What is the best knife to make? DIY hunting knives: manufacturing, drawings, photos and blade shape.

For every hunter, fisherman or tourist hunting knife is an essential tool to help you cope with any difficult task or situation that takes you by surprise. Of course, you can easily purchase it in a store, in the market, or order it from a local master. But it is unlikely to satisfy the needs of an experienced user. And the dubious quality of a serial product, most likely, will not allow opening a can, let alone solving more serious problems. Hunter knives self made They are of high quality and look great if you seriously approach the issue of their manufacture. However, as a product made and developed by oneself, a hunting knife can be a reason for pride.

Making a hunting knife

So the only one the right decision in order to acquire a really high-quality accessory, it remains to make it with your own hands, adapting it as much as possible to your needs. Do-it-yourself hunting knives can be made not only by a professional, but also by a simple amateur. To do this, it is enough to have minimal set tools. Moreover, getting detailed drawings of hunting knives will not be difficult. If necessary, you can make them yourself, for this you do not need to have any supernatural skills.

Blade making

How to make a hunting knife durable and beautiful at the same time? The first step in making this cutting accessory is finding the blade. It is not necessary to look for special steel for a hunting knife for this, especially since it is not so easy to get it. It is enough to find a finished blade, old or broken, and modify it. Refinement may consist in changing its shape, cutting a handle that is maximally adapted to the hand, and making a scabbard. But still, if steel for a hunting knife is found, then this blade will be the strongest and highest quality with a beautiful metallic luster.

Handle making

In the manufacture of the handle can be used various materials... For example, a wooden or ebonite handle can be very comfortable, but very vulnerable to impact or other physical impact. It is worth dropping such a knife on a hard surface, as the handle immediately shatters into pieces. The most durable knife handle can be obtained by casting it out of metal. Such a hunting knife will not be afraid of blows and falls, but even in a slight frost, it will simply freeze to the hand, not to mention large negative temperatures... Thus, accessories with very fragile or metal handles are not suitable for intensive use due to their impracticality.

Very often, good handmade hunting knives are obtained from the horns of some animals, but most often these are the horns of a deer or roe deer. Thanks to uneven surface horns, the knife lies well in the hand, which makes it as convenient as possible to use. In addition, this material is very durable and, despite this, easily lends itself to decorative processing, due to which you can give the handle a certain sophistication.

To get really strong hunting knives, the manufacture of the handle should start with the preparation of fiberglass, impregnating it epoxy resin... In terms of strength, this material is not inferior to metal, but, unlike it, it does not freeze and is very light. Also, textolite is suitable for the manufacture of this knife element. This material is non-rotting, non-flammable and very durable. But when using it to make a knife handle, you must use a single piece. Gluing various elements or gluing a handle from several component parts will lead to a loss of its strength and, as a result, fragility. In order not to have to remodel hunting knives with your own hands, you need to think over all the stages of making the handle in advance.

Stages of making a knife handle

Having a ready-made blade, you can start making a handle on it. To do this, the plate must be ground on an emery or a file to give it the shape of a future handle. Then, using pre-prepared thin blocks of solid wood, you should fix them to the handle with epoxy resin or glue. Next, you can wrap the glued bars with a cord impregnated with epoxy resin, or use a colored cloth tape for this. Winding should be done with maximum force so that air bubbles and excess epoxy glue come out.

To create a finger rest on the handle of a hunting knife, use the same material, but wind it in several layers. After the epoxy dries a little, the excess can be cut or removed with a file to give the final shape to the handle.

Smooth or embossed handle

If the task is to make an absolutely smooth surface of the handle, then at the final stage it should be tightly wrapped with a strong plastic wrap or it is good to grind the irregularities, and then polish them. If, on the contrary, the final version should be embossed or rough, then grains must be applied to the surface impregnated with epoxy resin river sand or another abrasive and leave the product to dry completely. When the resin is completely cured, the excess abrasive residue should be removed from the surface.

If the knife handle plate is much smaller than the intended handle, then it can be placed in a pre-prepared metal tube or hollow handle. The existing cavity can be further used to store various necessary little things, thus increasing the functionality of the product. For example, you can put threads and needles or matches there, but provided that the cavity is completely protected from moisture. It is impossible to know what situation you will find yourself in in the future.

Making a scabbard

Sheath as one of important elements good hunting knives are equipped with must meet certain functional requirements. The knife should not fall out of them, but should be firmly fixed and at the same time easily and easily accessible if necessary. The scabbard must be collapsible, which makes it possible to thoroughly clean it. With intensive use of the knife, dirt, food debris will settle in the sheath, creating an environment for the development of microorganisms and harmful bacteria. Non-collapsible ones are permissible for collectors and connoisseurs of aesthetic beauty, and not for practitioners who use a hunting knife almost every day. After all, it is, first of all, a tool, a means for cutting, planing and performing other important functions.

Stages of making a scabbard

To start making the scabbard, you should first prepare a wooden case for the knife. To do this, drill and grind a cavity in the workpiece that is strictly suitable for the size of the blade. From the same material, the lid should be cut out, corresponding in size to the first element. When juxtaposed, the two parts should form a one-piece cover. In order for the scabbard not to differ in style from a hunting knife, they must be trimmed with exactly the same coating. After the finish is finished, the component parts should be fastened together in several places with screws, best of all decorative.

Making a trench

The scabbard hangs on a belt with a special loop - a trainer. To make it, you can use shreds of leather, a thick lace, or a piece of sturdy rope. The size of the strap should correspond to the width of the belt and fit freely on it. It is attached to the inside of the scabbard. Can be glued with glue, epoxy or screwed. This does not really matter, it is important that the scabbard is firmly attached and does not get lost during movement. Do not make the tripod very long, as a knife too low will create inconvenience. A too short trainer will make it difficult to remove the weapon from the scabbard.

Additional accessories

For the greatest convenience and functionality, a knife sharpener is sometimes attached to the scabbard. It is necessary for long-term use of the tool. You can also make small secret pockets for storing various little things. You never know what may lie in wait far from home and civilization. You can also attach the signal mirror to the scabbard by pre-processing the cutting edges. Modification options depend on the characteristics and conditions of use of a handmade hunting knife. But do not be too zealous, as some adaptations may turn out to be completely useless.

When making a knife for the first time, even using well-drawn drawings and instructions, most likely, it will not be possible to avoid any oversights and shortcomings. But don't stop there. Each next self-made cutting assistant will be better than the previous one in functional terms and, taking into account all the past flaws, will not be able to compare with the analogue of factory production. Hunting knives, the manufacture of which is extremely thought out and not carried out in a hurry, must be of high quality and meet all the requirements necessary for the use of these products.

A hunting knife is a must for every hunter. First of all, it is used to finish off and butcher prey, but besides this, it remains a faithful assistant in a variety of hunting situations. Now on sale you can find a huge variety of models and modifications of blades. But, despite this, the need to make a knife for yourself may arise. This usually happens due to the inability to buy the desired blade, or instead of a loved one lost or broken, or seen from friends and liked, or there is no such knife on sale that you need.

Making a knife from a 9HF saw

In this article, we will not focus on the shape and design of the blade, the type and width of the sharpening, etc. We believe that finished project or we already have a sample and will focus on the production itself.

A homemade hunting knife, in order to meet the basic requirements for such blades, is recommended to be made from high-carbon alloy steels. For example:

9HF- tool alloy steel, used for the manufacture of frame, band and circular saws, punches, edged dies and a number of other tools. Usually, saw blades are taken as blanks;
R6M5- high-strength high-speed alloy steel. It is used for the manufacture of many types cutting tool, drills, saw circles, from the latter you can make a blank;
65G- spring steel, with high wear resistance, amenable to bluing and blackening. Springs, springs, gears, etc. are made. For blanks, in addition to sheets, rear springs of trucks are used. Considered one of the cheapest materials for knives;
X12, R3M3F2 and a number of others are also suitable.

Material for a workpiece can be taken from the above products, although now on the Internet you can order a plate for a workpiece made of almost any steel. Take a canvas as a recommendation. pendulum saw for metal, the usual dimensions are 400x30 mm, thickness 2 mm, the surface is rough, the color is black or gray.
If you want to make a homemade knife at home, in addition to the material for the blank, we will need:

Corner Sander(Bulgarian)
Cut-off wheels for alloy steel, for example inox A54S BF, sharpening and grinding.
Drill or drilling machine
Vise
Pobeditovoe and other special drills
Files and diamond file
Emery machine (highly desirable).

The knife making process will be as follows:

The knife handle can be wound with a paracord or made of wood, in the latter case we drill holes in the handle according to a template, according to a sample or drawing. Holes are drilled with special drills with accompanying oil cooling. It is more convenient to do this on a drilling machine.

To simplify the process, the holes are drilled first with small diameter drills, and then gradually reamed to the desired size.

Handle

Knives are designed with different handles. The choice of material for their manufacture depends on the purposes for which the knife is intended, ease of use and personal preferences of the owner. Below are two ways to make a knife handle at home.

Wrapping the handle with paracord in a few minutes

Using a paracord cord as a knife handle is not only easier and faster, but also more practical. You will always have a couple of meters of cord with you, which can be used for a variety of purposes, when surviving in extreme situations.

For winding we need:

cord, 2 - 2.5 m;
dense scotch tape or electrical tape;
lighter or matches;
scissors;
gloves;
screwdriver.

Before you start winding the cord, decide whether you need a loop for the lanyard and if so, where it will be, from the side of the blade near the stop or at the end of the handle. If it is available, in addition to the ability to hang the knife, in the first case, you can thread a thumb into it in order to more conveniently and more reliably hold the knife, in the second, you can take the knife out of its scabbard, etc.

Paracord is wound in this order:

We wet the cord, while it stretches better, and when it dries, it will not sit more solidly on the knife.
We glue the knife blade with tape or tape to avoid accidental cuts or cutting the cord. All operations are best performed with gloves.
We press one end of the cord on the head of the handle so that 10 cm remains free.
We form a loop from the cord, laid along the handle in such a way that the top of the loop protrudes a couple of centimeters beyond the cord winding zone.
Then, holding the knife in your left hand and pressing both ends of the loop with your thumb, right hand we begin to wind the cord around the handle, starting from its head.
We make the winding tight, turn to turn, do not tighten at all, take into account that the cord will still shrink after drying.
Having brought the winding to the stop at the blade, we pass the remaining end of the cord into the protruding part of the loop.
Cut off the excess cord, leaving about 3 - 5 cm, and burn the end of the cord.
After that, pulling the free end of the cord from the side of the handle head, we pull the loop under the winding until the end threaded into it disappears under the winding. Avoid pulling the loop completely, otherwise the whole winding will unravel.

The wrapping is complete. With this version of the winding loop under the lanyard, we will not have. If we want to form it, the winding is somewhat complicated. Initially, two loops are placed on the handle on both sides of the knife.

To form a loop under the lanyard on the headband of the knife, the end of the cord is pressed on the head of the handle and one loop is pulled to the blade, then the cord is thrown over the headband and the second loop is also placed on the other side. The winding starts from the headband of the knife. After finishing the winding, the remaining end is threaded into both loops near the blade and pulled under the winding by the loop in the headband, thereby forming it.

So that the loop is near the stop, we do everything the same, but on the contrary, we begin to lay and wind from the stop, in the same place we pull on the loop to tighten the clamped end under the winding.

Making an overhead handle as an alternative to paracord

If you are an adherent of the classics and want to make a regular handle, use wood for this purpose. It is more accessible, easier to work with, the wooden handle is more pleasant to the touch, does not get cold, slips less in the hand, and if handled correctly, does not take moisture. The handle of a knife can be made of oak, beech, maple, birch, walnut or mahogany. In order not to waste time and effort on preparing and drying wood, there are two easy ways get it. The first is parquet, you can buy it in special store, there, by the way, expensive varieties are sold by the piece. Second - old furniture, in the attic, in the garage, in the country, with friends, you can always find unnecessary household rubbish and use it.
For the handle, you need two dies, if you have a standard size arm, then 10 - 15 mm thick, this with a margin for processing, so that the thickness of the future handle is about 20 mm. The length of the blanks is 150 - 200 mm, so that there is a place for their fixation during the initial processing.

In addition to the tree, we need:

dowels made of aluminum, copper, brass, iron according to the number of holes, corresponding to the diameter;
drill with drills or drilling machine;
drills by the number of holes in the handle of the same diameter;
grinding or grinding machine, it can be replaced by a file on wood and a lot, a lot of time;
jigsaw or manual jigsaw, or see the previous point;
an engraving machine or file with a file;
emery cloth of different numbers down to the smallest;
epoxy glue;
linseed oil;
dense scotch tape or electrical tape;
vice, clamp.

We do the handle as follows:

Before starting work, wrap the knife blade with tape or duct tape to avoid accidental cuts.
The first step is drilling. We put the blank of the knife on a wooden block, press it with a clamp or, at the worst, fasten it with tape and drill holes. To make the hole neat, we first drill with a thin drill, and then we drill to the required diameter. After the first hole has been drilled, we insert a key or drill of the same diameter into it, this is done to fix it so that the die does not move. Let's move on to the next hole.
We drill the second die in the same way.
After drilling, we collect the dies on the knife, using dowels or drills, to make sure that all holes match.
Then, alternately attaching the dies to the knife using dowels or drills and clamps, we outline the contour of the handle along the contour of the knife. It is advisable to outline the handle with a small indent, 1 - 2 mm, for subsequent processing.
After marking, we cut out the handle with a jigsaw-jigsaw or grind it out on a grinding wheel, in extreme cases, a file in your hands.
Cooking the dowels. To make a homemade knife look aesthetically pleasing, we will not rivet the dowels, but glue them in. To do this, we make chaotic cuts on the dowels with an engraving machine or file, in which the glue will freeze and seize. At the ends of the dowels, we remove an inclined chamfer for 450.
Since after gluing it will be inconvenient to handle the stop cheeks, we finally process them and polish them on emery.
We carefully grind the halves of the handle on emery from the inside so that they fit snugly when glued to the plane of the knife shank.
Before gluing, we make the last test assembly.
The gluing itself is carried out according to the instructions for the glue. The assembly procedure is as follows, we lubricate inner side of one half, insert the dowels greased with glue into it, put a knife on them, and then the greased second half.
We clamp the assembled handle in a vice and remove the excess squeezed out glue. We leave the clamped handle for a day.
After the glue hardens with files, emery, a grinding wheel, and so on, we finally shape, grind and grind the knife handle.
When the handle is fully polished, it is time to soak. Soaking wood is best linseed oil... You can buy it in the shop for artists, they bred it. oil paints.
The handle is kept in oil for three days to a week. The process can be accelerated by boiling the handle in oil for a couple of hours, but you must strictly monitor the temperature, otherwise glue may leak.
Then the handle should dry out at natural temperature for about a month, during which time the oil will polymerize, and the wood will harden and become impervious to moisture.
After drying, the handle is finally polished with a soft cloth.

Sharpening for beginners

Before talking about sharpening a hunting knife, you need to recall that homemade knives made from the metals recommended in the article are very difficult and take a long time to sharpen, since the alloyed steels used have high hardness. This must be borne in mind when using the knife for other purposes.

Now about the sharpening itself. V living conditions knives are sharpened on special whetstones. Such stones are ceramic (the cheapest and most common), diamond, natural and Japanese sea stones. The principle of sharpening on them is approximately the same, therefore, in the future, by default, we will talk about the most common, ceramic sharpening stone.
In order to sharpen a knife with high quality, it is desirable to have either two whetstones of different grain sizes, or, more often, a whetstone whose sides have different grain sizes. For the convenience of sharpening, the size, or rather the length, of the stone should be greater than the length of the knife blade.

It is advisable to sharpen the knife with two hands, therefore, it is advisable to place the whetstone on a separate board fixing it either in a hollow specially cut for this, or with the help of six studs driven in on the sides.
The sharpening of the knife begins on the coarsest stone. At this stage, the whetstone need not be wetted. We place the stone on the table at random, the main thing is that it is convenient for you to sharpen on it.

The whole sharpening process consists in giving the edge of the blade an acute-angled shape. When performing it, you need to remember a few basic rules:

you need to choose the optimal angle of sharpening the knife and adhere to it throughout the entire process;
a knife is led along the stone with the blade forward, as if cutting off a thin layer from it;
in one movement it is necessary to carry out the entire edge of the blade for uniform sharpening;
the edge of the blade must always be perpendicular to the direction of travel;
each next time, the blade must be turned over and carried out with the other side, so as not to displace the center of the edge of the blade;
movements should be smooth, without pressure;
it is better to sharpen both sides with a unidirectional movement, either towards oneself or away from oneself, since the movement of the hand away from oneself is always worse and weaker than the movement towards oneself.

Now for the sharpening angle. It can be from 450 to 300, in the first case the knife will keep sharpening longer, in the second it will be sharper. It is better to sharpen a hunting knife just under 300, this is easy to achieve, just when sharpening, guide the knife as if you were cutting a thin slice of butter or cheese.

After you have turned in the initial sharpness, bringing out the angle of the edge of the blade, you can move on to a stone of less fineness. It is advisable to periodically moisten it with water so that the edge of the blade glides better, and metal dust did not clog the pores.
Final sharpen the blade to mirror shine and razor sharp, you can strap it on an old leather belt with GOI paste. main feature dressing with GOI paste consists in the fact that the knife is led back to the direction of the blade, i.e. butt forward.

Making a scabbard (cover) from leather

One of the essential accessories of a hunting knife is the scabbard. They are needed to protect the blade from dullness, and everything around from cuts and damage to things.

You can make a homemade scabbard yourself at home, from a small piece of leather about 3 mm thick.

To do this, in addition to leather, you will need:

scissors;
a sheet of thick paper for a template;
a pen;
awl (it can be replaced by a sharpened nail or carnations);
small carnations and a hammer;
universal glue;
fork;
paraffin candle;
fine emery or grinding machine;
nylon thread and one or two large needles;
pliers;
clasp-button;
wax or cream.

The procedure for making the cover will be as follows:

Making a template. Putting the blade of a knife to a sheet of paper, draw a line around it.
Then, around this contour with a centimeter indent, draw another contour, which will be the main one. Cut out the template along the outer contour. Separately, we cut out the T-shaped piece for the fastener, the width of the belts of which is about 20 mm, the length of the belts is measured by the handle of the knife.
We mark the details on the skin. Having applied the template to the skin, we circle the part for one side of the scabbard, then, moving the template to the side by 5 - 8 mm, we circle only one side to get the part for half the insert.
Then, turning the template over, we repeat the steps, outlining the second side and the second half of the insert. Apply and outline the T-piece of the clasp.
We take scissors and carefully cut out all the details from the leather.
Attaching to the knife, we try on all the details for a match.
We rub the ends of the insert on the fastener with paraffin candles, and then grind them on emery.
We attach the fastener to one half, and with the help of an awl and studs we outline and punch holes for the thread, in two rows.
Sew on the fastener, the thread can be pre-lubricated with paraffin.
For the convenience of subsequent sewing, we glue the parts together. Cut out the part from the template along the contour of the blade itself. We put this part on the half of the scabbard and coat it with glue around it so that the glue does not crawl out of the inserts. We glue according to the instructions on the tube. Lubricate and glue the inserts.
At the tip of the scabbard, between the inserts we cut a groove for ventilation.
We glue the second half. We put the scabbard under the press for a while for high-quality gluing.
We check how the knife enters and sits.
We process the edges of the scabbard on emery.
Using a fork, drawing two prongs along the edge of the scabbard, outline the contour for sewing. With a fork, we mark the places of the holes for the thread.
If you want, you can get confused by cutting a thread groove on the face of the scabbard so that it is flush with the skin. In this case, it will then need to be polished with wax or cream in the same color as the scabbard.
We punch holes for the thread with an awl.
We sew a cover. You can sew with one thread, or in two threads, threading them through the holes one by one.
We attach the clasp-button.
Finally, we grind and polish the scabbard with wax or cream.

The scabbard is ready.

Hunting knives are not just weapons for finishing off the beast. A good knife will easily cut the prey, remove the skin, help with the arrangement of the camp, and at the same time will "hold" the razor edge. There are special skinning knives, universal knives and butcher knives. What qualities are inherent in the best hunting knives? To do this, you need to delve into the history of hunting knives.

The first knives for hunting

The first hunting knives appeared in the Stone Age. Unlike daggers, which were made of horns and were not suitable for cutting prey, the most ancient hunting knives were made of flint and had a sharp cutting edge. Over the centuries, hunting tools have developed in parallel with military weapons, while their main difference has always been their versatility. Knives were used for cutting and sanding prey, for cooking. If necessary, the knife became a deadly weapon in skillful hands.

Over time, hunting knives began to differ from household knives. They began to be decorated, exquisite hunting weapons were presented to leaders and rulers as a sign of respect and reverence.

Fixed blade hunting knives

The best hunting knives are fixed blade knives. The choice of such a design is not accidental, the hunter's knife must be ready for work in any circumstances. Folding knives do not have this function. In addition to the fact that the folding knife must be opened, on impact, it can easily fold and injure your fingers. Due to the small size of the blade, folding knives are not suitable for protection from the beast. Nowadays, all-metal hunting knives with pads on the handle have appeared. This design is very reliable, and it is almost impossible to break it. However, hunters prefer classic models with mounted or through mounting of the blade. A good hunter will choose a more reliable through-blade fastening.

Folding hunting knife

Folding models of hunting knives were widespread in the USSR. Almost every hunter had a model equipped with a case extractor. Such a product was completely unsuitable for cutting, since the steel of the blade was of terrible quality. Gradually, these knives migrated to the sons of hunters, and the fathers returned to using traditional fixed knives.

There is an excellent Wenger folding hunting knife on the market, represented by the New Ranger Hunter model. This model is equipped with a bottle opener, corkscrew, saw and awl. The blade of the Wenger hunting knife is made of high quality stainless steel. Such a knife is useful for cooking and for small jobs in the camp.

Hunting knife blade shapes

Hunting knife blades have different shape, but the most common are:

Blades of the classic type. Once the most common type of blade. Over the centuries, all knives, from north to east, had this shape (in the east, however, it was quickly replaced by a curved shape);
Upswept point blades Such blades are found on hiding hunting knives, it cuts well, but is completely unsuitable for stabbing;
Spear point blades. Great for stabbing, but inconvenient to cut.
Drop point blades. One of the most comfortable and versatile blade shapes;
Сlip point. This form occupies an intermediate position between the third and second options;
Favorite by most hunters form "Pike". She's Bowie. Despite its formidable appearance, such a knife is only suitable for finishing off big game and for intimidating hooligans.

For hunting the best choice will be a knife with a blade of the classic type or drop point. They are capable of completing most hunting tasks.

National hunting knives

Every nation had national hunting knives. Some models are still popular and are used by hunters all over the world:

Finnish puukko knives. It is a small knife suitable for cutting and chores. Differs in the absence of a guard and a barrel-shaped birch handle. Not recommended for beginners due to traumatic handle;
Large Finnish leuku knives. This knife is used as a cleaver. They can cut brushwood and poles for a hut. If necessary, it turns into a formidable weapon;
The Yakut knife is the most unusual knife, leading its genealogy from the Stone Age. The shape is similar to a half of a large bone. Probably made from bone in the Stone Age;
Scandinavian knives. They differ from Finnish knives in the shape of the handle.

There are many more varieties of national knives, but they are not so common.

Metal for hunting knives

Steel for hunting knives is used in different ways. Starting from brand 45x13 to expensive powder and damask steel. There are two positions when choosing a steel for a knife blade. It should keep sharpness and at the same time be easy to edit:

Steel 45x13 is not recommended for a hunting knife, it is too soft, although it does not rust;
65x13 is often used for inexpensive blades. Sharpness is usually enough for one hunting trip, after which it requires sharpening;
95x18 are placed on the blades of knives of the middle price category. With good heat treatment, such a blade will cut two or three exits without dressing;
Tool steels provide excellent cutting properties. Unfortunately, they are prone to corrosion and require maintenance;
Damascus hunting knives show excellent results;
Damask knives cut even better than Damascus knives. Only in both variants, the properties depend on the composition of the package of steels used in boiling bulat and forging damask;
Powdered steels (modern equivalent of damask steel) have the best characteristics... Unfortunately, they are very expensive.

Hunting knife handles

Traditionally, natural materials are used for hunting knife handles. Wood, type-setting leather, horn, brass, copper. Handmade knives are made with handles from exotic tree(zebrano, amaranth, paduk, etc.) using titanium plates. Natural materials lie perfectly in the hand, and the leather typesetting handle does not freeze hands in winter.

DIY hunting knife

If you are interested in how to make a hunting knife with your own hands, first you need to decide on its shape and download your favorite drawing of the knife. The drawing must be carefully examined and the blade cut from the blank. You can try to forge it, but the first forging experience is unlikely to please you. Having cut the blade, you need to carve the descents. The drawing will help to make the desired geometry of the descents.

You can buy a ready-made blade and just "dress" it. A hole is drilled in the handle, where the blade shank is inserted. Don't forget the bolster. Without it, the blade will quickly loosen in the handle. The handle is given a shape that is comfortable for your hand, after which it must be impregnated with Danish Oil. After the oil is dry, the knife handle can be polished with carnauba or beeswax. Now you know how to make a hunting knife.

Sharpening hunting knives

Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to sharpen blades correctly. To sharpen high-quality steel of a hunting knife, it may take about an hour and a set of water stones of different grain sizes. To sharpen a knife with high quality, you need to strictly maintain the sharpening angle. Sharpening should be started with coarse sharpening stones gradually moving to finer grain size.

If you want to achieve a razor sharp blade so that it shaves off the hair on your arm, you need to sand the edge. For this on wooden block a piece of skin is attached, with the flesh outward. Rub the skin with GOI paste and grind the blade on this device.

If you find this sharpening process very difficult, you can purchase a knife sharpener. Just don't buy a cheap kitchen or electric sharpener. Only the Lansky or Apex Pro system can sharpen a knife to razor sharpness. If you feel sorry for money, you can buy a Chinese clone several times cheaper. Using such a system is as easy as shelling pears. The knife is clamped in special device that maintains the desired angle of sharpening of the blade, and a set of bars of different grain sizes will help you sharpen your hunting knife perfectly.

One of best models hunting knife - Roselli Hunting.

This is one of the most popular knife models of the Finnish company, founded by the blacksmith Heimo Roselli in 1974. The model is positioned as a knife for harsh conditions. The knife costs about 7000 rubles and is perfect for hunting. It is not worth going to the bear with him, but he is quite capable of solving other problems.

If you want to buy an inexpensive Swedish classic knife, there is nothing better than the classic series from Mora. These knives cost from 900 to 2000 rubles. For such a modest price, you get quality carbon steel and a birch handle. The cut quality is incredible for the money. Its only drawback is the risk of injury.

How to make a hunting knife?

If, after looking through the assortment of the store, the desired type and type of hunting blade was never found, then there is a way out! You can make a hunting knife at home with your own hands. To do this, you just need to allocate free time, be patient, read the instructions on how to make a hunting knife yourself and prepare necessary materials with tools.

The first step towards a new hunting knife with your own hands will be to determine the required type of future blade. For example, on www.mens-tema.ru/ the main types of knives for hunting are blades for cutting, for skinning and for striking. The main features of a hunting knife, which have formed over the centuries, are as follows:

blade with straight butt or blade allowed curved;
the edge of a hunting knife can be both cutting and stabbing;
the length of the blade must be at least 10 cm;
the blade must be made of stainless steel, since if moisture gets on the blade frequently, traces of corrosion may appear on its surface;
it makes sense to make the handle of wood or durable plastic with a rubber base so that your fingers do not slip when gripping the knife.

To make a neat hunting knife with an excellent balance with your own hands, you cannot do without specialized tools. For work you will need:

Drill and a set of drills of various diameters;
Sanding machine;
File;
Abrasive bars;
Grinding wheel;
Soldering iron.

As materials that will be required for making a hunting knife with your own hands, you should prepare a sheet of steel (65G, R6M5 and R3MZF2 are recommended) and wood or plastic for the handle. For homemade knife it is best, of course, to take wood, since it will be easier to work with. Walnut, maple, pear, mahogany, cherry or beech work well.

Next, you will need to prepare a drawing of a hunting knife and cut out a stencil that will help you create a blank using an emery machine. But a person who decides to make a hunting knife with his own hands should understand in advance that the procedure is long. It will be necessary to sharpen, grind irregularities, polish the blade, attach the sleeve and handle to it, which will need to be sharpened, given a shape that is comfortable to grip and polished.

At the last stage, if the desire to tinker still remains, you can make a simple cover out of leather so that the knife is kept clean and remains in perfect condition. But in the end, the hunter will have a very special blade, which he made for his needs with his own hand!

Article: How to make a hunting knife yourself?

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Hello fishermen and hunters, I present to your attention a strong, beautiful, high-quality knife that you can make with your own hands. Such a knife will be a great friend for you during tourism, hunting, fishing and other similar events. Despite the fact that the knife looks very high quality, it is not so difficult to make it with your own hands. You will need a minimum set of tools for this, the most difficult thing will be to perform grinding and polishing if you do not have a grinder, a grinder, and so on.

But for a knife to be strong and of high quality, you need to choose good steel for it. Unfortunately, the author did not indicate which steel grade he used. But nowadays you can buy a blank for a knife of any steel grade. The most important thing is that the steel contains enough carbon for hardening. By the way, good steel is used in old Soviet files, various cutters and other tools. So, let's take a closer look at how to make such a wonderful knife!

Materials and tools used

List of materials:
- carbon steel for the blade;
- wood for linings;
- sheet brass for the handle;
- brass or steel pins;
- epoxy adhesive.

Tool list:
- belt sander;
- orbital sander;
- grinder with cutting and grinding discs;
- grinder;
- drill or drilling machine;
- drill;
- hammer;
- sandpaper;
- Japanese water stone or other sharpening tool;
- forging furnace and quenching oil.

Knife making process:

Step one. Cut out the main rough profile
First, prepare raw material and apply a template to it. A ready-made template can be found on the Internet, for example, there are quite a few of them on the Pinterest resource. Scale the drawing properly and print it on a printer, then cut it out. You can cut a template out of cardboard, it will last for a long time, and you can also hold such a template in your hands and estimate how the future knife will look like.

Next, we transfer the template to the workpiece. For convenience, the author painted the "body" of the knife in green. If the template is made of paper, you can simply glue it to the workpiece. Let's start cutting, for these purposes the author used an ordinary grinder. We securely fasten the workpiece with a clamp. There should be no problems with straight lines, but you will have to try with bends. To cut the bends, make a series of cross-cut slots. After that, you can cut out pieces of metal in sectors. Of course, there will be a lot of uncut metal left, but now it can be easily removed.

Step two. Primary grinding
After cutting, we need to finish the contour of the blade. For these purposes, we go with a knife to the grinder, remove all unnecessary. We also walk along the contour on a belt sander. Bends can be easily processed using a drill with the appropriate attachment. The best way to do this is a sandpaper nozzle.

Step three. We form bevels
This is a very crucial moment in the processing of the blade. We need to form bevels, that is, the angle of sharpening of the blade. To begin with, we make the markup, for this the author uses a caliper. It is also necessary to divide the future blade into two halves, so it will be very convenient for you to grind off the metal on both sides of equal thickness. This line is usually drawn with a drill of the same diameter as the thickness of the blade.

To begin with, take a file and apply the end of the bevel on the blade. Well, then we arm ourselves with a grinder with a grinding attachment and remove excess metal. When everything is ready, we carry out a finer processing on a belt sander. At the end, we go through the bevel with files, grind with sandpaper and polish if desired.

Step four. We drill holes
We drill holes for the pins in the handle of the blade. The wider the handle, the more pins you need to install. The author decided to install 5 pins. We mark the places and drill holes. If the diameter of the holes is large, use a small diameter drill first. If the steel is hardened, a tungsten carbide drill may be needed to drill it. It is easier to drill steel if you lubricate the drill.

Step five. Tempering the blade
Now the blade can be hardened, for this you will need a blacksmith's furnace. In principle, you can simply blow up the coals with a household hair dryer, while the temperature can be more than sufficient. Usually carbon steel glows yellowish, with this glow it can be cooled in oil. But all brands have become different, as well as hardening methods, this must be remembered.
When the blade is hardened, the metal should not be filed. After that, they usually make another tempering of the metal, otherwise it will be very fragile.

When the blade cools down, we clean it of oil, usually they are washed under running water using detergents... Next, the author polished the blade with fine sandpaper to a shine.

Step six. Moving on to making a handle
The author has a combined handle, it consists of brass and wooden plates. First, let's start with the brass pads, for this you need sheet brass, from which we cut out four parts for the front and back of the handle. Brass is cut perfectly with a grinder. Next, drill holes for the pins in the linings, and now you can install them on the handle. This will allow you to adjust the product to the shape of the handle. You will need brass pins, as a result they will become one piece with the overlays. The pins should be of such a diameter that they enter the material with little force. After installing the pins, they need to be riveted.

Next, you can proceed to the wooden lining, for this, look for boards of suitable thickness. We cut the boards to the required length and drill holes for the pins. We install the pads themselves on epoxy glue, this is the key to their reliable fastening. As for the pins, for these purposes the author decided to use steel pins, ordinary nails are suitable for such purposes. There is no need to rivet these pins, as we have everything on glue. Pull the pads together with clamps and let the adhesive dry completely.

Step seven. Grinding the handle
When the glue is dry, the handle can be processed. To do this, first cut off the pins, this can be done with a hacksaw or a file. Next, we go to the grinder and grind the planes, everything should be on the same level. You can also grind the handle to some extent and along the contour.

Now we will have those places where we could not crawl with a grinder. To process them, the author uses a drill. An emery paper nozzle copes with this task perfectly.

Step eight. Finishing
Finally, we put a polishing attachment on the drill and polish the brass to a golden shine. Similarly, we pass this nozzle along the contour. If some areas cannot be polished, they still need to be finished by hand with very fine sandpaper. Well, then polish the wood part or the entire knife on a polishing machine, if desired. When the pen is ready, apply oil to it. This will protect the wood from moisture and the brass will not oxidize.

The final stage will be sharpening the blade. The author does this using Japanese water stone. You will need stones of different grain sizes, from coarse to fine. In order for these stones to work, they need to be watered with water, so they are cleared of dirt. The knife can be sharpened to a blade condition.
That's all, the masterpiece of art is ready! Our knife is strong, beautiful and very useful. I hope you enjoyed the project. Good luck and creative inspiration!