A knife is one of the most useful items in a house, and there is practically no kitchen that you are going to enter without seeing one or more knives. It helps cut fruits, vegetables, and other food materials – it is almost inconceivable to think of a kitchen with no knives.
Most people have to visit a kitchen store to buy a knife when they need one. But do you know that you can make your knife right from the comfort of your own home? This piece is going to outline precisely how you can do that.
Step 1: The Design and Cutting of Steel
The initial step you have to take is decide the design you will need for the knife. You can base your design on any of the other regular kitchen knives. You can also introduce some changes like with the tip or the curves. You can also choose to make use of rosewood or plastic for the handle. Sketch the design for your knife on a jotter or pad. It is good that you do a full-scale scale of the blade to ensure how the final piece will look. Make sure you get everything correctly, especially the handle and tip.
The kind of metal you are going to use will also be quite significant. Once you are through with the design, get your wood or steel. You can order online but make sure you are ordering precisely what you need. FastMetals has carbon steel for sale for your metalworking projects.
Before making use of the tools, you must wear eye goggles, ear protection, and even a mask or ventilator. It is also imperative that you get a pair of strong welding gloves since you will be handling hot steel and some very sharp edges.
Cut your blade using a regular hand-held angle grinder that comes with a cutoff wheel. But take caution as steel burns, and you should prevent that. When you are cutting, sanding, or grinding the steel, keep a bowl of water close to you so you can dip the entire knife in it during the process. This dipping in water should be done frequently, so you end up with a blade of the best quality. At this point, it will take the shape of a knife, but you have to work on it.
Step 2: Sanding and Smoothing the Rough Cut
This is the stage where you get to clean up all the cuts and put everything in shape. It is a crucial step to getting the final shape of the knife. Use a belt sander that has been clamped to the workbench. For cleaning up the handle alongside the blade’s back edge, make use of a drum sander bit placed on a drill press. You will also need a bench-top grinder and a sanding drum.
Step 3: Getting the Edge Done
The edge is the lower part of the blade, which is not the handle. To clarify, the handle is the section you hold on to while the blade is everything else from the handle will. The edge is the lower section of the blade, and it can cut you. The spine is the upper portion of the blade and it is opposite the border, while the scales are the pieces of wood that fix the metal in the handle while also providing some surface to grip on to by the user. Do the edges based on the dimensions that you have sketched out earlier on the pad.
Step 4: Getting the Scales Done
The scales are made from wood, and you have to follow the dimensions you have in your sketch pad. Take good care to be precise and accurate with your cutting and do the same when sanding the cut scales.
Step 5: Doing Knife Balancing
This is not an obligatory step, but it may be needed based on the shape of the knife you want to adopt. There has to be sufficient metal in the handle for the optimal balance of the knife. It is good if the knives balance at the point where the handle links up with the blade.
If you want to adjust the center of gravity, there may be the need to include some metal in the scales’ cavities. But it should be done in a way that the cavities do not form obstruction for the pins.
Step 6: Heat Treatment of the Blade
Heat treating the piece is essential and you should do it in line with the chemical composition of the steel that you are working with. For the hardening, it is essential to heat the steel to around 1500 degrees F, then you proceed to cool it swiftly. Heating changes the structure of the steel and by cooling it with speed, you get to have the design fixed in place.
Step 7: Completing the Edge, Buffing, Sanding, Polishing of Blade and Finishing
The essence of this stage is to properly refine all the worn parts so you can get it as sharp as you want. As you are approaching an almost sharp edge, you can proceed with the sanding of the blade. Whenever you are sanding or polishing the knife, focus on the handle section that links up with the edge.
With the sanding and polishing complete, proceed to assemble the handle and sanding of the scales. Seal the scales using oil finish and polyurethane. The sealing’s essence is to make sure the scales remain waterproof while also bringing out the proper appearance of the natural grain of the wood material you are using.
Use a microfiber fabric to clean the piece before you commence your staining or sealing. The last round of the entire process is sharpening the blade; then, you test the knife by cutting up some meat or vegetables!
