How to Make a Knife in 6 Steps - CRATEX

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.