BEST MATERIAL TO MAKE YOUR OWN KNIVES

[kshitij]

Yesterday went to Chor Bazar again & brought some broken pieces of saw blade for me & Essdee
Meeting Moin tomorrow will take some tips from him for making knifes out of this raw materials

Hi pratik, i have a ton of circular saw blanks lying around in my workshop which were rejected by the customers due to design changes in their production lines. They seem to be of the same grade that you have been picking up. Since they are rusting and of no particular use to me, i would be glad if they can be of any use to you. Dont feel like dumping them in scrap as they are perfectly fine saw blanks

[essdee1972]

On behalf of Pratik, thanks, Kshitij! Great offer!

Pratik, if you would prefer, I can pick up the blanks (I keep going to Navi Mumbai) and pass them to you (minus my 50% commission ).

[brihacharan]

Yesterday went to Chor Bazar again & brought some broken pieces of saw blade for me & Essdee
Meeting Moin tomorrow will take some tips from him for making knifes out of this raw materials

Hi pratik, i have a ton of circular saw blanks lying around in my workshop which were rejected by the customers due to design changes in their production lines. They seem to be of the same grade that you have been picking up. Since they are rusting and of no particular use to me, i would be glad if they can be of any use to you. Dont feel like dumping them in scrap as they are perfectly fine saw blanks

Hi Kshitij,
> These are the guys I had in mind for your Saw Blades - what a coincidence
Briha

[kshitij]

Great! Like the saying goes, someones scrap can be someone elses treasure. Would be a waste if i had to scrap these.

[pratik_mahale]

Thank a lot Kshitij actually I was planning to go Chor Bazar next Friday for those circular blades only
Essdee not a bad offer I will take it

[kshitij]

Cool. I am located in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. Drop by any weekend with prior confirmation and pick them up. Will help if you get a pair of gloves when you come, they are sharp and rusted, so it'll help while shifting them from one car to another.

[essdee1972]

Kshitij, sending you PM with my number. I go to Vashi at least once a month, typically on weekends, as my bro-in-law stays there. Will inform you in advance when I go there next. And I keep a couple of pair of gloves in the car!

[brihacharan]

Kshitij, sending you PM with my number. I go to Vashi at least once a month, typically on weekends, as my bro-in-law stays there. Will inform you in advance when I go there next. And I keep a couple of pair of gloves in the car!

essdee....
Suggest that you get the profile of the blade cut with "Arc" - doing it with hand is an herculean job
The final finishes can be attempted with bench grinder / belt sander!!!!
Briha

[kshitij]

Kshitij, sending you PM with my number. I go to Vashi at least once a month, typically on weekends, as my bro-in-law stays there. Will inform you in advance when I go there next. And I keep a couple of pair of gloves in the car!

essdee....
Suggest that you get the profile of the blade cut with "Arc" - doing it with hand is an herculean job
The final finishes can be attempted with bench grinder / belt sander!!!!
Briha

brihaji,

I guess the arc or plasma too will give only a rough profile, final finishing will have to be done by hand before putting it through the grinder/sander.

Correct me if I am wrong but the metal working part of knife making some what goes like this,
Knife blank-->Bevel grinding-->Heat Treatment-->Edge Sharpening.

So following the above, the first step i.e. blank making is the easiest for us.
Next up, for the bevel grinding, are there any hand tools that can be used in place of the bench grinder?? I bet if an appropriate jig is fabricated or a even a bench vice is used to hold the knife steady, regular hand held grinders can be used to put the bevel on the knife blank. Though this will take much more time as compared to bench grinder.

Heat Treatment, Edge Sharpening will need some ideas too...

[brihacharan]

brihaji,

I guess the arc or plasma too will give only a rough profile, final finishing will have to be done by hand before putting it through the grinder/sander.

Correct me if I am wrong but the metal working part of knife making some what goes like this,
Knife blank-->Bevel grinding-->Heat Treatment-->Edge Sharpening.

So following the above, the first step i.e. blank making is the easiest for us.
Next up, for the bevel grinding, are there any hand tools that can be used in place of the bench grinder?? I bet if an appropriate jig is fabricated or a even a bench vice is used to hold the knife steady, regular hand held grinders can be used to put the bevel on the knife blank. Though this will take much more time as compared to bench grinder.

Heat Treatment, Edge Sharpening will need some ideas too...

Hi Kshitij,
> You're right in every aspect of blade making....
> But when we are considering "DIY" there are a lot of 'ifs' & 'buts' to the entire process....
> Blessed are those who have enough space & the tools of the trade! As city dwellers its a 'Pipe Dream'
> Hand cutting profiles is a back braking job on a 3mm steel strip....
> Beveling can be done with:
1.Bench grinder
2.Belt sander
3.Dremel
4.Angle grinder
> All that requires is a bench-vice - a steady hand & some basic skills & creativity....
> The difficult part is getting the blade 'heat treated', in metro cities no small scale or roadside foundry / forge shop is willing to help one out....the reasons are many as you probably know....
> The DIY videos show a blow torch (hand held) being used to temper the semi finished blade - I wonder if these are locally available here...

> There are Local made blow torches available (used by stove repair guys) which run on kerosene - but these have low thermai efficiency hence may not suit our purpose.
> Final sharpening can be done with either with a 'spyderco' or 'lansky' sharpeners...
> All I can say is that a hardcore DIY guy can achieve anything if he is bent on doing it, with a bit of innovation & plenty of elbow grease

Briha

[essdee1972]

No access to arc cutters or lasers. I use Dremel cutting wheels to cut. Then bench grinder, followed by filing, polishing the blade with different grits of sandpaper (100, 220, 400, 800, 1200, 2000), polishing the blade with buffing wheel attached to bench grinder, and finally sharpening on Spyderco or Lansky (I am lousy at free hand sharpening). My last successful attempt - Boker Bob Plus copy made from a blade used in carpenter's planes (randa in Hindi) - was not bevelled, as the blank was only 2.5 mm thick. No HT either, for reasons which Brihaji mentions.

I am now looking for donations (not loans) totalling to INR 2 crores. Simply to purchase a property with a small garden / lawn / terrace to carry on the DIYs!!!

[kshitij]

No access to arc cutters or lasers. I use Dremel cutting wheels to cut. Then bench grinder, followed by filing, polishing the blade with different grits of sandpaper (100, 220, 400, 800, 1200, 2000), polishing the blade with buffing wheel attached to bench grinder, and finally sharpening on Spyderco or Lansky (I am lousy at free hand sharpening). My last successful attempt - Boker Bob Plus copy made from a blade used in carpenter's planes (randa in Hindi) - was not bevelled, as the blank was only 2.5 mm thick. No HT either, for reasons which Brihaji mentions.

I am now looking for donations (not loans) totalling to INR 2 crores. Simply to purchase a property with a small garden / lawn / terrace to carry on the DIYs!!!

@essdee, we should meet in person soon. Maybe I can make you an offer you can not refuse!

[brihacharan]

I am now looking for donations (not loans) totalling to INR 2 crores. Simply to purchase a property with a small garden / lawn / terrace to carry on the DIYs!!!

Kshitij wrote....
@essdee, we should meet in person soon. Maybe I can make you an offer you can not refuse!

Count 1
essdee - This is on my wish list toooooo

Count 2
Kshitij, I am in the queue also
Briha

[kshitij]

brihaji, if it works out, it will be in interest of all knife lovers. You and me included

[brihacharan]

brihaji, if it works out, it will be in interest of all knife lovers. You and me included

Briha