I finally decided to take a "stab" at knife making.  I wanted to make a reproduction of my favorite little neck knife.  So, I made a small forge with two pans, a pop can, and a blow dryer:

 

 


I cut two blades out of an old saw blade.  I tested the steel by heating one of the teeth of the blade, quenching it, then snapping off the tooth in the vise.  Here's one of the blades just before going into the forge:

 


After heating until they were non-magnetic, I quenched them in oil.  I cleaned them up a bit, put them in the oven for an hour at 400 degrees, and then let them cool.  Then I put them back in the oven and repeated the process.  

The top one has wenge and rock maple scales while the bottom is of cocobola.  Both have some file work, but it's not very clear in the pictures.  I haven't honed the cutting edge on either one.  I didn't sand or polish the blades because I wanted to replicate the original (shown in the second picture below).

 

 

 


I made my own rivets out of copper tubing and brass rod.  Here's how they came out:

 


Thanks for looking!  Sorry the pictures are blurry...my camera isn't the best.

Apparently one does not need expensive supplies to have a forge and create a personal knife. After seeing shops filled with equipment and longing to get started, you burst my $$$ bubble.  You did a great job replicating the knife.  I like the look of the second knife best. Thanks for introducing some simplicity to the knack of knifemaking.  Glory and honor and praise belongs to Jesus Christ.

Great job, love the shape of the blades.

Bro ya done a great Job.But i knew ya could do it<><

You should be proud- those are awesome knives.  And like Terry said- you didn't need a shop for of expensive tools, you made it work with what you had.

very nice.... i like the pin idea...

Cool all the way around great craftmanship and recyled too!

Fantastic!!!!!!

Steve
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Potomac Forge

Wow!!!!   :eek:

Awesome work!!!!      

Thanks for the kind comments, guys.  I appreciate them.  Thanks also to sticshooter for all his help (and encouragement).

Dude! Those are great knives! Cleverly done and very stylish. Did you test the edges for hardness after the temper? Great design and the minimal file work is perfect for this kind of knife.

Rick

Yeah, I did test the blades.  I tried a few time-tested methods like the 1/4" brass rod and...didn't have a clue what I was doing! LOL  So, I followed sticshooter's advice and sharpened it so it would shave hair, whittled and hacked the snot out of some oak for awhile, and then tested it on my arm again...still shaved hair.  That's good enough for me!

Awsome knives 4est. You can do it all can't you LOL

Very neat knives & homemade forge!! Larry

very nice, great job replicating the necker.

Love the blade shape! Beautiful knives!

Awesome!

Nice job 4est!

Great knives!

I would love to see a build-a-long, similar with what you have done in the bowyer's forum.