Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades DIY Knife Tutorial

I've been asked to do a knife making tutorial so here goes. Normally I make knives in small batches so I can have blades at different stages of production and always have something to work on. I was finishing a blade recently for a fellow Archery board member when I made a mistake and had to scrap the knife. He has been patiently waiting so I jumped in this morning and started a new blade.

I am using a piece of twist 1095 /15n20 Damascus that measures 1.75"x9.5"x 0.156". I start by tracing my template.



I then cut the billet using an angle grinder to a rough shape. I use my belt grinder to profile the blank further. My next step is to drill the pin holes and some additional holes to reduce weight and give the handle epoxy something to key into.



From there I use the belt grinder to make sure the sides are flat. I didn't take any pictures of this but basically I use a large magnet to hold blank while I press it to the platen.

My next step is to grind it bevel and make this blank look more like a knife. With this thin material I grind the bevel so the portion that will be sharpened later is about 0.035" thick. The extra thickness will help to prevent warping during heat treatment.



At this point, the blade is ready for heat treatment which I will post later.