Small Knife

Stubby but very cool great job.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

Very nice…

What process did you use to heat treat the blade?

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Thanks! to heat treat, i heated it until it was cherry red, then quenched it in old car oil

-- The hard work won't take too long, the impossible will take a little longer

looks like a patch knife, what do you use it for?

-- A thing of beauty is a joy forever...

I like it…. but whats a leaf spring? From a car? Im a idiot when it comes to cars, and making knives, and according to my wife, a whole lot of other things. LOL so… how did ya do it huh?

-- Jimi _ Measure twice, cut once.......@#%#$@!!!......measure twice, cut....

i use it for cutting paracord for braids, opening boxes, and really any other small task, this knife was more of a test to see how others would turn out, but the steel i have is way too thick to make anything bigger, unless i start forgin…

-- The hard work won't take too long, the impossible will take a little longer

lol well a leaf spring is actually from a car, i believe its the rear suspension, but i dont know much either, I’m 14
first i ground out the shape with an angle grinder, took a longgg time… drilled a couple holes,
then i refined the shape with a file
next i put on the edge, i forget what its called.. with a file,
later i sharpened it with the roughest stone i have,
i then heat treated it, and sanded off the black stuff with that step i put somewhat of a two tone finish with sand paper, the base of the blade is going left and right, the edge is going up an down
next i prepared a handle (cut it to shape) drilled the corresponding holes, and glued those on (epoxy) and put a brass rod in the holes
do a little final shaping and you’re done!

-- The hard work won't take too long, the impossible will take a little longer

Well, this a really nice subby knife Mike. Well thought and well made. I presume it’s your own design?

Congrats!

Best,

Serge

http://www.atelierdubricoleur.spaces.live.com

-- Learn from yesterday, work today and enjoy success tomorrow. -- http://atelierdubricoleur.wordpress.com

Mike,

Nice job. I have a couple of suggestions passed on to me by professional knife maker Jay Fisher. As a kid Mr. Fisher lived in my home town in New Mexico. I got the bug to make a knife from a file, and began work on it with whatever tool I had. After I had the general shape down with an old Dremel tool and had worked the edge with a file for a while I got the bright idea to go and visit Mr. Fisher. He was a great help, and his shop was like a toy store for a teenager. One of the first questions he asked me was if I had annealed the file before I began working on it. Well that started me down the path of metallurgy and finding out all that I could to make my knifes better. Now I have completed only 3 since then, and have several in various stages of completion, but I haven’t forgotten much that Mr. Fisher passed on. So to end this really long story I noticed that you mentioned that the leaf spring was really difficult to shape and drill. Did you “anneal” the spring before working it? If not then you might try that before you start your next one. You can google annealing and will get a ton of useful information, but to simplify things you heat the metal to a cherry red and then let it cool slowly without quenching it. The more you learn about metallurgy the better your understanding of metal and what types of metal to use. Leaf spring is a great material and usually has a very high carbon content which is great for blades. It should hold and edge for a while and the design will prevent it being too brittle.
It looks like a great knife and it is much better then my first one. Which is funny because that is what Mr. Fisher told me when I showed him my finished product. Keep up the great work.

Aaron

-- "Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops."--Cary Grant from the movie Arsenic and Old Lace

Great job. Shaping a knife from a spring with a file, I am sure was a chore. It looks great. Black powder enthusiasts use knives like this to cut patches as they reload their rifles. I see you are from Florida. Back when I used to make knives, I used a company out of Florida. http://www.sheffieldsupply.com/
They have directions on how to harden and temper some different kinds of steel. Not to mention sell about any knife making material you can conceive of. Worth checking out if you are considering making more. (I am not affiliated with them in any way)

-- A thing of beauty is a joy forever...

Nice, very nice. I’m curious how you got such a nice finish on the brads.

-- "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in frames of silver." Mohawk Valley - Oregon

Oh yaaah, i forgot to say i annealed them… actually i tried to work on it without it being annealed, and noticed a huge difference when it was.
woud anyone know a fast way of making metal thinner?? it would be verrrry helpful for my next knife!!

Cottonwire, what do you mean by brads?

-- The hard work won't take too long, the impossible will take a little longer

The easiest way to make steel thinner is to order it that way. You can order 1095 high carbon steel from Jantz supply in different thicknesses and it comes in a soft anneled state. Costs a little more than a leaf springs but saves lots of time. I’m sure the shipping is far less to the lower 48 than is up here. Keep up the good work.

-- "Nothing is worse than a brilliant picture of a fuzzy concept"--Ansel Adams

lol thanks but without ordering another piece?
but if i were to buy steel i would tthink 440c would be nice, because i thiiiink its much more rust resistant

-- The hard work won't take too long, the impossible will take a little longer

Very nice looking knife Congratulation of getting it done.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †