Self made knife

[sumanngon]

Dear all,
This is my first attempt to make a knife that will be used mostly in my camping activities. The knife has been hammered out of truck shock absorber plates in a local smith's outlet by me. To take it further into a final product I need your advices on shape, handle, finger guard and finish. I dont know how to make a saw on the back and even if I can cut grooves, I dont know how to sharpen each teeth to get a proper saw. I needed a knife that has ample cutting edge, a proper weight and somethibg ideal for batoning. Any innovative but practical suggestion would be extremely helpful.

Thanking you all

Sumann Gon

[marthandan]

was the blank made from a steel file or a spring plate? looks like a steel file to me.

what are the dimensions? what chores would you use it while trekking / camping? you will need to heat treat the blade. if you put a saw on the back, you might not be able to baton with it.
design wise - a simple drop point /spear point / clip point would be the most useful. a finger guard is not necessary as the current shape will prevent the fingers from slipping onto the edge.
as for the finish, it doesn't make much sense to polish it too much since the blade will scratch during use. a 400 grit finish should be good enough.

[wingsoffires66]

due to the concave spine, it will be difficult to use as a baton from that side.this is going to be a good hacker though.If the size is above 12 inches, you might feel its weight after some time on field. The easiest serrations to make and to maintain manually are the typical handsaw design you find with an old carpenter though making and maintaining both will be the most treacherous job of this build you have to use a small file for this job.Simple options for handle can be paracord which will serve the survival knife purpose if situation arises or simple electric cable .Wood handle can be done but will not help if not done properly [from selecting wood to using the right angle grain and using a proper finishing chemical]. Since it is your first one, I prefer keeping it simple as possible . To get the feel of the metal I would finish the blade trying to rid of forge marks with a rasp as much as possible as this will take some serious elbow grease and nothing can go wrong here.IF you are doing it, please see if the smith hasnt dunked the blade into an oil/water bath when hot. It will be pain to work on a such hardened blade .Solution for this is you will have to reheat it and let it air cool before working on the finish.

Hope this helps.