/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>388362
Ergh, sorry for the huge image size.

Here's the knife from that post, next to the second knife I ever made. With this one, I experimented 'bringing it out' some, to make a thinner blade more suited to cutting soap (which was its intended purpose). Protip: carpenter's hammers suck for blacksmithing, haha. The hammer-marks are clear and evident, there.

This also holds a surprisingly good edge; much much better than my first knife. I won't say 'razor', but I will say that I cut myself pretty badly on it with very little effort, cutting through a piece of string.

That's all I have pictures of; I hope to see you /diy/nosaurs post some stuff!

>>358514
Sorry again it was later than I anticipated, but this is the basic run-down on making knives. There's a shitload of information on the internet as far as doing this; and many, many people who are far more experienced than I.

As a last thought; coal is hard to find but burns long and hot. Coke will only burn if you have a constant airflow going into it. Charcoal will burn under almost any circumstances, but gives off sparks like it's the stuff's job.

Good luck, anon, and remember, be safe!

As a bonus, here's the first two knives I ever made. One, I didn't 'bring out' at all, and just ground. The other I clearly 'brought out'. You can still see the file-marks in the one. I heat-treated both, and they find use almost every day.

I built a simple coal/charcoal forge in my backyard, and so far have only made two knives from old files. They aren't pretty, but they hold a good edge. The first one (top), I just heat-treated and ground to shape, but the second one (bottom) I 'brought it out' a bit, to make a thinner knife more suited to cutting soap and less suited to look like a stupid shank.

Also, I was using an air-pump for mattresses as my bellows, but that died, and I haven't been able to find anything to replace it, or build a bellows that gets enough air flow. I'll probably end up building a greatbellows from plywood, canvas, and inner tubes.