We suggest that you first sketch out your knife shape on a piece of cardboard. Cut the shape out with scissors. Make sure the handle will be large enough to fit your hand. If not, cut out another template to the required size.
When you are satisfied with the shape, you can trace the profile directly onto your metal. A fine point ‘felt pen’ is ideal for this purpose.
If you plan to make a number of knives, it could pay you to make a proper metal template. This is the shape traced onto a piece of steel or brass. The metal is then cut out, and you have an everlasting pattern.
We suggest that if possible, you use a Remington brand ‘rod saw’ blade to cut out the blank. These blades will cut in any direction and are ideal for cutting curves and other intricate shapes. The only point that takes any getting used to, is the fact that the blade cuts a 3mm slot. This means that you cannot cut on the line, but must cut alongside the line. You can soon learn to cut accurately while making the allowance.
One small point when using a ‘rod saw’: always allow the blade to cool before releasing the tension on the hack saw frame. This helps keep the blade straight.
Above is a blank after the cutting out process. The black lines on the blank are the felt pen lines. In this instance we changed templates before cutting out, and left the old lines in place to show the marking out.
The blank should be filed to shape, and all the hacksaw marks removed. Place the blank low in the vise, and file across the metal. Use a long and reasonably fine file for this purpose. On long straight sections (such as the back of the blade), you can file at an angle of about 45°. This will help to keep a straight line. At this point, try to keep the edges at right angles to the sides. This is particularly important when filing the handle. If the edges are rounded in this area, you will have a gap between the tang and the plates, which will spoil the finished effect.
At this point it pays to decide what handle plats you will use, and the way you intend finishing the handle. You will have to drill the holes for the rivets, and the ½ inch hole if desired.
As we pointed out previously, holes should be drilled in spring steel using a low speed drill and coolant. If you are not the proud owner of a bench drill, or a large hand drill (hand brace, to be precise), seek the assistance of your local garage. Ordinary electric drills may heat and harden the hole as it is drilled, and you’ll keep braking drills. Besides which, you probably won’t get the hole right through. For a dollar or two, the garage can run the holes through without any drama.
While you could use a a power emery grinder to shape the blade, we will describe how to do the job using hand tools, i.e. files. Files are cheap, reasonable quick to use, and allow you to claim that your knife is indeed ‘handmade’. Besides which you will probably learn more, and get greater enjoyment form the whole project. That is really what this book is about.
Filing
Filing techniques can be divided into two groups – cross filing and draw filing.
As the name suggests, cross filing is filing across the metal. To be accurate, you should select the longest file suitable for the job. The longer the file, the more accurate the job, all other things being equal.
Your stance should be feet slightly apart, with one foot slightly ahead of the other. For want of a better term, you should adopt a ‘boxing’ pose. If you’re set right, you won’t be pushing yourself over, once you start filing.
For the right-handed. Grip the file handle (always use a handle on a file), with your right hand. The left hand holds the leading edge (toe) of the file. ‘South paws’ of course would reverse this grip.
Files should only be pushed when cross filing. Each stroke should be both slow and deliberate. The file should be offered up to the work, sufficient weight given to make it cut, and the file pushed for its full length across the work. Fast filing achieves nothing except a hernia! Try to work at a pace of about 35 to 45 strokes per minute. If you’re puffing after 5 minutes, you’re going too fast. So, put the file down, apply pressure, push forward, lift off, pull back. Good filing is an art. Apprentices used to spend a few years learning the art, so you must expect to spend at least 5 minutes getting the hang of it.
We repeat what we said before – never pull the file back across the work face. It blunts the teeth, and shortens the life of the file. Besides which, it is a slack way of working. You’ll never be any good with your hand tools unless you learn to use them properly. In the long run you’ll benefit from learning the correct methods.
Cross filing is used for rapid removal of metal. It is (or should be) both accurate and non-tiring.
Draw filing is a technique used to clean up a previously cross filed work face. It is not a fast method, but it should be just as accurate and non-tiring if done properly.
Draw filing is mostly done with fine files. The intention here is to remove the scratches left by the coarse files used for cross filing.
One last bit of theory. Files work by scratching out file shavings of metal. These chips, or ‘filings’ to use the correct term, are pushed up in front of the teeth during their travels across the work. On occasion you will find that some chips become wedged between the teeth, and don’t fall free on the other side. Technically, this is known as pinning. It has two effects. Firstly, it slows down the cutting action, as it tends to raise the file above the job. Secondly, and more importantly, it will produce deep scratches on the work face. This is undesirable, as all scratches will eventually have to be polished out.
Pinning can be prevented by two different techniques. Firstly, you can try filing at a different angle across the job. This alone will probably cure the problem. (This is probably the best when using ‘single cut’ files ie the files that have just a single line tooth running at an angle across the face of the file).
When all else fails, reach for the chalk! If you rub ordinary blackboard chalk into the teeth, you will fill the gullets between the teeth. The chalk dust is slightly springy, and tends to push the filings out again at the other side. Unfortunately, this comes at a price. The cost is a lessening of the cutting action. You will get a smoother finish, but it will take longer to remove as much metal.
Pins should be removed by picking the teeth of the file with a sharp corner of metal – say a bit of brass, or even a piece of jam tin. Suede brushed (the bronze wire ones), are good for removing soft pinning. We do not recommend the use of hard wire brushes, including file cards. These will quickly blunt your files, as the wire is almost as hard as the file.
Anyway, standing around talking never gets the job done, so pay attention and we’ll get back to the work. After all, we’re here to make knives, not stand around yarning!
