knife making

[Pete Grey]

RE. Knife making

Have seen an old thread on knife making using an old spring leaf. The steel mainly used is EN45 silicon manganese with 0.55% carbon, this gives a tuff blade which will hold a reasonable edge.
Soften by heating to red heat then allow to cool slowly, flatten then wire brush, draw knife profile on leaf and cut and shape using angle grinder and bench grinder, rough grind edge on the blade.
Drill holes in handle part to allow for rivets. To harden the blade heat to bright red (850C) then oil quench to cold, slowly reheat until blade JUST starts to show a little red (600C) and slowly cool, blade is now tempered. You can now polish the blade, fit a handle and sharpen you new knife.
If it doesn’t turn out first time you’ve had an interesting day, Good luck.