Bladesmithing — Sub-project

Hand-Forged Knife

Finished knife — full view Walnut handle scales, brass pins, and hand sanded 1080 hardened steel.
Finished knife — blade detail Handle detail — custom shape and finger grooves.
Finished knife — handle The finished knife — filed, sanded, heat treated, and handle fitted.

After spending time building foundational skills at the anvil — tapering, drawing out, upsetting — I got the itch to make a knife from bar stock. The full process ran from rough sketching through filing the bevel, heat treating the blade, and finishing the handle. This documents the whole build.

Material High-carbon 1080 steel flat stock
Process Cutting, hand filing, heat treatment, hand sanding, handle finishing.
Part of Hand-Made Metalwork project

Build Process

11 steps
Step 1 Raw flat stock — showing the sketch and template I designed.
Step 01Raw stock
Step 2 Rough profile cut out with a hacksaw. Quite a lot of work by hand.
Step 02Initial Cutting
Step 3 Hand filed the profile to the outline. This step was exciting as it was now "knife-shaped".
Step 03Refining the Profile
Step 4 Rough bevels filed in by hand.
Step 04Bevels established
Step 5 Hand sanded finish and jimping before heat treat.
Step 05Pre heat treat
Step 6 Second heat treat as the first did not fully harden the blade. Quenched in canola oil until it skated a file.
Step 06Heat treat
Step 7 While the blade is tempered, I prepared the handle scales.
Step 07Handle scales
Step 8 Test fit scales and pins before epoxy.
Step 08Handle test fit
Step 9 Epoxy handle scales on before shaping the handle by hand.
Step 09Epoxy
Step 10 Finished product. Hand sanded the blade and oiled the handle.
Step 10Completed knife
Step 11 All of the tools and materials I used to hand make my first knife.
Step 11Tools and materials