Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Knife making newb

My kids like that show Forged in Fire and wanted to make some knives. I made a crude little propane forge to heat treat and got to work with my angle grinder, hand files, and sand paper. I just finished up my third knife, first with scales. I can find a hundred things wrong with it but it’s sharp and should gut a deer or break down a caribou without much issue I think. It’s a fun garage hobby that’s pretty cheap to get into for the most part and is a fun thing to do with the boys. At this point I’m just using 1080 as it’s easy to work with, considering my equipment. I probably won’t get much more technical but I’m enjoying it so far! This one is a gift to my dads best friend for him helping my dad so much (dads got Parkinson’s) and getting us on some deer on our trip back East this fall.

Good looking knife.

You did good. How was your heat treat process? Did you temper after your heat treat?

That's a real good looking knife you made. This knife thing ,can be whatever you want it to be. So if you enjoy doing it your way and what you want to do,then do just that. You'll enjoy it. But be careful,lol,'cause just like the enthusiasts ( collectors etc) on one side of the fence will tell ,just the same as knife makers,it's addicting. I know one knife maker who collects machines,another handle materials,etc,etc. . I enjoy putting maple on factory blades,so I know what you are saying Merry Christmas & Thanks for showing your knife ,hope to see others . - Vince

Great job!!!! Be careful making knives it can become an addiction!!

It is tooooo late to warn him. He has made three knives now.
A nice start too, I might add.

Thanks guys. I heated up the blade until it reached non magnetic plus another minute or so. Quenched it in 130° canola oil, then two, two hour cycles in the oven at 425° to temper. I’m looking forward to getting a belt sander/grinder here right off.

1080 is a good forgiving steel during the ht process. For future reference, once it hits critical temp (non-magnetic) you can immediately quench....it needs no soak. Quench needs to be a "fast" quench though...faster than 130 degree canola. You need to get from critical temp to under 900 degrees or so in one second.

Your tempering process was right on.

I'll bet your blade will perform just fine as is. Very good, well thought out design. Go get it bloody.

Thanks for the tips! Navigating all the info on the internet is interesting to say the least. Lots of knife makers with differing instructions on how to do things makes it kinda tough. I just split the difference! Haha! What would you recommend for a quenching oil for 1080? At this point I don’t plan on using different steels as I don’t have the ability to work with many of them.

Shoot, that looks great!

Parks 50 is the gold standard of fast quenching oils. Some even use water, but I never will.