scaled up, modified or just stored for future reference. Microsoft Publisher is not only a great program for desktop publishing projects, but also a valuable tool for resizing knife designs.

A drawing or picture appears in Publisher with a marquee that has eight “handles” when it is selected with the curser. Let’s say the picture is of a knife. Depending on which handles of the marquee are dragged one of several ways with the computer curser, a knife in a picture can be lengthened without being widened, widened without being lengthened, or made larger or smaller proportionately.

Microsoft Publisher will allow you to set up your page at any size. When I’m working on a bowie knife design with a 15-inch blade, I set up a page that’s 24 inches wide. I can then work my pattern full size and print it out. It comes out of the printer on two or more sheets of paper and it’s then necessary to cut and paste them together. See the photo showing three sizes of the same knife printed out from Publisher.

The summer of 1959 found the author as a battalion supply sergeant in Army National Guard summer camp at Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho. He had a supply room full of cardboard boxes that needed opening and had lost his pocketknife. He went to the cook shack to see if he could borrow an edged tool and was told they were too short on knives to loan him one. However, they said he could have a broken butcher knife that was in one of the garbage cans. He could find only the handle. The blade was nowhere to be found. He used a huge bench grinder and shaped this weird little knife from the butcher knife handle. You can see from the hole in the blade where the rivet closest to the blade used to be. He fixed the little knife up with a cardboard sheath and was back in the box-opening business.

THE EVERYDAY WORKING KNIFE DESIGN

The design for the project knife is practical and simple from a construction standpoint. Although a simple knife, it’s also a good working knife. History is on our side because it was simple working knives that got meat from the hoof and into the kettle. And, there were all the other cutting chores required for those living close to the land. A fancy design or beautiful finish wasn’t required; all that was necessary was a sharp blade with a good handle to grip.

It’s been said that the perfect design is achieved when everything that isn’t necessary has been stripped away. Therefore our project knife won’t showcase fancy file work, gold plating, inlays, attached guards, bolsters or a pommel cap. It will employ only that which is necessary to get the work done.

The blade is known as a “dropped point.” I call it a utility shape. If you look up “utility” in a dictionary, you’ll find something like, “the quality of being of practical use.” The advantages of the drop-point blade are many when compared to the upturned point on some commercial and handmade knives.

I’ve always figured that upturned points were left over from the bowie knife era. The drop-point blade is not only stronger but also more useful for almost every job of which I can fathom. The drop-point blade allows the opening cuts on game animals to be made without the point digging in. When it comes to skinning or processing meat, the drop point, or the slight modification known as a “semi-skinner,” is hard to beat. See the related photo.

The guard of the project knife is integral to the handle—the guard and handle are one piece—and this simplifies construction. I’ve offered hunting and utility knives without guards for 35 years. An attached guard must be ordered from me as an extra. An attached guard has become an accepted design element of the modern hunting knife, and it serves as a safety feature, keeping a knife user’s fingers away from the edge.

My opinion is that thinking you won’t cut yourself with a knife that has a guard on it is like thinking you won’t have an automobile accident if you wear your seat belt all the time.

The author’s workbench in 2005 is a far distant thing from the bookcase he used as a bench in 1963.

The homemade grinder is used as an abrasive cut-off saw.

HANDLE MATERIALS

The modern hunting knife should be built to last. First class, beautiful handle materials might raise the cost of making a knife but are well worth the difference. I have seen many knives sold, not only by me, but also by others, to customers who were actually buying the handles. The blades were secondary.

A modern knife is apt to have a plastic-based handle material. These materials are waterproof, strong and dependable. Sharpening will eventually wear out a blade, but of the countless elements that can attack natural handle materials, few, if any, will have an effect on Micarta®. A knife with a stainless blade and a Micarta handle could outlast its owner. My favorite material for a foolproof handle is Micarta, which is in the family of thermoplastics and includes more than two dozen types of material.

Traditional materials for handles depend somewhat on the country of origin. Wood, ivory, horn, antler and bone were, and are, still used for handles. A disadvantage to using natural materials for knife handles is that they are subject to cracking, or attack by bugs and animal teeth. (I’ve had to replace several handles, and also some sheaths that were chewed by dogs.)

Natural materials have the ability to soak up moisture when wet, then shrink and sometimes crack when they dry. The trend today is towards using wood that has been stabilized. Wood can be stained nearly any color and then stabilized.

Hardwoods should be cut just a bit oversized as compared to the projected dimensions of the finished handles, and then be stored in a dry place for a minimum of six months. A year is better. The wood in the center of a 2-by-4-inch chunk of hardwood will have quite a bit of moisture in it compared to the outside layer. Like almost everything else, I learned this the hard way.

About 25 years ago, I bought a beautiful piece of Macassar ebony that was 2 inches thick, 8 inches wide and about 18 inches long. I got it from a wood dealer who had the large board it was cut from for more than 15 years. I had no reason to suspect that it wasn’t dry enough to use. I brought it home and sawed off enough pieces for a matching bowie and Texas toothpick set I was making.

The knife set was finished and delivered. Within four months, one of the handle slabs had shrunk enough to cause cracks to develop around the pins at the ends of a five-pin pattern. One slab had shrunk very little; the other three slabs had shrunk to varying degrees, and I had to replace three of the four handle slabs.

Let’s pretend that I numbered those slabs from one to four as I cut them off the chunk. Number one was the first one off the outside (the driest) of the ebony section. Number four was closest to the center of the ebony and it was the one that shrunk enough to crack. I had cut my slabs off of the end that was fresh cut by the wood dealer. The other end was sealed with wax so there was no way for the wood to be free of excess moisture. The moisture came out fairly quick once the slabs were exposed to the warm air of an Oregon summer.

I check the moisture content of new wood by weighing a small piece (1/2-inch square) on a scale used for measuring powder for reloading cartridges. I write the weight on the test piece with pencil and then put it under my epoxy curing light. The light is adjusted so that the temperature is around 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

The wood sample is weighed every 4-to-6 hours until such a time that there is no more loss in weight. This shows me how much moisture it has to give up. At this point, the material is drier than it should be. If attached to a knife in the dehydrated condition, it will probably swell as it becomes normalized to the average humidity and temperature of its new home. The trick is having material on hand with average moisture content (5-8 percent), then, with luck, it will stay close to the same size and remain attached to the steel of the knife tang. I’m told that stabilized wood solves this problem.

Here are three primitive ways to hold knives. At the left is the simple knife board. A clamp furnishes the force to hold the blade. At center is a knife vise inspired by Gene Chapman. At the left is a sophisticated knife vise invented by the author; it uses wedge power.

THE PROJECT

Our project is to make an everyday working knife. The knife we decide to carry for our daily cutting chores will depend on our experience and the type work we do. An electrician working in the mild climate of Eugene, Oregon, will need a very different knife than that used by a rancher from Wyoming. On the other hand, my experience is that most folks actually get the work done with whatever knife they have, regardless if it is truly suitable for the job. The governing principle is that when real work has to be done, any knife is better than no knife. See the photo of a quickie survival knife I made before I was a knifemaker.

I’ll be taking the approach to making the working knife as if it will be the first project for a new maker. I’ll use simple equipment and methods to work my way through the basic project knife. Along the way, I’ll explain how it would be done with more sophisticated tools.

The project knife will have a narrow tang with a two-piece handle that is carved out to receive the tang. This is a handle that requires no attached guard, and can be done with all hand tools. I like the lightweight feel of knives put together with this method and employ the process often for every type of knife, from small utility pieces to larger camp knives. See the drawing showing the profile of all the knife parts, and use it as a pattern for pieces necessary to complete the project knife.

These are push sticks for hand sanding. Note the different types, each for a different type of work.

SETTING UP SHOP

I recommend easing into the purchase of major tools. I’ve heard of new knifemakers giving excuses for sloppy workmanship because of poor tools. Frankly, it was not the tools but the makers’ own lack of skill that was the problem. Give a new maker all the tools in the world and it will be a long time before he or she is turning out consistently good work.

I’ve been digging around in the handmade knife scene for 42 years, and I’ve rarely seen a “talent for knifemaking.” It’s all about practice and it takes weeks, months and sometimes years to develop the skills necessary to make knives good enough to hold up in the marketplace.

It will be all right to use more advanced tools if you have them. I’m in favor of anything to make the work easier and quicker. Always remember, being quick isn’t good for the sake of being quick. Neat and accurate work is what will make you a good knifemaker. It’s better yet if you can be quick and do good work.

Don’t wait until you have a dream shop. The idea is to get started with what you have. My first knives were in made in 1973 on the sun porch of a rented apartment. My first work station was a discarded bookcase that supported my homemade grinder. An old wood chair without a back served as a platform to hold things on for drilling with my electric drill. I didn’t have much but I had a real bad case of that incurable disease named “I want to be a knifemaker.” My workbench in 2005 is a big improvement over the chair and bookcase on the sun porch. See the photos.

This is a faithful replica of the first homemade grinder that the author made in 1963.

The sandpaper cutting jig will make 1-inch strips of square sheets, at 8 inches by 8 inches, for use on the author’s flat-disc machine.

You can make knives if all you have is a sharp pocketknife and some scraps of soft wood. Employ the design process described earlier, then draw your dream knife on a piece of wood and carve it to the finished shape. You’ll learn how to look at a piece of material to see if it is being kept symmetrical as you progress. You’ll learn how to shape a nice radius on the handle surfaces. You may not want to be a wood carver but this exercise will get you started on your journey to being a knifemaker. A bonus is that it will also give you practice sharpening knives.

You’ll have more than enough to get started if you have some of the things commonly found in a home shop, such as a bench grinder, drill press and a vise. An abrasive cutting wheel on a bench grinder or homemade grinder as shown in the photo will save a lot of time compared to cutting the steel with a hacksaw.

You’ll need some type of workbench. I used an imported version of the Black & Decker Work Mate while making the project knife. It cost less than $10 on sale at Harbor Freight. I attached a heavy tabletop to it. It was still not real solid so I made a shelf to sit on the cross supports for the legs, and I put a lot of heavy stuff on it. If a work table wiggles too much when draw-filing or hand sanding, just back it up into a corner of the room so it can’t get away. See the photo.

Following are tools to gather:

1) Safety glasses, goggles or face mask;

2) Dust respirator, either paper or deluxe. Any protection is better than using nothing;

3) Homemade grinder, store bought grinder, angle grinder or whatever you have access to;

4) Drill press (electric or hand drill) with drill bits to match the pin sizes;

5) Flexible disc sanding attachment with both wood and metal working disks. Look for the ones that use the sticky-back discs;

6) Vise with soft jaw inserts. In my opinion, top of the line Wilton vises are the strongest that can be found, and also the most expensive. I’ve been fortunate to have a nice collection that I found in used condition at reasonable prices;

7) Propane torch. A BernzOmatic® model JTH7 is the best;

8) High temperature, soft fire bricks to make a one-brick forge;

9) File for steel;

10) Optional wood rasp for rough-shaping handles;

11) One or two C-clamps;

12) Scribe for marking metals (made out of an old triangular or round file);

13) Center punch;

14) Thrift store toaster oven with an accurate oven thermometer;

15) Telescoping magnet from a dollar store;

16) Sharpening stone. Wet or dry paper will work if you don’t have a stone;

17) Flexible disc sanding attachment with assorted discs; and

18) Ball-peen hammer.

Shown are two views of a double-disc machine. The missing disc was on backorder as of the photo taking. It will be completed with adjustable work tables and guards.

GATHER THE FOLLOWING MATERIALS:

1) One or two gallons of oil for quenching the blade. I call it a “goop quench.” Used motor oil, cooking oil, cooking fat saved from the kitchen, automatic transmission oil or hydraulic oil will suffice. Various mixtures of some or all of the oils or fat will also work. The oil or fat should be in a metal container with a lid so that any potential flame-up can be snuffed out. Used for hardening the blade, my goop quench for the project knife consisted of one-third cooking fat saved from the kitchen, one-third paraffin and one-third hydraulic oil or automatic transmission fluid;

2) Blade material—precision-ground flat stock, lawnmower blades or worn-out files;

3) Handle material—wood or Micarta;

4) Coarse, medium and fine sandpaper;

5) Duro Quick Set epoxy;

6) Fine steel wool;

7) Knife board made of scrap hardwood, 3/4-inch thick, 2 inches wide, 12 inches long, shown being used in the accompanying photo;

8) Push sticks for backing up sandpaper. Note the variety of materials and shapes shown in the related photo;

9) One or two C-clamps; and

10) Wire for pins, (welding wire, nails, a coat hanger, whatever you have.)

Demonstrated are three ways to cut bar stock.

HERE’S A MAJOR TOOL LIST:

1. A 2-inch-by-72-inch belt grinder, which is the standard of the handmade knife industry for many good reasons. For that size of a belt grinder, excellent, quality belts are available in any grit and type you would ever need. The Coote belt grinder gets my vote as the most machine for the money. It comes without a motor. With some luck, a suitable motor can be found for a fraction of the cost of a machine with a motor installed. The Coote 2-inch-by-72-inch grinder with a 10-inch contact wheel is around $400. The Coote is available from the manufacturer, no middleman, and that saves dollars;

2. A drill press—the imported type for $75-150 will be adequate. See the accompanying photo for the author’s collection of drill presses;

3. A decent bench grinder can be purchased for $75 or less. Check with Sears, Costco or one of the import places. You might not want to use a grinding wheel that much, but with one end set up with an abrasive cutting wheel, it just might become one of your most-often used tools;

4. A used, 1/3-to-1/2-horsepower, 1,750-rpm, double-ended motor with work arbors attached will make a good enough buffer. That’s what I use. Knifemakers supply companies sell these adapters, as does Sears. You’ll need some 8-inch or 10-inch buffing wheels and compounds from one of the knifemaker supply companies. The author sets his up as shown in the related photo; and

5. Band saw for wood. A small one from Sears or an import place will do to start with.

A HOMEMADE BENCH GRINDER

I did 90 percent of the work on the project knife with my homemade hard-wheel grinder. Making a grinder isn’t for everyone because it takes time and a certain amount of money to fashion one. If you consider your time to be worth something and you have the dollars in your pocket. it is wise to purchase rather than do with makeshift tools. I got my start in 1963 with a homemade grinder. See the photo of the faithful replica of that machine, which was used for the making of the project knife.

THE ANGLE GRINDER

I’ve made two knives using only an angle grinder, also called a disc grinder. The only good thing I can say for it is that the belt grinder was not needed. The blades were forged to shape, rough ground with a hard abrasive disc and then finished with the flex disc attachment. Nothing beats them for taking the scale off of forged blades or damascus billets. These grinders come in a wide variety of sizes and price ranges.

This shows the layout for drilling and breaking apart the bar stock.

This is a point-to-point layout for parting the bar while profiling the blade.

Shown is the layout for creating the radius at the tang shoulder by using drilled holes.

THE FLAT DISC MACHINE

The flat disc machine makes it possible to create an absolute tight fit between matching surfaces, something that is not possible with a belt grinder. There are two necessary things to get the most out of a flat disc machine—the disc has to run extremely true, and the on/off switch needs to be the foot-operated type.

When material is pressed against a disc or belt that is running, one end of the material will be slightly tapered because the initial contact was in that area. This is eliminated with a foot switch, which allows the material to be applied to the disc prior to turning it on. The material is kept in contact with the disc until it stops turning after the foot switch is turned off.

I built my 8-inch, flat-disc machine with parts designed for lapidary work. The type of arbor that I used is no longer available, but the threaded aluminum discs are still in production. If you can find the discs, then the search is on to find an arbor on which to mount them. The place to look for the discs is at lapidary supply stores. See the photo.

A paper-cutting jig cuts a full sheet of sandpaper so that there is not so much waste. See the photo. The strips created are used for the hand finishing required in much of knifemaking. The 8-inch square piece of sandpaper that is formed is just the size for a flat-disc machine. Once the sandpaper is adhered to the disc, a sharp knife is used to cut off the waste. The paper is held in place with 3-M #08054 Spray Disc Adhesive. This is a great product because three or four disc changes can be made before it needs to be renewed.

My friend, Craig Morgan of Morgan and Daughter Knife and Tool, just built a nice double-disc machine for less than $350. He purchased the discs from Texas Knifemakers Supply, but the arbor and pillow blocks were purchased locally. The 9-inch discs run on a shaft supported by ball-bearing pillow blocks. The advantage of the double discs is that they allow for left- and right-hand rotation. This makes it much easier to refine the grind termination on both sides of a blade. The 9-inch size allows the user to cut discs from standard-sized sandpaper. See the photo.

FORMING THE BLADE

There are two ways for the beginner to shape blades—stock removal and forging. The forged blade is shaped by heating the steel to the plastic stage (1,800-2,100 degrees F) and then using a hammer to work it close to the final shape.

There was a time when all blades were made by forging. Steel was expensive and even rare in those days. Stock removal wouldn’t have been feasible because it would have wasted enough material to make another knife or two. Two blades can often be forged from the same-sized piece of steel that would make only one full-tang stock-removal blade. The invention of manmade grinding wheels opened up the possibility for steel to be removed quickly, and stock removal became feasible for making knives.

The tang is iron that was forge-welded onto the steel blade. This sounds like a lot of work for those of us who have unlimited piles of steel with which to work.

The welding of scraps to make bigger pieces was business as usual for the tribal smith who made this knife. Note the branch from a tree that was used for a handle and the crude bolster to keep the handle from splitting. The hole for the tang is the exact shape as the tang and that shows that the tang was burned into the handle.

A novice knifemaker who opts to forge a blade does not need a grinding machine, assuming the blade is forged close to the final shape. The forged-to-shape blade can be finished with files, stones and abrasive paper. This allows the new maker to get started making knives with a bare minimum of equipment.

An advantage, for myself, to forging is the energy created by the process. I get sick and tired of grinding and sanding inside my shop. Grinding creates smelly grit that permeates the skin and clothing. Fine steel and wood dust fills the air and settles in every nook and corner.

I prefer the fresh air of my smithy, which isn’t much more than a lean-to hooked onto the back of my shop. I love to retreat to the smithy, fire up the forge, get some steel hot and start swinging the hammer. This gets the juices flowing and I get the energy to work another hour or two. That energy thing is hard to explain; it must be experienced.

The author bevel grinds with a hard-wheel grinder.

“A” is the homemade 2-inch-by-72-inch grinder built in 1983. “B” is the making of sparks while flat grinding with the grinder.

THE STOCK-REMOVAL PROCESS

Stock removal has been defined as taking a bar of steel and grinding away everything that doesn’t look like a blade. That sounds good to me. The profile of the blade is sawed or ground to shape, and then the wedge-shaped cross-section that tapers to the cutting edge is ground in with abrasive wheels or belts.

The steel bar stock selected for the stock-removal blade should not be much wider and thicker than is necessary to make the blade. It will save you a lot of grinding time if you take time to find material of the proper size. For the beginner, a blade thickness of no more than 1/8 inch is good because there is not as much material to grind off.

The tendency today is to make hunting and utility knives out of 1/4-inch-thick steel. I don’t agree with this and usually choose 1/8-inch- or 5/32-inch-thick stock for my working-type knives. The width of the project knife blade is 1 inch, and since I had that width of bar in 1/8-inch-thick stock, it worked out perfectly.

I prefer flat grinding for hunting knives, even though hollow grinding is more popular. My opinion is that hollow grinding is necessary when using 1/4-inch-thick stock. The way I do things isn’t necessarily what anyone else should do. I won’t defend my ideas or methods except to say, “That’s just the way I do it.”

“A” is the layout dye, scribe and center finder made from worn-out files, as well as a close-up of the centerline being marked. “B” is a surface gauge modified with a carbide scribe to make it suitable for marking the centerline on a blade. The blade and surface gauge are placed on a flat surface, and the adjustment screw is used to find the center. By moving the blade past the point of the scribe, the line is scribed.

PROFILING OF THE BLADE

Clamp your pattern onto the steel, drill the two holes for pins, place trial pins in the holes and scribe the outline into the steel. Cut the material to length by using either a metal-cutting band saw or abrasives cut-off wheel, or grind the whole profile from the bar stock. The accompanying photo shows three ways to cut the blade from of the bar.

Another way to cut the blade off of the bar stock is to drill a series of holes and then break it apart. A properly sharpened drill bit will remove metal quite rapidly. You will find that drilling and breaking is probably faster than using a hand-powered hack saw. At top in the related photo is a steel bar scribed to show the points of two blades. At, bottom the bar has been drilled and broken apart.

Another way to separate the blade from the bar is to scribe two blades on the bar stock, with the point of the first blade meeting the point of the next blade on the bar stock. As shown in the accompanying photo, grinding the profiles will separate the two blades.

It’s important to have a nice, smooth radius where the tang meets the body of the blade. A good way to establish the radius is to use drilled holes as shown in the photo on page 36.

Once the blade is separated from the bar, the profile is carefully ground right down to the scribed line. A hard-wheel grinder works fine for shaping the profile, however, half-dull ceramic belts, like the Norton SG Hogger on a belt grinder, will remove steel at least four times faster. The bevel-grinding process is constantly creating half-dull belts that are perfect for profile grinding.

This homemade jig was fashioned for checking the blade bevel. The three views show the construction details. It’s about 4 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. The important thing is that the joint is offset so that the blade edge can go completely to the bottom of the gauge.

GRINDING THE BEVELS

There are two stages to any type of blade grind. The first stage occurs prior to heat-treating the blade, and the second is after the heat-treat process. It’s best to leave approximately 20 percent of the steel to take off after the heat treatment. Edges can warp or crack when they are too thin going into the quench process. Leaving some material to take off after heat-treat makes the quench operation a lot safer for the blade.

Blades can, and do, warp during the quench operation, and the extra material will allow some straightening to be done with the grinder. The grind prior to the heat-treating process doesn’t have to be exactly precise. The odd little things that are not quite right can usually be fixed in the final grinding process.

The stock-removal knifemaker starts with a rectangular cross-section of steel and turns it into a wedge shape, which can be arrived at with several different methods.

HARD-WHEEL GRINDING OF THE BEVELS

The stock-removal method can be completed several ways. The most common and best is with a belt grinder using either a flat platen to make a flat-ground blade or a contact wheel to make a hollow-ground blade.

An adequate job can be done with a bench grinder, sometimes called a hard-wheel grinder. The wheel leaves a lot of little tracks that need to be evened out by draw filing, using hand stones, or with a powered flat disc or flexible disc. See the photo of the author using a homemade grinder to shape the blade bevel.

When I got my start in knifemaking, all I owned was a homemade hard-wheel grinder to profile and to grind the rough bevels. At first, I smoothed blades up using a flexible-disc attached to, and rotated by, an electric drill. Before long, I had mounted an electric motor on an upright frame and attached the flexible disc to the shaft, which put the disc in the horizontal position.

This allowed me to control the blade with both hands and see what I was doing. I ruined more than a few abrasive discs by jamming them on the sides of blades where the discs were cutting towards the edges. With this type of setup, it would have been nice to have a reversible motor. I made close to three hundred knives with such a setup before I had a belt grinder.

Once I built my first belt grinder, I only used the grinding wheel for rough-grinding blade profiles in order to save on sanding belts. The time required cancelled the savings in belts. It was actually kind of foolish if I would have considered my time to be worth money.

Sharp, new belts are required for getting the bevels set up accurately. Many grinding errors that new makers make are caused by trying to work with dull belts. Make up your mind that each hunting knife is going to cost you the price of at least two new belts. To build a bowie knife takes as many as five belts.

It’s time for an adjustment to the thinking process if you worry about the expense of materials for knifemaking. Materials are free when you figure their cost into the sale price of your product; it’s your customer who buys the material. The only time the expense comes out of your pocket is if you can’t sell the knife.

A front view of the grinder shows the chuck attached to the shaft with the disc-sanding attachment in place. At the right is the sanding/smoothing operation.

THE FLAT GRIND

When using a belt grinder, the flat surface is relatively easy to establish. That is not so easy using a grinding wheel because it takes lots of different “tracks” to make the wedge, and then the tracks have to be blended into the surface of the steel with a disc sander, or by draw filing.

Use a red, waterproof marking pen to ink in the blade prior to each new grit size. I use 60-grit belt for rough grinding the blade, then go to a 120-grit belt, which creates a fine enough finish prior to heat-treat. Use an OptiVISOR or other headband magnifier to check your progress. Any grinding scratches that remain will show up easier because of the red ink. Check for those remaining scratches under a good light. Look at the blade from tip to tang, then from edge to back. The flat grind is easy to get right when using the belt grinder with a flat platen. See the related photo.

Medium Crystalon stone is used for creating the radius on the back of the blade. Note the grooves worn in it from many years of use for this operation. When a groove gets worn to where it is too wide, just start another one. Use odor-free kerosene or lamp oil for lubricant on the stone.

SEQUENCE FOR GRINDING THE BEVELS:

1) Double-check the blade profile to see if it is correct;

2) To establish the thickness of the edge, I like to make two lines with approximately 1/32-inch between the two. Grinding to the line from each side will leave approximately the correct thickness at the edge to make it safe for the quenching operation. If the bevels are brought down to a thin, nearly sharp edge, the edge may crack or warp during the quench. The photo on page 38 shows two ways to mark the centerlines;

3) Mark the place on the side of the blade where the bevels will end, sometimes called the “plunge grind” or “termination point;”

4) Grind a flat bevel, at approximately 45 degrees, down to scribed line on each side of the blade;

5) Next, grind a series of shallow grooves, or tracks, the length of the blade until the width of the bevel is established and fairly flat. As an alternate method, you can create a convex blade shape as you go along. Use a straight edge to check the progress of either the flat or convex grind. If you find that you are having a lot of trouble with the grinding it would be appropriate to get some mild steel on which to practice;

6) Be especially careful to not grind past the drawn lines that mark the termination point of the grind. Also, don’t grind so high on the back as to make the back of the blade thinner than you want;

7) Grind several passes on one side of the blade and then grind the same amount on the other side. This keeps the stress in the blade more uniform. Taking off all the material from one side of the blade before the other side is ground can cause it to warp;

8) Once more, do not make the edge too thin prior to heat-treatment. You should leave approximately 20 percent of the steel to take off after the blade is hardened and tempered;

9) Put together a blade-wedge-checking jig made of wood or other material. See the related photo. Adjust the jig on a knife blade that has a wedge that you like, lock the wing nut and then put the blade you’re working in the gauge to see if it is thin enough;

10) If you don’t have a belt grinder, use a disc sanding setup to smooth up the tracks from the grinding wheel. If the grinding wheel was 36-40 grit, start disc sanding with an 80-grit disc, then go to a 120-grit disc, and then to a 240-grit disc. That will be fine enough to go into the heat-treating sequence. The self-adhesive discs are used here; the flexible disc attachment was made for them. See the accompanying photo. Trim off any excess disc material so that a fairly sharp corner can be created;

11) You may find that your blade is slightly convex, but that is fine as long as it isn’t too thick;

12) Smooth up the back of the blade, or leave it square, the latter of which, to me, seems a bit unfinished. I always create a false grind, or simply round the back of the blade. The working knife will have a rounded back that is first rough shaped with a file, then finished with a grooved stone. The photo shows how I use a medium Crystalon stone with a groove in it to get a nice radius on the back of the blade;

13) Use a fine stone or sandpaper to get all coarse grinding marks out of the edge, with the movement of the stone or sandpaper being from the blade ricasso (between the blade and tang) to the tip and back. This eliminates any “stress risers” that might lead to an edge crack during the quenching process. Use your fingernail to feel for coarse grinding marks, nicks or anything that’s not smooth. They’re called “stress risers.” The stress created in the quench can cause a crack to form at a stress riser, and they must be eliminated;

14) Do not use the flexible disc on the ricasso. That should be done with a fine belt on a platen or flat disc, or by hand as shown in the picture. The photo shows how a sheet of wet or dry paper is folded in half, clamped to a flat piece of steel and the ricasso is finished with handwork. This method takes a bit of time but the results are nice when taken down to a 600-grit finish; and

15) Be sure that there is a rounded junction where the tang meets the ricasso. Give the whole blade a once over and it is now ready for the heat-treating sequence.

Hand-sanding gets the ricasso flat and free of scratches. The wet or dry paper is folded double on back of a plate of steel. The sandpaper is held at the ends by spring clamps. Start with 80- or 120-grit paper, then progress finer and finer until the desired finish is reached. The author usually stops at a 600-grit finish. This is the way to get things flat and crisp looking when you don’t have a flat disc machine.

A draw-filing setup shows the blade clamped to a knife board for support and safety.

DRAW FILING

Draw filing is an old-school technique that allows a surface to be worked extremely flat. It is a good skill to develop if you don’t have a belt grinder. With knife work, the draw filing is used to get the blade flat prior to heat-treating the blade. The blade will be too hard to draw file after being hardened and tempered.

The file is held at both ends and is alternately pushed and pulled across the work. The action of the file on a blade would be to draw it the length of the blade. See the photo for the setup for draw filing.

When the file is pushed, as in normal filing, the teeth are more apt to dig into the work and leave a rough finish. A standard mill bastard file works best for getting a smooth finish. A double-cut file will remove material quicker but will leave small ridges that have to be worked out with the mill bastard file.

A light touch is best because it keeps the teeth from digging too deep. Keep a file card close by, and every so many strokes, use it to keep the teeth free of filings. When the teeth are allowed to plug up, it can cause galling of the surface and that will only make more work for the draw filer. If the file is lubricated with chalk dust, it is supposed to help keep the teeth from clogging. I’ve tried it both ways and don’t notice much difference; it may depend on the type of material being worked.

There are plenty of cheap, imported files for sale. I’ve tried some of them and found them to be a waste of money. It pays to buy good, quality files and Nicholson is the brand that I prefer. Time is money and they will make the work faster and smoother.

Montana blade smith Ed Caffrey demonstrates the strength of a selectively heat-treated blade in Dave Brandon’s shop.

HEAT-TREATING

Civilization as we know it would not be possible if man had not learned how to utilize iron and steel to the high degree of which it is employed today. Steel is unique and useful because it can be treated so that it is extremely hard, springy or relatively soft.

As knifemakers, we can utilize the extreme forms that steel can be heat-treated to for our advantage. The best example of this is a blade that has been either selectively hardened or selectively tempered. Such a blade can have an extremely hard edge, yet withstand a 90-degree flex test. This is possible because the edge is hard, the center section of the blade is spring tempered and the back is relatively soft. See the photo of a successful flex test demonstrated by Ed Caffrey.

Heat-treating can be described as certain time/temperature treatments performed on a metal to gain specific strength, ductility or other properties. The heart of any knife is the heat-treatment the blade received. The heat treatment will be considered a success when the blade is capable of doing the work expected of it.

If a blade is too soft, it will not stay sharp and could actually bend from being used for hard work. If it is too hard, it will chip or break in normal use. The successful knife heat-treatment leaves the blade just right, not too hard but not too soft. The ideal hardness is best worked out by trial and error by comparing blades with new types of steel or heat-treatments against blades of known value.

There are three elements to any heat-treating process—heating, cooling and time. A little difference in temperature can have a big effect on the results. The element of time is perhaps less important, but it is always the correct combination of time and temperature that is necessary to accomplish the transformations that give the desired results. Each steel type has its own unique combination of time/temperature cycles that will result in a blade of superior strength and cutting ability.

Edge-holding ability is almost entirely dependent on a relatively high hardness. I would estimate that 95 percent of handmade knives are between 57-61 Rc on the Rockwell hardness scale. The specific alloy elements in some types of steel will allow them to have more strength than other types at the same hardness. The intended use for the knife will determine the maximum hardness that will be acceptable.

I’m often asked what steel type is best, or what steel type I prefer. My usual answer is that it depends on the heat-treatment. As a general rule, proper heat-treating is more important than the steel type. A relatively simple steel, when properly heat-treated, will outperform a more sophisticated steel that has a defective heat-treat. I’ve proved this many times.

THE QUENCH

When heated to a certain point and cooled quickly, the steel becomes hard, brittle and full of stress; this is called the quench. This form of steel is known as “martensite.” Martensite, as it comes from the quenching process, is brittle, full of stress and unsuitable for a knife. Heating the martensite to a lower temperature will soften it somewhat, relieve the stress, and if the temperature was correct, the result will be a serviceable product. The low temperature treatment, usually between 375- 500 F, is called tempering, or drawing the temper.

HEAT SOURCES

The heat source for the quenching process must generate an even heat and the temperature needs to be controllable. If the heat source is too hot, it will be difficult to get a slow and uniform heat on the blade. When the blade is brought up to temperature too fast or in a heat source that it too hot, the thin sections usually overheat. The gas forge is an excellent source of heat for the quenching process when it can be adjusted to the temperature range required.

Here’s how a gas forge works: A flame heats the liner of the forge or furnace and the radiant heat from the lining heats the material. A burner-tube or torch burning in the open air to heat a work-piece wastes what I would estimate to be 200 percent or more of the potential heat.

When the flame is contained in a heat-chamber or something as simple as the heat trapper described below, the result will be a more even heat and a larger work-piece can be heated. The flame from the torch or burner should never aim directly at the work piece, but instead should be directed so that the flame can wrap around the work, heating the forge liner at the same time.

My first homemade, tube-type “Dragon Breath” forge was built primarily for forge welding in a temperature range of around 2,300 F. It had a forced-air burner that was not adjustable over a wide range. The solution for me was to build a second forge that was designed to run at lower temperatures suitable for heat-treating.

That meant it had to have a smaller chamber and a smaller burner tube with a proportionally smaller orifice. The smaller forge has worked out well for heat-treating and forging. The bonus is that I’m not bothered with the borax flux contamination of blades the way I was when I used the welding forge for forging and heat-treating.

Pictured is the Extendo Forge.

THE ONE-BRICK FORGE

The one-brick forge I created started out with one brick and proved to be incredibly useful. As I learned more about working with soft bricks and found a better torch, what I call the “Extendo Forge” evolved. The Extendo Forge employs one and a half bricks to gain a longer chamber.

The main thing is that the bricks have to be of a soft, high-temperature type. A BernzOmatic-style propane torch furnishes the heat for the little forge. This little forge is not just a novelty item; mine gets used almost every day. It has replaced my medium-sized Dragon Breath forge for many heating jobs. Typical uses are for forging blades, annealing, heat-treating blades and occasionally tempering with the soft-back tempering jig. The photo shows the Extendo Forge with the JTH-7 hose torch.

To make it, you’ll need two types of firebricks—one or two of the soft, high-temperature type, and two or three of the hard, low-temperature bricks that help hold the soft bricks in position. If you don’t have any bricks, lying around you will find them in the yellow pages under “Refractories”. If that doesn’t get results, call a brick mason to find out where he gets firebricks.

The common hard bricks will not work to make the little forge. The high temperature bricks, sometimes called “insulating bricks” are absolutely necessary. The temperature range for the soft bricks is 2,800-3,000 F.

There is only one brand and model propane torch that I recommend. It’s the BernzOMatic JTH-7 “hose torch.” It’s named a “hose torch” for the 4-footh hose with a torch tip on the end. There is also a regulator valve on the bottle.

A regulator valve is necessary because it allows the temperature to be adjusted. The hose torch runs extremely hot on the high end but can be adjusted back to run cool enough to use for annealing and hardening small parts. When running on the high end, you’ll like the extra heat because it makes for quick heating of the chamber.

The firebrick forge with the JTH7 torch will easily heat 1/4-inch-by-1-inch bar stock to forge blades from 4-6 inches long. Most other torches can only be used “on,” without any way to regulate the heat. The photo shows the project blade being heated.

The one-brick forge is shown with a blade heated for the quench. This picture was posed. With an actual hardening heat, and the color of the blade would have been more uniform. Note the pan of “goop quench” ready at the right side of the picture.

Test your one-brick forge by placing a piece of 1-inch-by-1/4-inch bar stock in the heat chamber. Fire up the torch and see how long it takes to bring it up to forging temperature. It shouldn’t take more than 5-6 minutes to get 3 or more inches of the bar up to the forging temperature.

It’s important to have a safety holder for the 16-ounce propane bottle. The small, propane torches can be dangerous if dropped or knocked off of a workbench. The valve unit can break off and the propane will be quickly released causing a dangerous situation. The safety holder is made from a large-size juice can that is mounted to a plywood base. The holder is then held to the workbench with a wood screw.

A safety holder for the torch would have saved a roof that partially burned off a house in our neighborhood. A bicycle fell against a workbench and knocked a propane torch off and onto the floor. The torch wasn’t running but when it hit the cement floor the torch broke off the bottle, releasing the gas. The escaping gas was ignited by the pilot light on the water heater. The flames went up the wall and into the attic through the access door that had been left ajar.

To make the mini forge, carve the 1-inch-by-1-1/2-inch heat chamber hole lengthwise completely through the brick with a junk knife blade. Or drill it out with an old drill bit and then scrape it out to make the rectangular hole. The 1-inch hole in the side is named the “fire hole;” it goes in only far enough to reach the heat hole. See the photo that shows the location of the heat hole.

You want the flame to wrap around the bottom of the work so as to heat it more uniformly. The line on the brick shows the bottom of the heat chamber. Don’t put the torch tip directly in the heat hole, keep it an inch or so from the opening. Experiment with your torch to see where the flame is aimed to get the most heat.

The heat chamber doesn’t need to go all the way through the length of the brick if you are forging only small blades. A half-brick that is drilled partway through is positioned at the back end of the forge. With the open end of the half brick against the heat chamber, blades as long as 10 inches can be heated for forging or quenching. The solid end of the half brick is butted up against the end of the heat chamber when shorter work is being heated.

Carve a notch in the side of a soft fire brick to make a cavity large enough for heating parts that are larger than the hole in the mini-forge. This works for straightening out coil springs or other curved pieces. The part to be heated is held in the recess where the flame can wrap around it so that it is being heated from all sides.

OXYGEN/ACETYLENE TORCH

The oxygen/acetylene (A/E) torch is an excellent source of heat for the quenching process and one that I used for many years. I have used it to harden 3,000 or more blades. I stopped using it once I started building my homemade gas forges and using the one-brick forge. The only disadvantage to using A/E is the cost of the gas. Propane, when compared to acetylene, gives four times or more heating time. Although propane won’t get as hot as A/E, it is more than hot enough for our use.

The A/E flame is over 5,000 degrees F, but it is easy to learn to manipulate the torch and blade to get an even heat. It is wise to practice getting an even heat on a junk knife blade or piece of scrap steel.

The A/E torch is perfect for an edge-hardening quench in which only the edge portion of the blade is heated to the hardening temperature. The back of the blade remains at a temperature where it does not fully harden in a quench where the whole blade is submerged in the oil. Blades that are edge heated with the A/E torch can be edge quenched or fully quenched.

This side view shows the location of the fire, which is ahead of the center. The opening at the front where the work enters causes a loss in heat, and the flame entering closer to the opening helps get a more even heat in the chamber. The line on the brick shows the bottom of the heat hole. This location allows the flame to wrap around the work being heated. Note the wires holding the brick together. The bricks do crack and fall apart if not wired, however placing a hard brick on the side opposite the fire hole and another on top will allow the little forge to cool down slower and the cracking problem seems to not be so bad.

Three views of the tempering gizmo show how the stainless steel spacer is used to keep narrow blades from sitting too deep in the copper body.

THE REGULATOR BLOCK FOR EDGE QUENCHING

When it is desirable to do an edge quench in oil, it is good to use a regulator block. I use a heavy chunk of steel adjusted so that the edge of a blade placed on it is about half an inch under the surface of the oil. The oil is heated to 90-140 F. The blade is heated and placed in the oil, point down, at about a 45-degree angle, and then rocked down on the regulator block. The blade is then rocked quickly back and forth a few times to be sure that the whole edge gets the “fast cool” that is necessary. The regulator block can be raised or lowered to adjust the amount of hard edge created in the quench.

TEMPERING

Tempering is a low temperature heat cycle or cycles necessary to soften (temper) the martensite a bit, and at the same time relieve the stresses developed in the quench. The final form of the steel in a finished blade is tempered martensite. Tempering of knife blades made of carbon or carbon alloy steel is in the range of 375-500 F.

It is important to have the correct degree of hardness as a result of the tempering process. In the case of a knife blade, it is essential to have a fine grain structure. A weak, coarse-grained blade may be the result of over heating during forging or heating for the quench. A blade with a fine grain structure will always show superior strength to one of the same hardness that has a coarse grain.

In supervising the American Bladesmith Society journeyman smith and master smith cutting, chopping and flex-test activities, I’ve noticed that the few broken blades all had a coarse or questionable grain size. Blades fail because of poor quality heat-treating; it’s usually not the fault of the steel itself. Poor steel with good heat-treating can make a superior blade when compared to one made of good steel with bad heat-treating.

You’ll need a toaster oven for tempering the freshly quenched blades, or else use the house oven. It’s important to temper immediately in order to relieve the highly stressed condition of the martensite formed in the successful quench. I used the oven in the house for many years and the family didn’t like the smell if I didn’t get all the oil off of the blades. It was good when I finally figured out I could do my tempering in a toaster oven kept in the shop. Any oven that will give a uniform temperature over the range from 325-500 F will work.

A $4 oven thermometer is mounted to the rack as a visual indicator of the temperature. Do the following to test your oven before tempering any blades: Turn on the oven and set the control at 375 F; allow 20 minutes for the temperature to become uniform; put a freshly ground piece of steel into the oven; leave it for 45 minutes; remove the steel; let it cool; and note the color.

The hue of carbon steel should be somewhere between straw color and brown. It should be of a uniform hue over the length of the steel. The color that appears is oxide formed by the heat, and the hue is a fairly accurate indication of the temperature within the same types of steel.

You might need to put a piece of steel between the heating element and rack if it appears that one part of the blade got hotter than the rest. Adjust the heat control so that you are getting a dark straw or brown color. You should be able to cut into the edge with a file.

I’m now using a Farberware Convection oven for tempering carbon and carbon-alloy steels. (That is anything up to 550 F.) I purchased the Farberware oven from a thrift store for $5. It has a large capacity, and since the heat source is outside the chamber, the heat is uniform.

An alternate tempering method is to use what I call a tempering jig. See the photo. The jig is made of copper but could be stainless steel or mild steel. Mild steel will scale away and not have as long a life as copper or stainless steel. The copper sides are 3/8-inch-by-1-inch by 5 inches. The gap for the blade is 1/4 inch, or as wide as the thickest blade you want to temper with the tempering jig.

The tempering jig must be heavy in order to hold enough heat to do an adequate selective temper on larger blades. An extension on the spacer of the blade is necessary as a place pinch with tongs or pliers to take the blade and jig in and out of the forge. With practice, a nice selective temper can be achieved. Practice with it before using it on a hardened blade. As said earlier, most of the skill used to make a finished knife is only developed by practice.

The tempering jig is made small enough to fit into the heat chamber of the firebrick forge. The jig is heated to an orange color, pulled out and placed on a firebrick. The back of the blade is set into the jig.

The blade is kept in motion by drawing it back and forth in the slot, with more attention given to the ricasso area. The point, being thinner, will overheat if you are not careful. The idea is to get a blue color on the back of the blade and a dark straw color, not more than brown, at the edge.

You should have a pan of water handy to cool the edge if the color moves towards the edge too fast. The edge should be cooled with a very quick dipping in and out of the water. Don’t just stick the edge in and leave it, the thermal shock could start a microscopic crack that will cause a failure at some future time.

The edge-quench process is performed using the author’s homemade goop as a quenching solution.

This is a freshly quenched blade.

ANNEALING

Annealing is a heat-treating process that results in steel being in the softest condition possible. It can then be more easily worked with files or shaped by milling and turning. New steel as it comes from the supplier is usually in the form of rectangular bar stock. It would be in the hot-rolled, annealed (HRA) form. Hot rolling and annealing was the first step in the heat-treating process, and as such, the steel is ready to be worked by the stock removal process.

HEAT-TREAT SEQUENCE FOR THE PROJECT BLADE

1. Have the tempering oven on and running with sufficient time for the heat to be steady;

2. Have the quenching solution close by and ready to go. No time can be wasted getting the hot blade into the quenching solution. If you waste a few seconds full hardening may not be accomplished;

3. Heat the blade for the quench using the one-brick forge, or whatever source you have. Heat slowly and uniformly until the blade no longer attracts a magnet touched to it;

4. Quickly quench edge-first into either warm oil with a regulator block or a pan of goop. Be sure to get at least a half-inch of the full length of the edge into the quench as soon as possible. I use the goop quench exclusively for single-edged knives. (The formula for goop is found in the materials section.) Double-edged blades need a tip-first, straight-in quench in oil, deep enough to cover the whole blade and tang. The photo shows the edge quench in a pan of goop;

5. Keep the edge in the quenching solution until the back of the blade shows no color. As the goop melts, I will often quickly lift the edge out and make another track in the goop. This is necessary to keep the cooling rate steadily coming down;

6. Keep the cooling of the blade going until the blade can be handled with the bare fingers;

7. Wipe the residue from the quench off of the blade, testing the edge with the corner of a worn file. The quench process is a success when the file does not bite in but only slides on the steel. I have a container of sawdust and a stiff wire brush to clean the excess oil or goop from the blade. Throw the blade in the sawdust and scrub it around real good, then give it a good work over with the wire brush. The light gray area of a freshly quenched blade indicates the hard section. See the photo. A blade that does not exhibit this color at the edge may not have responded to the quench process;

Here is the author’s brass-rod-test unit.

THE BRASS-ROD TEST SETUP

8. Quickly sand down one side of the blade to the bare metal, and place it in the tempering oven for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave the oven running but take the blade out and place on a rack to cool to room temperature. When the blade is cool enough to handle with the fingers, place it back in the oven for another temper cycle of at least 45-minutes;

9. Turn the oven off and take the blade out when it reaches room temperature;

10. Test the edge with the file used previously. The file should bite slightly but not too deeply; and

11. Complete the finish-grind on the blade and give it the brass rod test.

THE BRASS ROD TEST

Glue a piece of 1/4-inch-diameter brass rod onto a piece of hardwood, or hold the brass rod in a vise with the top half above the jaws. See the photo.Apply the edge of the knife to the brass rod at the same angle used for sharpening, which is approximately 15 degrees. Apply enough pressure so that you can see the edge being deflected by the rod. If applied similar pressure to the rod while it was on a scale, you would find the “pressure to deflect” to be 35-40 pounds.

A good light source behind the test area is necessary so that you can see the deflection. If the edge chips out with moderate pressure on the rod, the edge will most likely chip out in use. If the edge stays bent over in the deflected area, it will more than likely bend in use and be too soft to hold an edge. The edge of a superior blade will deflect on the rod and spring back straight.

The brass rod test can quickly determine if the blade has a good balance of flexible strength and hardness sufficient to hold an edge. The test is intended for knives in the hunting knife class. Thin fillet knives or thick camp knives will not respond to the test in the same way.

The brass rod test as I present it is not intended to replace a hardness test to determine that a blade was fully hardened. You might think of it as a substitute for a Rockwell tester. The brass rod test is only a comparison test to determine what is, in my opinion, a hardness that will hold up in normal use. I started using is about 27 years ago and still think it is the best non field-use test I’ve found.

Pictured are the holders for hand finishing stones.

FINISHING THE BLADE

There are a variety of ways to finish the blade once it has been hardened and tempered. The project knife was worked down to a 240-grit finish with a flexible disc and then hand finished to about an 800-grit finish. I then gave it a five-minute etch cycle in ferric chloride to bring out the temper line. The gray color from the etching process was left on the blade because it gives it a slight oxide layer of protection from tarnish and rust.

The temper line was highlighted with a quick hand rub with 2,000-grit 3M polishing cloth. My best photo does not do the blade justice in bringing out the beauty and fine detail of the complex temper line.

Following are some of the many ways to finish blades. Each different finish gives the blade a distinct personality. Experiment with the different finishes so you will have the most suitable ready when the right blade comes along.

These ergonomic push sticks are used for the hand-finishing process.

HAND-FINISHED BLADES

Japanese sword makers who did their work 300-plus years ago had no power equipment. They forged the blade close to shape, and then used a sen (scraper) to level it. After heat-treating, completely with handwork, they brought the blade to a high degree of polish. All the abrasives used were from stones found in nature or made from oxides of metals.

I was amazed when I first observed such a high degree of polish and was told it was all done by hand. My power grinding and polishing equipment was not getting me anywhere close to the hand-finished sword blades. Hand finishing, when done well, results in a crisp and clean definition of the surface. It gives a true appearance to the grind lines and elegantly defines the blade shape.

The reflections from the surface of a mirror-polished blade can cause a distortion of the lines and can reveal that the surfaces are not usually as flat and true as first believed. A well-done, hand-rubbed finish is the ultimate treatment for a blade.

A hand-finished blade starts out with a belt or disc finish to at least a 320-grit finish. The first step is working out the machine-made, 320-grit scratches with either a 320- or 400-grit wet or dry paper backed up with an ergonomic push stick. The photo shows the style of push stick I use for hand finishing.

The first hand sanding is done in line with the length of the blade, and that will be at a 90-degree angle to the machine finish. You may find some ripples in the finish that are caused by a platen that isn’t flat or by stacking of the grit on the belt. You’ll need to drop back to a 240-grit paper to get rid of them if they don’t quickly come out with the 320-grit or finer paper.

Hand sanding the knife handle, the author uses 80-grit, cloth-backed sandpaper for rough work. Paper-backed strips with a second masking tape backing were used to take the handle surface down to the final finish.

Work under a good light and use a headband type magnifier to check your progress. Once the ripples are out, you can go back to the 320-grit paper and get back on schedule. It’s not so much what specific grits you use but that the changes in grit sizes between steps are not too great. For example, it would be a waste of time to go from 120- to 320-grit paper.

When all the scratches are worked out, switch to 600-grit paper and sand at 90 degrees to the 400-grit surface. Then use 800-grit paper at 90 degrees to the 400-grit finish. You might decide not to go any further; it’s your knife and your decision. Or, you might want to keep up the process to 2,000 grit.

The final rub should be running parallel with the length of the blade. The finer grits of wet or dry paper might not be found in the average hardware store. If not, try automotive paint supply places, or go to one of the knifemaker supply companies.

Abrasive stones are also used for hand finishing. I use EDM stones purchased from Manhattan Supply Corp. These are available in a variety of grits. I use 240, 320, 400 and 600. At times I use medium Crystalon and fine India bench stones to level the surface on large blades. I make handles for the stones or epoxy them to a handle of some type. The photo shows two stone holders made of Micarta.

Try this for a super hand-rubbed finish: Take a clean scrap of sheath leather, just enough to hang on to, put a dab of Simichrome or similar polish on it, and give the blade a rub-down with it. Add polish compound as necessary but do not over do it. This will bring up a shine on the final lines left by the final abrasive paper rub that is unbelievably nice looking.

USING NATURAL STONES

Builders of Stone Age weapons were the first stock-removal makers. Their only choices for abrasives were natural stones, sand or dirt. The “grinder” of choice would have been any rock that was harder than the object being shaped and finished. I’ve always thought that there were probably different “schools” of grinding, with some preferring round rocks and others choosing rocks of the square or rectangular type.

When I wrote the BLADE Magazine series, “The $50 Dollar Knife Shop,” I used pieces of broken wheels from old-time, foot-powered grindstones to finish the forged blade. I had pieces from two different stones, one somewhat coarse, the other a medium-grit size. I measured the grit size with an optical microscope and estimated that the coarser of the two was an 80-grit stone, the finer a 150-grit stone.

The 80-grit stone was used for getting out the scratches left from draw filing. The 150-grit stone was used for the finish prior to heat-treat. The photo shows a blade being smoothed up on a piece of natural sandstone. These stones are used with water to keep them from plugging up.

Natural stones fine enough for up to a near-mirror finish will be of the type known as Arkansas stones, which are a grit size of 600-1,000. I don’t like Arkansas stones for sharpening because they cut too slowly; however, they are a good choice for fine finishing blades. Japanese water stones are available in grits that will take you to a near mirror finish. Some are natural stones but most of the modern water stones are manmade.

A piece of natural sandstone is being used for hand finishing.

A QUICK HAND-RUBBED FINISH

A nice finish for a working knife can be done rather quickly with all handwork. It’s quick because the strokes are all lengthwise with the blade. The quick-rubbing process results in a nice, although not perfect, finish because there are usually some coarse lines or ripples under the final finish. The trick is to keep the scratch pattern all going in the same direction with the length of the blade. I may take the surface to a 400-grit finish and then use polishing compound on leather to finish it off.

The double-ended buffer has a narrow base for safety. The white surface under the buffing wheels is only there for the photo shoot. It was necessary so that the motor base and buffs would be clearly visible.

USING WET OR DRY PAPER

Wet or dry paper is useful because, when used wet, it does not clog up and quit working. Although some applications for it in knifemaking are best done wet, for others it is used dry. Wet or dry paper has silicon carbide grit, which is superior for metalworking. The waterproof paper backing is stronger than the non-waterproof, paper-backed sandpaper that is made for woodworking. All types of sandpaper are more economical when purchased in a 50-sheet sleeve.

Here is my procedure for preparing a sheet for use in blade or handle finishing. Fold it in half lengthwise and you have it ready to clamp to a steel plate for hand finishing a flat surface. The photo in the section on blade finishing shows this operation being employed to smooth the ricasso on the project knife. By keeping the paper folded while in use, the abrasive side that is down helps to keep it from slipping out of position on the backing surface.

The handle slabs are oriented so they match on the finished handle.

Fold another sheet of sandpaper lengthwise and then cut it in half along the fold with a sharp shop knife. Fold that piece again lengthwise and cut. Fold that piece but don’t cut it, and the wet or dry paper will then be ready for hand sanding. If you folded and cut right, you’ll have a folded piece as long as the 11-inch sheet and it will be 1 1/8 inches wide.

Build yourself a cutting jig as illustrated earlier to make 1-inch-wide strips for hand sanding. When you want to form a radius on edges of a knife handle, the strips are not doubled but used as-cut to width. These are used with a backing layer of masking tape to keep the paper from tearing from the pressure used.

To apply the tape to the sandpaper, lay the paper over your vise, grit side down. Tear off a piece of masking tape that is near the same length as the sandpaper. Apply the tape in the center and work it down and around, following the gentle radius of the top of the vise. This will form the sandpaper into part of a slight circle and will help to keep it from wrinkling when pulled over the rounded surface being finished. When sanding rounded surfaces, it is good to work the paper by pulling it back and forth over the surface.

The photo on page 52 shows the back of the handle being rounded. The action is similar to polishing shoes with a strip of cloth.

Here’s a close-up view of the mustard finish.

THE MIRROR FINISH

Some collector-grade knives look good with a mirror finish. At one time, a mirror finish was the ultimate. However, the hand-rubbed finish is more popular today for high-dollar collector knives. And, it does show a higher degree of skill, in my opinion.

My version of a mirror polish starts out by hand finishing the blade to a 600-800-grit surface, and then I use a buffer. The hand finishing gets out all the ripples and leaves a true flat surface to set up the mirror finish.

Be careful with buffing wheels, they are probably the most dangerous tools in the shop. I run 10-inch-diameter, stitched buffing wheels at 1,750 rpm. Anything faster than that is too dangerous for me. I keep the last two rows of stitches cut so that the face of the buffing wheel is not so hard. There are times when a hard face is desirable, but most of the time a slightly softer buffing-wheel face is better. The soft face is good for getting in the corners where the guard meets the blade.

It will save you a lot of work to have the face of the guard polished prior to attaching it. This also eliminates the danger of buffing it while on the knife. Loose buffs are dangerous for knife work because they have the bad habit of grabbing blades and other knife parts.

I was holding a folding knife blade with my bare fingers one day when the buffer caught it and flipped it to the cement floor. The blade bounced back up into the buffing wheel and was propelled back down to the cement, then made a second trip up and stuck in my finger. I wasn’t badly hurt, just enough to draw a drop of blood or two.

I immediately placed two layers of old carpet on the floor under the buffer. The padded area on the floor will slow down a flying blade and, at the same time, give the blade some protection from damage. Small blades should be held with ViseGrip® pliers for buffing.

The tang is marked for drilling, or milling the slot for the tang.

The brad-point drill is set up to barely cut into the surface of the slab.

SAFETY NOTE

In my opinion it is not safe to have a buffer sitting directly on a table or bench. When a buffing wheel catches a blade, it is propelled at 75 miles an hour or more towards the bench top. The sharp missile can bounce back and then be propelled by the wheel in the direction of the operator.

Mount the buffer on an extension of the workbench that is no longer than the base of the motor. The idea is that there is nothing between the buff and the floor. Some type of pad should be placed under the buffer so that a blade thrown down by the buffing wheel isn’t damaged, or worse yet, deflected back up into the wheel or operator.

Many years ago, I taught a friend to make knives. He got in a hurry and mounted his buffer directly on top of a bench. The buffing wheel caught the guard on a dagger and flipped it down against the bench top. The knife bounced off the table and back into the wheel where it was propelled around and directly through the palm of his hand.

I don’t think he incurred any permanent damage, but he missed a lot of work and had the expense of getting his hand repaired. I have more true horror stories about buffer accidents but will not tell them here. I’ll just state my opinion that I think the buffer is the most dangerous machine in the knife shop.

Buffing wheels should have guards over them. See the photo that shows the way I do it.

Even if nothing is ever propelled around the wheel and into your face, it is nice to have the fluff and excess compound projected down to the floor instead of up into your face.

My buffing-wheel guards are made out of 3/4-inch plywood, then glued and screwed together. My theory is that a knife blade propelled around the wheel might stick into the wood before it gets to me. A lip at the front of the guard can be adjustable so that it can be lowered when the wheel gets worn down. The top of the buff guard is handy for storing compounds and other junk.

THE SATIN FINISH

The most practical finish for a working knife is a satin finish. It shows a pattern at a 90-degree angle to the edge and is usually not much finer than 300-400 grit with light buffing.

Here’s how I do my version of a satin finish. The blade can be flat, convex or hollow ground. I work the blade down to a half-dull, 240-grit finish, or if you prefer, use a sharp 320-grit belt. I’ve done the satin finish starting with a flexible disc finish but it is never as nice looking as when set up with a belt.

Carefully buff the blade with Number SF 300 (satin finishing, 300-grit) glue-based compound. This type of compound is available from most knifemaking supply companies. I use the compound on a 10-inch stitched muslin buffing wheel that runs 1,750 rpm. This buff will be used for only the SF greaseless compound. It takes some practice to get a uniform scratch pattern. At this stage the blade surface will be fairly open.

The next step is to buff the blade lightly with a medium cutting compound. Easy does it with this step. Once or twice down each side of the blade is enough. Finish the blade by buffing lightly once or twice down each side with a finish compound like RCH Green Chrome.

Over-buffing with the final finish compound will wipe out the scratch pattern that sets up the satin finish. The result will be a nice looking, slightly shiny satin-finished blade. The finish buffing is done on a different 10-inch, sewn-muslin wheel that runs at 1,750 rpm. With practice, you will be able to get a nice, but not too shiny, satin finish.

Satin finishing compound is held together by water-based glue. The SF compound is also called “greaseless” because most buffing compound is grease based. SF compound is applied to the wheel while it is running, but not at full speed.

I turn the buffer on, then off, and apply the compound as the buffer slows down. This process is repeated until a light coating is applied to the whole surface of the wheel. If the compound is applied in a thick layer, the buffer acts more like a fine-grit grinding wheel and it will not make a good satin finish.

The wheel is left running until the compound hardens. That will take 15 minutes or more, depending on the humidity and temperature. A freshly loaded and dry buff should be broken in by lightly buffing a scrap piece of steel. The object is to dull the satin effect just slightly. This whole operation will need to be practiced to get good at it. Like a lot of other things in knifemaking, it can’t be broken down to a formula that works the first time, every time.

PROTECTIVE COATINGS FOR BLADES

Blades made of high-carbon and carbon-alloy steel, and most tool steels, will stain and rust if not kept clean and dry. There are two treatments that I use as protective coatings on working knife blades.

The first is Cold Blue. This is the product made for touching up the blue finish on firearms. Birchwood Casey makes one called Super Blue, which costs a bit more than the standard Cold Blue but is well worth the money. It is easier to get an even coat of blue with the Super Blue and the blue is a deeper color. Used as directed, it will make a nice finish that gives the blade a fair amount of protection against tarnish.

The other method I use is an oxide layer developed with mustard. It gives a finish that makes the knife look like it’s been used for some time. It makes the knife more user-friendly because there is not the constant worry about frequent cleaning and keeping fingerprints wiped free. Blades with the mustard finish can be handled and then put away in the sheath without much fretting.

The blade being readied for a mustard patina should have a fairly fine finish on it, 400-grit will do. I’ll usually make swirls and a variety of lines going different directions with 400-grit wet or dry paper. This will help give the finished blade the appearance of having been used.

Making a new knife that looks like it has been used might sound a bit goofy. All I can say is that my customers seem to like the goofy idea.

I’ll never forget selling the first knife onto which I applied an aged finish. It was 1973, and I was selling my knives at an outdoor craft show called The Saturday Market. The young man who bought the used-looking camp knife made the following comment as he picked it up for the first time: “I always hate taking a new knife out and getting it messed up; this one’s already messed up!” I’ve been messing them up every since.

There’s a bit of a trick to applying the mustard finish. It won’t look right if the mustard is simply rubbed onto the blade. The correct way to do it is to make lots of little drops with your fingertip. The drops can almost touch one another or be spaced out a bit. Let the initial treatment work for four-to-eight hours. Rinse the blade with water and scrub it lightly with the finest steel wool you can find—that is usually coded “00000.”

Next, apply a second and third coat. Finish the final mustard treatment as before and seal it with paste wax or penetrating oil, like Liquid Wrench® or WD-40. Use the wax as per the directions on the container. Let the Liquid Wrench or WD-40 work on the blade for a few minutes and then wipe it dry with a clean rag. If you were going to use the knife for preparing food, it would be better to use a vegetable oil to seal the blade. The photo shows a close-up view of the mustard patina.

It’s a good idea to practice on a junk knife blade. Try some combinations with the Cold Blue, and think about testing horseradish, perhaps combining it with mustard. The horseradish will make a black patina with which I’ve only just started to experiment. A knifemaker friend, Richard Veatch, turned me on to the horseradish finish, saying it came from sword maker Michael Bell.

The handle milling jig is at the top, and close-up details are shown at the left.

GETTING A HANDLE ON IT

BLADE Magazine editor Steve Shackleford once asked me to participate in a point-and-counterpoint article covering narrow-tang versus full-tang knife construction. I told him that the only way I could do it was to argue both sides. There are advantages and disadvantages to each method, and I can make a wonderful argument for either of them.

Nevertheless, after 42 years of putting knives together, I pick narrow-tang construction for the majority of my work. I like the feel and balance with the narrow-tang knives. They will always be lighter than full-tang knives. I don’t want to argue for my position; I’ll just say it’s my way of doing it and I’m comfortable with it.

I like making the Scagel-style bowie and camp knives that require narrow tangs in order to accommodate hardwood spacers and deer antler crowns. For hunting- and utility-sized knives, I prefer the narrow-tang construction that calls for two halves of a knife handle to be carved to fit around the tang. Some call it a mortised handle. I’ve worked out a way to carve the cavity in the two handle halves that makes it fairly simple.

There are several reasons why narrow-tang (N-T) construction is the easiest for the new maker. The N-T requires less steel, which is not an issue if you have 50 pounds of old files lying around. It can be an issue to consider in making knives of damascus steel that you’ve welded up with your own two hands. N-T construction requires a fraction of the finishing that a full tang does because there is no steel exposed in the handle. This makes the finishing much easier for those without power tools.

The full tang, in comparison, requires that the tang and handle material be exceedingly flat, which calls for either a belt sander or a flat-disc machine. A disadvantage of most N-T construction is that it usually requires a knife guard to hide the tang hole. The project knife’s handle style, with the guard and grip as one, solid, integral piece, also hides the tang hole.

The handle is test fitted with all three trial pins in place.

HANDLE MATERIALS

Micarta has been called the steel of the plastics world. I won’t go that far even though it’s a material that will outlast most knife blades. Micarta is an often-used material, very versatile and available in a good assortment of colors. I use it a lot because of the durability factor. Its only real disadvantage is that it doesn’t have the organic feel of natural handle materials. A young man was handling one of my Micarta-handled hunting knives and remarked, “I don’t like it; it’s not organic.”

Antler, both domestic and the imported Sambar stag, are good handle materials but are better suited for knives made after the maker has more experience. Stag is one of my favorite materials to work with but availability is not good. There is currently an embargo on Sambar stag. Elk and deer antlers are not easy to come by and not all are suitable.

Whenever possible, purchase antler and stag when you can pick it out yourself. That is the only way to be absolutely sure you get usable material. If you order stag or antler through the mail, be sure that you have return privileges for any of it that isn’t acceptable.

This is where the blade extends from the handle.

Domestic hardwoods are an economical source of material. Domestic wood types I like to use are maple, walnut, Osage orange and desert ironwood. Osage orange and ironwood are the hardest and most durable. I’m fairly lucky to have a good source for Osage orange. The pioneers that came to the Willamette Valley in Oregon by covered wagon brought starts with them. There are many Osage orange trees still growing along the old Territorial road north and east of Eugene.

I often use fiddle-back maple and walnut, sometimes called “curly”, or “tiger tail.” The maple used for the project has a lot of special memories that go with it. It came from an old-school craftsman named Gillman Keasey. He made bows and arrows, and with them, won the National Archery championships in 1935 and 1936. That means that there will be fond memories every time I see a picture of the project knife.

KEEPING WOOD AND STAG DRY

Western Oregon has a reputation for being wet and it’s well deserved. Our average rainfall is nearly 60 inches. Wintertime here finds moss growing on everything that doesn’t move. Keeping wood in my shop dry enough to put on knives was a problem until I built a heated storage box.

The box has a 100-watt bulb in the bottom that runs with a thermostat set at 75 degrees F. This keeps wood and stag about the correct moisture content so that it doesn’t shrink when put on a knife and taken into the nice, dry climate of a warm house.

Vents at top and bottom allow circulation of air through the box; the shelves are heavy pegboard as to allow for some air movement. There is a 1-inch air space at the back, from top to bottom. The box works well and has not only solved my problem with wood but gives me a place to store welding rod, which works better when warm and dry.

The epoxy warms on the mixing platform.

HANDLE ATTACHMENT SEQUENCE

The procedure is as follows for the handle style where the guard is part of the handle material.

Making the mortised-tang handle goes like this:

1. Choose a piece of wood large enough to make the handle that is at least 1-inch thick. Make it a real nice piece of wood. Take time to find something distinctive with unique colors and grain, or use something with a memory attached;

2. Take care to orient the handle pattern to the flow and pattern in the wood grain and clamp in place;

3. Use a sharp lead pencil to mark the outline of the pattern. Do not use ink markers as they will penetrate the handle material and make an ugly stain that won’t always come out when the handle is worked into the finished shape;

4. Cut the outline of the handle slightly oversize;

5. To use the blade as a drill guide, clamp it to the handle material. Be sure it is oriented properly by laying it on the pattern for the whole knife. Drill one hole, place a trial pin in it and drill the other hole. Pin diameter is 1/8 inch (.125) and the drill bit should be a #21 (.128). There will always be an interference problem in the assembly if the holes are drilled with a bit that is the same size as the pin stock. The roughly .003-inch clearance the #21 drill creates will make the job much easier;

6. Mark the centerline on the block and cut in half lengthwise. The grain matches closer by cutting a block to get the two halves;

7. Put arrows (with pencil) on the edge of the handle halves so that the orientation does not get mixed up. From this point on, there will be a front side and a back side. The front side of a knife is the side showing when the point is to the left and the edge is down.

8. Flatten the rough-sawn surfaces by sanding. The finished handle will have a taper in it but that will be put in after the slots for the tang are finished. When sanding material, it is important to keep it cool. The surface of a handle slab expands when it gets hot from power sanding, thus causing it to expand and bend into a slight curve with the center being ground more than the ends. Two pieces of material that are allowed to got hot during sanding, when placed together (by matching the arrows), will show daylight in the center with the ends together. Alternate the sanding between the two pieces and cool the resting one by placing it warm-side down on a cool piece of steel. Handle materials will be truly flat if kept cool while being flattened;

9. Put the two handle halves together and check for flatness by holding them up to a light. Then assemble with trial pins and round out and smooth up the surface that meets the ricasso;

10. Finish the radius on the front edge at that point. It’s not easy to do once the blade is fixed in place;

11. Lay the tang on the inside surface of one handle piece, put the trial pins in place and mark the outline of the tang with a sharp pencil. Mark it close to the tang; See the photo.

12. Measure the thickness of the tang and pencil it in on the inside of one handle piece. Find or assemble a spacer that is half the thickness of the tang;

13. With the handle material in place, bring the drill bit down so that it just touches the handle material and lock the down-feed nut. I use brad point drills that are common in the woodworking world. These drills do not tear out or splinter the wood when breaking through the back side and they make a somewhat flat bottom hole. Care must be taken to feed the drill slowly so that good control is maintained. The flat bottom cut they create is excellent for rough cutting the grooves for the tang;

14. Place the spacer that is equal to half the thickness of the tang under the one handle piece. This raises the handle material to the correct relationship with the end of the drill. If set up correctly, the drill will cut to a depth that is close to half that required to fit the tang into the two pieces when put together;

15. Carefully drill out the wood between the lines marking the shape of the tang. Keep the drill 1/4-inch away from the area at the front of the handle so that it cannot split the wood. This area will be carefully finished with a safe-edge rasp, file or sharp chisel;

16. Once both halves are roughed out, use a rasp, file or chisel to clean up the groove for the tang. To make this type of handle look right, the blade should grow right out of the handle material with no gaps;

17. An alternate method that is quicker and more accurate is to use a jig to hold both pieces of the handle at the same time, giving good control of the handle material;

18. The handle jig is used with high-speed, carbide, drill/mill bits in a milling machine, or a drill press that is set to run as fast as it will go. With this setup, it is fairly easy to completely clean out the slot for a fine fit. Use a vernier caliper or depth micrometer to check the depth, and if it needs a few more thousandths-of-an-inch removed, slip a piece of paper under the jig and mill out the excess;

19. When both sides are finished, clamp the two halves together and see if the tang fits;

20. If you worked carefully, the fit should be fairly good. If the slot is too narrow, use a file or sharp chisel to slowly and carefully open up the slot to get a near perfect fit;

21. If the slot is too wide, it can be narrowed up by carefully sanding the handle halves until you have a nice fit. Take an equal amount off of each side so that the glue joint stays in the center of the handle;

22. With the trial pins in place, clamp the handle halves together. Remove the trial pins and check to see if the tang fits and the trial pins line up. It’s time for the glue-up when all is fitted up all nice and fine. See the photo of the hole for the tang;

The drill bit is set up for brass. Note the two views of the same bit.

THE GLUE UP

I use Loctite adhesive products almost exclusively. Loctite Super Glue is wetter, dries faster, sticks better and has more foolproof tubes when compared to the competition. I use Loctite “Quick Set” Epoxy for handle glue up; it is easy to mix, stronger than most (if mixed properly) and available almost everywhere.

Before mixing the epoxy, it’s best to make sure everything is aligned. Assemble the two handle halves on the tang with the trial pins in place. See the photo. Once the epoxy is half-cured, it becomes real messy when you get into a fight with pins that don’t align.

Always have cotton-tipped swabs, toilet paper or paper napkins and a small container of acetone close by for clean up. You should wear disposable latex gloves during the glue-up process. Too much exposure of bare skin to uncured epoxy and acetone can be dangerous.

Epoxy, for best strength, should be warmed to between 70 and 80 F prior to mixing. If epoxy, in general, or the quick set, specifically, is mixed when cold, it will not reach the full strength of which it is capable.

The photo on page 61 shows a mixing platform made from a piece of steel mounted on a pivot. The platform sits about 6 inches under a light fixture with a 100-watt light bulb in it. About 15 minutes before it’s time for glue up, a piece of clean paper is put on the heating platform, light turned on, and the epoxy tubes are placed on the paper. This furnishes the heat necessary for heating the epoxy and a place for the knife to sit while curing.

With clamps and trial pins ready and the epoxy warm, mix it carefully as per the instructions. The epoxy is mixed on the paper and the handle halves glued up to the tang held with spring clamps. Work the trial pins out one at a time and clean them with acetone. Dip a cotton swab in acetone and wipe off any excess epoxy that comes out of the holes and from around the blade.

Give the pins a quick acetone wash and insert them back into the handle. Keep the paper you mixed the epoxy on as a witness that the epoxy hardened properly after allowing the allotted time. If you remember it, take time to work the trial pins out while the epoxy is still tacky, it might save a fight with them later.

Epoxy doesn’t cost that much so don’t cut yourself short when you mix. I find the Quick Set more than adequate for assembly of most knives; the exception being big knives with narrow tang handles where I want to be sure that all the air space between the tang and handle material is filled. The slow-cure epoxy found in cans is wet when mixed warm and gives the time element necessary to creep into the deepest recess of a tang hole.

When the epoxy has cured, run a sharp drill through the holes to clean out any excess hardened epoxy. Cut the pin stock to length (slightly longer than the thickness of the handle), rough up the pins with coarse sandpaper and glue them in place with Loctite glue. Use a back-up block when sanding down the excess pin stock, or use 320-grit paper on the flat disc machine. Always take care to not undercut the handle material around the pins or an attached guard.

“A” shows a precision file guide with a blade in position for filing the shoulders square and in line. “B” shows an attempt of mine from 20 years ago to make a file guide. It works but should be hardened. It has a sliding pin holder at the left end, welded up solid on the right end. The long bars are 1/4-inch-by-1-inch with thick stuff welded on at the wear points.

FINISHING THE HANDLE

Handles should be roughed in with 80-grit sandpaper, finished out with 120-grit pager, then 240-grit paper, and finally, 320-grit paper. From there, the finish can be done with 00000 steel wool or the finest available.

Push sticks for handle finishing are a necessity. It’s necessary to have a firm and flat surface backing the sandpaper to keep from undercutting the softer handle materials like wood. The shape of the work dictates the shape of the push stick. The stick type is used for handle work and is rectangular, round or with a slight radius. In use, the abrasive paper is wrapped around the push stick, either end-to-end, or around the circumference.

Maple should be brushed down with water and allowed to dry prior to the final fine sanding. This raises the grain and will result in a better final finish. In order to bring out the grain in fiddle-back wood, it is common to use some type of stain. I used potassium permanganate dissolved in water, which can be swabbed on while the handle is still somewhat wet from raising the grain. It gives a natural brown without the red tinge that most brown dyes have.

The milling machine is set up for creating the clearance on the tang side of the guard.

Here’s a bird’s-eye view of the vise setup for guard fitting. The jaw inserts are in place with a blade locked in them. The guard is being pushed up against the shoulder by the guard pusher, which is being struck with a large ball-peen hammer (bopper).

The Micarta guard pusher is shown with the bopping tool.

The handle is sanded with 240-grit paper while still damp, then 320-grit paper, stained, and then sanded again lightly using the penetrating finish on the sandpaper. If you don’t have potassium permanganate, you can stain maple with most any wood stain or leather dye, and then treat it with Deft Danish Oil or Minwax Tung Oil Finish.

Any sealer/finish that is wet and penetrating will work. Maple will absorb a lot of a wet, penetrating finish. I like to apply the finish over a two- or three-day period. As it soaks in, I add more. If the surface gets tacky, you should use enough finish to dissolve it and get it wet again. Use fine steel wool to help get the tacky finish off of the surface.

When no more finish will soak into the handle, it should be lightly worked over with the finest steel wool you can find, then rubbed to a high shine with an old wool sock. The finish should be in the wood and not on the surface. For a high shine, use a wax such as Johnson’s paste wax or similar.

Potassium permanganate can be found at Sears in the department where supplies for water softeners are sold. And, I have no idea what it has to do with water softening. It comes in the form of purple crystals that dissolve in water. This makes a stain that goes on purple but turns brown from oxidation. Potassium permanganate is an oxidizer, whatever that means.

Handle material can be burned from the heat created from dull abrasive belts and buffing wheels running too fast. The heat can cause discoloration, cracking or raised grain in some woods. Excessive buffing will undercut the softer parts of wood. It’s best to finish wood without buffing.

At last, here is the finished project knife.

THE FINISHED PROJECT

The project knife is finished except for sharpening it. I did the grinding and blade finishing with my homemade grinder that cost less to build than the cost of three Norton Hogger abrasive belts. The fit and finish wouldn’t have been much better if I had used my more sophisticated equipment. The point I am making is that the new maker should get started with what they have with which to work. It’s not the equipment that makes a skillful maker, it’s the practice with what they have.

The simple knife is finished, and for those who want to continue, the following sections have some of the more advanced knifemaking techniques explained. My hope is that the things presented will make the journey to mastering the craft a bit easier.

For more knife making secrets visit shopblademag.com.

Portions of the material in this e-book are taken from:

BLADE’s Guide to Making Knives

BLADE Copyright © 2012 by Krause Publications, a division of F+W Media, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by Krause Publications a division of F+W Media, Inc., 700 East State Street • Iola, WI 54990-0001 (715) 445-2214, (888)457-2873. www.krausebooks.com

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eISBN: 978-1-4402-3304-3

This e-book edition: February 2012 (v.1.0)

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