Second Knife, fixed blade from a file.

[mcb]

 

My second knife I have made from scratch.  This one started life as a medium size cross-cut flat file.  It was not forged but I did use my forge to anneal the file so I could shape it then used my forge to heat if for quench.  Temper was done in the oven.  The rough shape was done with my angle grinder and a cut off wheel.  Final shape was then done on a 1-inch belt sander and some file work.  Blade bevel was done on a home made file fixture.  The bevel was then sanded by hand and polished with a wheel.  Sharpened with a diamond sharpener and angle guide.  The handles are maple that have been stabilized with wood hardener and finishes with a dark walnut danish oil.  The stain did not get as dark as I had hoped likely do to the hardener I used.  Pins are simple 3/16 brass rod and the handles are epoxied on.

[D.C.]

Beautiful work, and I have to compliment your attention to detail. Quite professional.

[mcb]

9 hours ago, D.C. said:

Beautiful work, and I have to compliment your attention to detail. Quite professional.

Thank you, it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot making this one.  Next one will be larger.

[TheoRockNazz]

Can you reupload the picture? It's coming in as blank on my PC

[mcb]

Did this work?

[Buzzkill]

Not for me.  I couldn't see the first one or the last one.  I just get a string of alphanumeric characters.

[mcb]

I think I fix my second post.

[Buzzkill]

Yes, I can see that one now.  That's pretty good, especially for a second knife.   I'm sure you're aware of the potential stress risers from file teeth, but if the knife sees little to no impact there shouldn't be any issues if your heat treat is good.

[mcb]

45 minutes ago, Buzzkill said:

Yes, I can see that one now.  That's pretty good, especially for a second knife.   I'm sure you're aware of the potential stress risers from file teeth, but if the knife sees little to no impact there shouldn't be any issues if your heat treat is good.

The heat treat is probably OK.  Heated to orange hot in the forge and quench in preheated canola oil.  Then with it quench down to a temperature I could just barely touch it with my hands (~150F) I put it in the oven for 2-hours at 425F.  After letting it cool almost to room temp I soaked it again at 425F for 2 hours a second time.

It's a relatively small knife only a 3-1/8 inch blade and will be used for field dressing deer and similar work.  No impact in the use I expect for it.  I do need to get some material to make a sheath for it though.

I annealed a much larger file when I did that one and I am going to make a larger knife from it.  With that I am going to grind all the file teeth off it to make it smooth and will actually forge it to rough shape.

[Buzzkill]

If you have any of that file left over you can do a rough shape on it, heat treat it like your finished knife, and then test to see how well it holds up.  If you clamp it in a vice with an inch or two sticking up and tap progressively harder on the sides with a hammer you'll get an idea of whether it will bend before snapping.  If you do that wrap a rag or something around the blade so metal shards don't fill the room with flying shrapnel if it shatters.  Some old files have carbon content of 1.2% or even slightly higher, and they can still stay fairly hard and brittle even after the temper cycles you describe.   Regardless, it should hold an edge well for you and it's a handsome second knife.