October 6, 20169 yr Here is a pic of my first file knife. I was successful in hardening it and now just need to sharpen and clean it up.
October 6, 20169 yr Nice looking profile. How thick was the file to begin with, or how much hammering did you have to do to get it to the finished thickness? And what did you use to quench it with?
October 6, 20169 yr Author Thanks guys! John: With regards to thickness I only had to hammer down the bevels, the spine is original thickness, I'd say its around 1/8" and I quenched it in fresh motor oil. Theo: I'm going the K.I.S.S. route, just some leather lace. It already has excellent hand feel, I just need a little more thickness. Thanks again for the great feedback! Viking
October 24, 20169 yr Author On 10/22/2016 at 7:53 PM, Charcold said: Nice looking knife! Did you grind off all the teeth of the file before forging? Thanks Charcold! No I did not grind off the teeth, I just went at it.
October 27, 20169 yr Nice... The handle shape looks great, must feel super secure in hand with the way it wraps around
October 31, 20169 yr Author On 10/27/2016 at 3:24 PM, NFLIFe said: Nice... The handle shape looks great, must feel super secure in hand with the way it wraps around Thanks! It does have a nice hand feel, I think it will improve once I finish it too, I still need to wrap the handle and put an edge on it. I shut down the smithy for a bit while I build my next forge over the winter......and the ol' lady wants a few of her wood projects finished, so more work, less play.
February 21, 20179 yr Author I've finally finished grinding, polishing and wrapping the handle; other than a sheath, this baby is done! Comments, questions or critiques welcome! Viking
February 21, 20179 yr Nice! Looking good.What a fun use for an old file. I've only made one knife in my life. I made it years ago in shop class in high school. It was from a thick old file. Had to hammer it thinner to start with - a lot of hammering. I quenched it in water - mainly because I had no idea what I was doing and was just following the shop teachers instructions.
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