Art of Knife Making

13 Best Knifemaking Tools for the Newbie

Making a knife demands design, adequate materials, and the right equipment. The proper tools will contribute to creating a durable handle and blade. It can be made at a small warehouse are at home with homemade or heavy equipment.

We have made a list of the top 13 tools that you need for knifemaking and a description of what they're used for.

1. Safety Equipment

The knives are sharp. Use heavy working gloves to protect the hands from getting cut or burnt. Wear the safety glasses to guard the eyes against steel dust and debris. Also, use a dust respirator that will keep you from inhaling harmful steel dust into the lungs. Plus, a work apron will protect the skin and clothes from being damaged by a tool.

2. Metal Files

They’re used to sand off any rough surfaces of metal once you’re done shaping it.

3. Bench Vise

A bench vise works as a third hand to hold the material that you're working on a place where you form it. The vise’s mouth faces upwards so that it’ll hold the blade up in the air, where it’s easy to get to.

4. Clamps

Like a bench vise, clamps are employed to hold your knife in place while you utilize it. The difference with clamps is that the blade is held out to the side, rather than up in the air. 

5. Hacksaw

The hacksaw is used to grind away steel to make the sharp side of the knife.

6. Grinding Abrasives

Rubber abrasive wheels, cones, points, and sticks all come handy when it comes to finishing work - blade fine grinding and polishing. A lineup of CRATEX rubber abrasives is imperative for knifemakers that want to add a final touch to their piece of art.

Loving me some @cratexsandiego today a tool maker can't live without this stuff.

7. Sand Paper

You'll need a variety of sandpapers' grits to shape the handle and to get the knife smooth, so that is comfy in hand.

8. Drill Press

The knife is held together with the pins. The drill press is used to drill the correct size of the hole for the bolts to fit securely inside.

9. Dremel

Dremel isn’t an essential tool but can be handy for cutting material, detail grinding, rust cleaning, jeweling, or customizing with mounted abrasive cones, small rubber or cut-off wheels, points and bits.

10. Forge

A forge is used to heat the steel so you can shape the knife the way you need it.

11. Angle Grinder

Angle grinder with right abrasive wheel is used to grind away the sharp side of the knife.

12. Belt Grinders

Reliable and heavy-duty belt grinders are a must in the artistic planet of knife making. Having a high-quality belt grinder for consistent output is the difference between a trash knife and a beautiful one.

The ideal belt grinder will also serve for sharpening other things, like axes, circular saw blades, and gardening trowels.

13. Whetstones

They are the best way to sharpen the knife once you have it made. There is variety of designs, grit ranges, and materials. Choose according to needs and knife material.

Step #1 Knife Sketching 

Use paper to design the blade’s shape. Hold it at 1:1 scale size for easy construction. The length of the blade is your choice. Large knives can be bulky and require a lot of steel.

Then, design the tang (a piece of the blade that attaches to the handle). The simplest technique is full tang. The tang will have the same thickness as the knife, and the handle is shaped by hooking a wood piece to each side with rivets. 

Step #2 Pick Tools and Steel

Skip stainless steel, since it must be sub-zero tempered and doesn't produce the fine blade. 1/8" thick carbon steel (01) is a fantastic knife making steel for creating a blade because it’s easy for drenching.

Wood is the perfect material for making a handle. But, you can create a handle with kirinite, G10, and micarta, also. These materials are ideal for knife making since they're waterproof.

Trace blade onto the slab with a marker. It’ll be the guide for cutting the steel. Ensure to outline the tang correctly, because the blade and tang are connected in one piece.

You can use a hacksaw, an angle grinder with CRATEX coarse abrasive, large wheel , grinder, vise, bandsaw, and drill.

Step #3 Cut the Steel

Take a hacksaw to cut a rectangle about the traced blade to separate it from the main slab. Use a stiffer hacksaw for thicker steel. Then, grind down the box to create the blade profile. 

Put the rough-cut blade into a vise and grind away excess steel. Employ the grinder to finish the blade shape. Now, smoothly grind the edge into a slope with the rubber abrasive wheels . Make the slope on each side of the blade, and you'll get the desired blade edge. 

Apply the same size drill bit as the rivets that you’re going to use. Put the holes in the tang. Sand the blade with finer grits of sandpaper. Sand out any scratches and all surfaces of the blade. It’ll increase its quality and shine.

Step #4 Blade Heat Treating

Keep it heating until the steel becomes orange. Hit lightly it against magnet to see if it's hot enough When the steel attains the right temp, it loses magnetic properties. Once it doesn't stick, let it cool by air.

Rerun this 3 times. Then drench it in the oil bath. Be cautious since there will be fire, so you must be protected appropriately. Once the blade is solidified, it can break if dropped, so be careful.

Set oven at 800 °F. Lay the blade on the middle rack and cook it for 60 minutes. When the time is up, a heat process is finished. Sand the blade using finer grits of paper and polish the blade for extra gleam.

Step #5 Make a Knife Handle

There are two components of a handle, one on each side. Cut and sand the parts synchronal to ensure that both sides are symmetrical.

Drill the holes for rivets. Put it in a vise and let it dry overnight. Place the rivets, leave about 0.125 inches and peen them using a ball-peen hammer and file them down. Finally, sand the handle.

Step #6 Testing

Cut down the paper. A properly sharpened blade should easily slice the paper into ribbons.

A knife is a tool with cutting edge and can use for different purposes such as hunting, combat, scouting, camping, hiking, and kitchen. It doesn't matter if you’ve found a knife in your old work box or unintentionally left your precious item outside, chances that your knife is pretty rusted are enormous. Rust may look like the sad end of the movie, but it’s possible to preserve your favorite knife using some of the methods below.

Once, you figure out how to remove rust, then you'll be capable of refreshing your knife look like a brand new. Here's a various range of techniques forremoving rust from blades.

Read this article carefully on how to remove rust off a knife with different methods and tools.

Removing Rust Using Rotary Tool

Choose an electric rotary tool, appropriate abrasives and a vice. For similar projects you can use Dremel hand rotary tool or bench lathe in combination with abrasive wheels.

Best abrasives for removing rust from knives are CRTAEX rubberized wheels. Wheels found their place in essential knifemaking tools for beginners. They are made from silicon carbide and premium rubber that is used for impregnation. Wheels come from 1 to 6 inch diameter. This means you can use them for small pocket knifes to big one with massive blade.

There are 4 grit sizes: coarse, medium, fine and extra fine. Start with medium grit to make sure not to damage knife. Fine and extra fine grits are perfect for final knife polishing.

Attach the small rubber abrasive wheel to Dremel. Pour oil to the rusted surface, for lubrication. Use rotary tool slowly and cautiously to avoid the blade damaging.

Set the knife in a vice grip, and use the small wheels with the short and precise movements. After that, replace medium or coarse rubber abrasive wheel with wheel in fine or extra fine grit size and continue with the same smooth short moves. Wipe the blade until it becomes shiny and polished.

This method is very efficient and gives instant results.

Be cautious and always use protective equipment when work with abrasives and rotary tools. Safety gloves, mask and eyeglasses are here to protect your body and lungs.

Removing Rust Using White Vinegar

Vinegar is available in all stores and it’s also efficient product for cleaning metal and steel items, so purchase a big bottle if you need for the task. Make sure to choose white vinegar, that contains an organic compound known as acetic acid which will take off the rust. Other sorts of vinegar may cause stains.

If you don’t need to soak the entire knife, you can pour a paper towel in the liquid and envelop it around the rusted area. Allow the blade to sit in for 5 minutes. It can't sit longer since it will damage the item surface. After the soaking, clean down your knife using dry cloth.

WD-40 Solution

This solution is suitable for a larger blade and a knife that won’t be applying for food preparation, because the spray can be toxic if it consumed. At the same time, that is the answer to the question: is rust on knife dangerous. Yes, using rusted knife can seriously jeopardize your health.

Still, using WD-40 it's a prompt and efficient solution of rust removal. Sprinkle the affected surfaces of the knife with spray and let it stay for couple of minutes. You’ll require to use fine sandpaper to tenderly remove the rust from the blade and get a knife without rust in several minutes. Simple as that. 

Baking Soda Process

If you don’t have it at home already, you can find baking soda in every grocery, and it can remove rust quickly and efficiently. Here're the instructions on how to remove rust from knives with baking soda. Use some water onto the surface you need to remove rust. Pour liberally an amount of baking soda onto the sprinkled surface. It should stick to the sprinkler parts.

Shake a bit, and the surplus will drop off. Sprinkle the scrubbing surface with some water and softly scrub the baking soda coated item. Now, when a considerable amount of soda has been dissolved, wet little more, if the blade has reamain rust. After, five minutes of cleaning, almost all rust disappears.

Onion Technique

Onion is food that provides removing of rust naturally and solves your issue on how to remove rust from kitchen knives. If you pull the blade back and forth into an onion, the rust will disappear quickly. This vegetable contains the sulfenic acids that eliminate rust.

Potato Method

Potato is another vegetable that helps to take off the rust from your blade. Key ingredients that provide rust removal is the oxalic acid. Just, put your knife into the potato for a couple of hours. When you take it off, clean the surface with oil and rust should gone.

Lemon Juice Solution

Lemon is one of the primary household supplies, and it's available in almost every kitchen. To start the process you’ll need a glass, lemon juice, and water.

Then, mix half of the hot water and half of the lemon juice in your glass, adequate to cover the metal blade, and submerge knife in. Leave it for 10 minutes. After ten minutes, take off your knife from the glass. The rust has disappeared, and you can wipe away the rusted surface with cloth. It is an excellent solution and answer on how does lemon juice remove rust from knives.

Toothbrush Tool

Take the used toothbrush to remove dirt and grease from your knife blade. Pour some glass washing detergent to the toothbrush and then apply it on the rusted surface. After you finish the process, wash away the soap, and dry the blade with a clean rag.

Eraser Sponge Remover

There is no need for any chemical usage with eraser sponge. Sprinkle it with a little water, and you can start with the scrubbing. Scrub the rust pits on your blade. Then, wash off the blade and dry it.

Non-Toxic Rust Solution

You can find non-toxic rust removal products in auto part stores and hardware. They are milder than the other acid-based chemical solutions that you can apply to remove rust. To use a non-toxic product, fill some of a remover into a bowl and submerge the blade in the solution.

Let it sit in the solution for a half hour. Then, pull it from a bowl and rinse off the excess product, clean the blade with a rag and dry.

Water Technique

Before you take off the rust, ensure that the blade is without dirt and oils. Hold your knife under some hot running water to remove it.

Run it patiently and slowly, to avoid any damaging of your knife. Apply regular water to remove rust spots. Prevent the water comes through the gaps between the blade and handle because it can make new rust stains. At the end of the action, dry your knife blade with a clean, soft cloth.

Coca-Cola Solution

Coca-Cola contains phosphoric acid that interacts with iron oxide to dissolve rust, and it’s a good instant solution to remove rust from stainless steel knives. You need a small bowl, coke can and aluminum foil wad. Pour the coke in a bowl. Then dip foil in the coke, take the wet foil from the cola and start scrubbing away the rusty spots from your blade surface. Rinse the knife and dry.

Calcium Lime Rust Cleaner

Calcium Lime Rust (CLR) Remover is a commercial cleaner that removes calcium, lime, and rust from any metal surface. It's usually using for remove surface rust stains from sinks, glass, bathtubs, but it can be applied to remove rust from a knife too.

First, immerse your blade directly into a pot with a mixture of half hot water and half CLR cleaner for about two minutes. Then, take the knife from the pan and rinse it with the cold water. Clean it with the gloves and dry the blade.

Preventing Rust on Knife Blades

Maybe, the worst attacker on the knife blade quality is rust. Despite the fact that the modern knives produced from high-quality materials, rust almost always find a way to your blade surface. Take care of blade to ensure that you don’t have issues with rust consistency.

Follow these tips on how to protect your knife from rust spots.

• Don’t let to your knife get wet, especially with salt water or any corrosive fluid;
• Don't store a dirty knife. You must clean it after every use;
• Always clean the gaps between knife handle and blade, because the dirt in that interspace can cause rust;
• Never store your knife in a dishwasher;
• Never leave your knives in the sink, water or outdoor;
• Wash your blades with soap and dry them immediately;
• Once in a while, clean your knife with a suitable oil.

Templates are very handy in getting a design from a piece of paper onto a bar of steel. Knife patterns are also great for making knife designs repeatable. If you have a template made of a durable material, you can make many copies of that knife and with very tight tolerances.

There are several types of patterns and you can make them with lots of different materials. First, you need to do is make a rough idea of knife design. When making templates you definitely don't have to settle on anything super specific, before it goes on the steel you can always modify the profile of the template after you cut it and get kind of a more visual and textural feel.

In this guide for the beginners, you're going to learn how to use knife patterns and knife sheath templates to achieve wanted result.

Knife Templates

If you’re making knives and want to make a bunch of the same model, you're going to keep a copy of it. The best way is to make knife templates to preserve your piece of art. Trace the next few tips on how to create knife templates with different materials. If you want free printable knife patterns, templates or any knife profiles in PDF or other suitable format visit Dcknives.Blogspot.

Tip #1 Paper Pattern

Start with a piece of paper and a pencil, ruler or some French curves and draw that design out on paper. Then scale that up or down by the copy machine till you get the size just right. At that point, it's time to make a pattern.

Stick paper to a piece of wood or plastic and then cut and drilled that out until you get a temporary pattern. This one would work for making a few knives, but it is not good solution for production type work, since the paper is flexible and less durable than steel.

Tip #2 Steel Template

You can repeat all this paper pattern making process with streel, and you can make Bowie knife patterns, Case knife patterns or Paracord knife handle patterns. Just, clamp and scribe that on a piece of steel and create a more permanent model.

Now, take some Dyke and just paint onto the steel. You could also use a marker to do the same sort of thing to darken it up. Then clamp it down, take a carbide scribe and scribe around the outside of the pattern, and that will make the outline. Take it over to the drill and drill into the steel. Drill in a tiny bit just to leave kind of an indentation where you’re going to drill the actual sized holes.

You can use 30 drill which is excellent for 8-inch thin material because it’s unlikely to use anything smaller than that.

You can even transfer the knife design template to the blade steel itself whether it's mild steel or high stainless carbon. It doesn't really matter.

Another way, take the actual cut out of the knife, whether it's just cut or design on CAD program or other drafting software. You can print that rough shape cut and use some spray adhesive to glue it directly onto the steel. The only consideration is if you plan to drip blade, as the steel will get pretty hot while profiling. You may want to put waterproofer over the top. And other products can be used  like hairspray that might work, instead of Duke.

It’s a definitely good idea to make patterns especially if you want to repeat design. Mild steel stays pretty consistency as far as moisture is concerned. You could use wood, but if it gets some wet you can get into the trouble. Mild steel is very cheap, stable, sturdy and lasts a long time. And you can easily scribe around its dozens if not hundreds of times, without compromising and the material itself. Unlike plastic or wood.

Tip #3 Plexiglass Pattern

If you have already made designs, you can keep them and go to the local hardware store and buy a piece of Plexiglass. Take the knife and clamp it to the Plexiglass and then take a scribe and scratch a line around it and cut it on either a wood cutting band or metal cutting band soil. Now drill the exact same holes in the templates. You can do with a Dremel rotary tool.

Knife Sheath Pattern

The sheath can make or break how the knife is carried and also the look of it. You don't want to just cut out of a piece the leather, fold it over and stitch it. You want to make a knife sheath template functional and esthetical at the same way. Follow these steps below and learn how to make a knife template and use that process to make the sheets however you want.

Step #1 Draw Template

Place the knife out on cardboard piece and trace around the blade as much of the handle as you want to cover with sheath. The template isn’t symmetrical, as the back of the sheath has an extension that will be folded down and stitched in place to create a loop through which belt will be threaded. This doesn’t have to be ideal.

Step #2 Cut and Compose Leather Knife Sheath Pattern

With a pair of scissors, do a rough cut to see how pattern looks when the knife is laid out.

Then fold the template in half along the line that will create the blade's back part of the sheath and trim the overlap, therefore the model is symmetrical.

Press the paper against the blade to see where it lies within the model.

Next, apply a little bit of adhesive tape to make the template the same 3D shape as your leather will be. It allows you to adjust now while it’s easier.

Then, trim back the template to even it out and give the handle a little more exposure. A little more trimming and you’ll be ready to cut out the actual sheath leather.

Cut the tape holding template together and flatten it out.

Step #3 Trace and Cut Leather

Place pattern onto the opposite side of leather and trace it. Since it's easier and sets up the belt loop, so the right side is facing forward. Ignore the belt loop section of the template and use it just as a guide to follow a long piece with a ruler to ensure it’s long enough and straight.

Cut leather using a rotary cutter but avoid cutting inside corners where the blade part of the sheath meets the belt loop, because you'll over-cut.

Step #4 Leather Forming

Wrap the knife with plenty of plastic wraps. Then use dishtowel, knife to be sheathed, a pan of hot tap water, and binder clips. Place the sheath part of leather in hot water for a few minutes. It’ll change color and bubble a little as the water seeps into the leather.

Then, put leather on the dishtowel and fold the towel over the leather and push down to dry and squeeze out the excess water. Lay the knife on leather and fold it over, forming it over the handle as you go. Using binder clips, clamp the leather in place and work the leather, so it forms naturally around the handle and blade. You can shape the leather with fingers, so it covers the handle. Set it aside to dry but check it every 5 minutes for the first half hour to be sure the leather is molding the way you want. When the leather becomes dry, remove the binder clips. A leather knife sheath pattern is ready for using.

Step #5 Sheath Trimming and Seam Stitching

Use the rotary cutter to cut the sheath to size by taking off the rough edges and trace the contour of the handle and blade. Then cut through 2 layers of leather that have been water-hardened so it'll need a little more pressure. Cut slowly and be careful.

After that, use a leather chisel, cut a low groove into the leather following the edge of the sheath stitch. Do this freehand or with a built-in guide chisel. Mark stitches in the groove using a tracing wheel. 6 holes by the inch are enough. If you don’t have a tracing wheel, run it freehand.

Then, put the sheath on a plastic cutting board and using stitching needle, create holes in the indentations that are made with tracing wheel. Use a small wooden hammer and tap stitching needle lightly. Once you have poked all holes, lift the top layer of the sheath, and do the same thing on the bottom, as stitching needle will create holes on the bottom layer too. If you don’t have a stitching needle, you can use an ice pick. Stitching needles work better since they make a small slot, not a hole.

Step #6 Final Touch

When you reach the top of the sheath, flip it and run from the bottom. The goal is to make a stitch that won't mess up, and with the groove in the leather, the sew is protected and sits even or below the leather surface. Tie knots, then sew needle in and out the end holes a few times, finishing by sewing the needle through one layer of leather and then pull tight. Cut the lacing level with the stitch, and it will be hidden.

Now you have your own made leather knife sheath.

Making a knife handle requires some time, and you’ll need some basic materials, but in reality, it’s not that hard at all.

Wooden Knife Handle

Wood is natural, warm to the touch, comfortable for holding, and durable material too. It’s everywhere and therefore is a perfect choice for making a knife handle.

Step #1 Scales’ tapping

Bond wood scales with solid double-sided tape, to feel and move like a single unit. This’s the most important part of the knife handle making since scales need to be stuck together.

Step #2 Scales’ marking

Use a blank sheet of paper and draw a sketch of your knife handle design. Cut the paper using scissors to create a knife handle template. Place knife handle pattern on the scale and trace it with a pen. Rerun it with another scale.

Step #3 Trace the handle slabs

Apply a thin marker and trace the original handle slabs.

Step #4 Shaping

With pattern traced out, cut wood with a hand saw. A hand saw is ideal since this is a slow and repetitive job.

Step #5 Smoothing

Once you make the knife handle shape, smooth it, using a belt sander paper following the line.

Step #6 Drilling

After the shaping, mark and drill the holes for the bolts. Then, sand again the wood. Now, sand it with sandpaper to make an elegant look and feel between fingers.

Step #7 Split the Wood Scales

Separate two wood scales and put bare knife cautiously.

Step #8 Gluing

With a little wood glue on the back of the scales, set them in place. Place them in a clamp and leave for a 24 hour.

Step #9 Final touch

Remove the handle from the clamp. Clean the handle with paste wax or other product if the wood will accept it. Use hardwood since it’s the best wood for knife handles.

G-10 Knife Handle

G-10 is a laminate made from fiberglass cloth layers, and it’s amazingly strong material. So, unlike more traditional materials like wood, it won’t break, chip, crack, or scratch easily.

Keep track of the next few instructions on how to make a G-10 knife handle.

Step #1 Prepare the Scales

Draw the handle design on the paper. Apply paper with handle design on the scales, trace it, and mark with the black magic marker since G-10 won't absorb the ink.

Step #2 Mark the Holes

Mark the holes you're going to drill on one side of the scales.

Step #3 Sanding, Drilling, and Gluing

Drill the holes in one scale, pour a drop of epoxy on the flattened inside surface, and glue the scales together. It ensures the scales will stay perfectly matched up as drill holes and do the rough shaping.

Step #4 Shaping

Shape the front of the scales with the file while they’re attached by the light epoxy bond.

Step #5 Put the Edge of the Blade

If the holes are drilled, and the rough shaping is finished, put the edge of the knife blade on the seam between the scales.

Step #6 Tracing, Cutting, and Gluing

Follow the handle shape onto the material, cut to rough shape, and then glue it using epoxy to the inside of the scales. If the material is dried, clean up the edges and drill through to fit the existing pin holes. A hand drill is great since as the holes in the scales will lead the bit.

Step #7 Assembling

Handle is ready for mounting. For pins, utilize two simple brass bolts. The key is that you can use the pins to clamp the scales in place by adding a nut and putting it down after using epoxy.

Step #8 Flushing of the Pins

Once the epoxy dries, take a file to clean the head of the bolt, the extra length of bolt body on the nut side, and pins will be completely level.

Step #9 Ultimate phase 

Clean knife handle and shape it to fit your hand. Do it slowly and double-check it until it feels as an extension of the hand. Work through sandpaper grits to get that final finish.