/diy/ - Do It Yourself

why not build a hidden arm mounted collapsable crossbow with explosive bolts

>>263741
Pic related, make oil lamps out of burned out incandescents.

Bumping because I have the same situation as OP. Except I do have a decent amount of money, although I'm not willing to spend over $100. I have access to some scrap metal as well as a workshop including a grinder, welding torch and some other stuff which I don't know the purpose of but would be willing to learn. All I need now is some ideas. I am not at all very skilled in any sort of engineering but want to learn more which is why I'm here.

I was thinking about making a dagger out of a steel stake I found in the scrap pile, one of the ones used for holding 2x4s in place for a concrete mold (pic related), and some leather which I would just make into strips and grind the stake down. I probably will still do that but it seems to basic, I want something that will test me a little bit better and that could help me learn, unfortunately I don't know what that is. So any suggestions would be appreciated.

if you actually want to make a dagger or a small knife, dont expect to get it right on your first try. metalcrafting, and to a lesser extent "forging" are difficult yet extremely rewarding, although it takes many tries to succed in making a durable and unwarped metal blade that can actually cut stuff

here are some basic steps


NOTE - I DID NOT MAKE THESE STEPS -
Heat the metal in a forge or your own personal metal working furnace. Proper temperature varies, but a charcoal fire with introduced air is sufficient. Hair dryer and a campfire can work.

2Check with a magnet when heated. Steel goes nonmagnetic when it is a proper temperature.

3Pound the steel on an anvil to shape the metal, starting with a bevel where you intend to make a blade.

4Leave room for a tang (the part in the handle). Leave about two inches or more on one end.

5Establish a blade, by repeating rows of small taps with a three pound sledge (best weight will depend on your size and strength) in long rows up the blade, narrowing the steel. Work on both sides of the blade to prevent it from distorting.

6Try to keep the blade from mushrooming or bending over itself, as this will cause inclusions weakening the blade.

>>263836
fuck i misposted, just a sec

7Remember, when it is a rough blade shape, you can anneal it by bringing it to this red hot nonmagnetic temperature three times and letting it air cool till all the red is gone. After the third heating, let it cool in the fire overnight. Cooling it very slowly will make it softer, easier to file.

8File to shape and even up any uneven spots.

9Bring back to nonmagnetic and dip in a vat of oil, (there are oil, water, and air hardening steels). Dipping only the cutting edge will provide a hard durable cutting edge but leave the back flexible, thereby increasing the overall strength of the
blade.

10Put it in an oven for an hour or two on 250-350 degrees Fahrenheit.

11Handle it (either drill holes and pin scales of wood, wrap with cord or wire, or make a pointy tang and put in a block of wood then file it to shape.

12Sharpen your knife with a fine file, then with a whetstone. Finally use a leather strop impregnated with polishing paste to remove any burr and leave a razor sharp edge.

13Put it in water and then reheat it slightly to temper it.

14Be sure you leave room for the tang (the part which goes inside the handle), so you actually have a knife and not just a blade.

15Use metalworking files to grind the blade bevels. Use a whetstone to make it even sharper.

good luck

>>263840
>2Check with a magnet when heated. Steel goes nonmagnetic when it is a proper temperature.
...or you could just look at it, as it should be yellow hot.

Seriously, I have never heard of this method and it seems to make little sense when you can just LOOK.
>starting with a bevel where you intend to make a blade.
What I've seen and read has been to form the general shape first, and then work out the bevels.
>(there are oil, water, and air hardening steels).
What the fu-

No man. The quench causes the steel to harden by dropping the temperature very quickly. Water, brine, and oil are often used, with water cooling the steel very quick to the point that some steels may crack, while brine cools slower and oil slower still.
>Dipping only the cutting edge will provide a hard durable cutting edge but leave the back flexible, thereby increasing the overall strength of the
blade.
I've heard of this, but mostly with things like axes and chisels, and you can one step temper here; by cooling the edge you harden it, and then let the heat from the rest of the piece draw the temper to a straw or bronze depending on how hard you want it.
>10Put it in an oven for an hour or two on 250-350 degrees Fahrenheit.
This is called tempering. You do this to back down the hardness after the quench.
>13Put it in water and then reheat it slightly to temper it.
ಠ_ಠ
>14Be sure you leave room for the tang (the part which goes inside the handle), so you actually have a knife and not just a blade.
Oh yes, put this at the end after all the metalworking is done.

None of these steps account at all for carbon content, which determines just how much you'll temper the blade and what the final characteristics are.

>>263847
Look brah, i wasnt expecting the other guy to know that much about forging a knife.

>>263849
Then he should educate himself properly, not half-ass it.

>>263847
Just on the magnet issue, the smith I learned from (artist blacksmith in Ireland, grad of Hertfordshire College) had us using one until we were comfortable doing it by eye. Largely I think, because she didn't an bunch of newfags following her around the shop with metal in tongs asking her "is this right yet?" "is this right yet?".
So, at least some legit smiths using it as a teaching aide I guess.

Make newspaper structures like, buildings, ornithopters, cars that run on water, and/or papercraft a statue.

>>263741
WIth all the millions of pages on the internet and the fact that they're all indexed in Google and Bing and other search engines, you have to come here to have some faggots on 4chan suggest what you should build? Do you have NO imagination whatsoever? If you're an Amerifag then I'd believe it, they don't seem to teach ANYbody in this country how to think anymore..

A suicide box.

>>264864
go back to /b/ or gag9 you fucking dipshit before i find you and beat you to within an inch of your life