After getting our hands on the materials we want to use for our knife project, it is now time to start turning our concept into reality. On this part, we will discuss cutting and shaping the steel for our knife.

Step 3: Rough Cutting the Steel

Transfer the Sketch

Cut out the knife sketch we made, as it will be used as the outline of the steel. There are several ways to do this, like using engineer’s blue, a blue-colored paste used in marking metal surfaces, or a sharp tool to etch on the steel. Thin permanent markers can also be used to draw the outline onto the steel. The outline will include the actual blade and the tang.

Rough Cutting

Next is making a rough cut on the steel.  Use either a hacksaw or a jeweler’s saw for this, depending on the thickness of the steel, as thicker steels could require a stiffer hacksaw. Also, have some spare saw blades at the ready, in case the blades snap or go dull during the cutting.

When doing the rough cut on the steel, it would be best to cut a rectangle around the outline, leaving at least 5mm of material around it. This will provide some allowance during the grinding and beveling process, making it easier.

Forming the Shape

Once a rough cut is made, we move on to forming it. Place the steel on a vice, and using a grinder, begin to grind the steel to shape. Get as close to the outline as possible, removing as little material as needed. It is best to take this step slowly and carefully, as any excessive cuts may affect the blade’s final form.

Adding the Bevel

At this point, we would start working on the bevels for the blade. The bevel, simply put, is the part of the blade where it starts to thin down towards the cutting edge.  Using a thin permanent marker, create a line along the bottom part of the blade where we want the edge to be. Next, laying the steel on its side, draw a line that will serve as the starting point of the bevel. It would be best that the bevel would not go past the center of the steel, as this will cause our edge to dip, which is not good.

Once the markers are made, start grinding from the center to the edge, doing this at an acute angle. Flap wheels (grinding wheels with coarse sandpaper) or a file could be used during this process, though files could take a longer time.

As with the forming phase, slow and careful is the key. Once one side is finished, do the same thing on the other side. This will form the cutting edge of the knife project.

Place Rivet Holes

Our next step is placing the rivet holes on our steel. When doing this, make sure that the drill bit you will use to create the rivet holes is the same size as the rivets you have for the knife project.

Also, if you plan to use a bolster guard, this will also be the time to place the holes for them.

Finishing the Blade

The last part of this step is finishing the blade. This means using sandpaper to gradually sand out the steel, removing all file marks and essentially making the steel pretty.

This process is the slowest of the bunch, as it requires progressively going through different grits of sandpaper. The preferred range is from 60-grit to 220-grit, though going higher can be done depending on preference. The end result should be a beautiful flat blade.

 

Next time, we will start working with heat, as we will discuss heat-treating the blade.

 

A Special shout-out to Phil Reilly and Basta over at Instructibles, as their Knifemaking instructions helped us make ours.