Making a knife from a file with your own hands at home. We make it with our own hands: a knife from a file Drawings of knives from a file

The market for knives is quite extensive, but the desire to make a knife from a file with your own hands quite often appears among home craftsmen. The reasons are that there is a convenient workpiece with high hardness and strength.

Having an old file on hand, you can try to make a steel helper out of it for work, hunting, fishing and for home use.

Advantages and disadvantages

Before you begin, it is advisable to consider the positive and negative characteristics of the product. The obvious advantages should be recognized:

high hardness of the metal used;
the workpiece can have a very different shape, so the finished knife can be given any suitable look;
if the thickness of the blade at the butt is more than 6 mm, the finished knife is not recognized as a bladed weapon;
The blade holds its edge for a long time.

Unfortunately, there are also disadvantages:

A rather labor-intensive process, it is necessary to perform a number of heat treatment operations, as well as metal removal. It will take quite a lot of time to make the handle.
The metal is quite fragile; if the load is applied unsuccessfully or if there is an impact, chipping occurs and breakage is possible.

As can be seen from the presented analysis, a knife made from a file has its pros and cons.

Where to begin?

A homemade knife can be made according to different designs and purposes for:

home use for cooking;

Knife for home use. It is distinguished by its small size and comfortable handle.

applications in wood processing and production of wood and plastic blanks;

Knife for utility purposes. It has a small blade and a comfortable handle. Such products are used in DIY workshops.

hunting and fishing, cutting game and poultry, cleaning fish before salting and other work outside the home;

There is a convenient sheath. With the help of such a product, while away from home, you can perform preparatory work, refresh the carcass and gut the fish before salting.

sports use, for example, throwing at a target with and without turnover;

Throwing knives. Diamond-shaped files were used for them. Part of the handle is welded from other blanks. The handle is wrapped with steam cord (special twine).

protection from attack (use on the verge of legislation);

Knife for protection. It is distinguished by the presence of a bolster with an emphasis. It is difficult to perform any work with such a tool.

gift or souvenir with appropriate design.

Options for gift knives in wooden sheaths.

You should decide on the shape of the future product, dimensions and additional options.

Brief characteristics of the feedstock

When choosing a target, the shape of the file must also be taken into account. They are released:

Flat, which allows you to process the surface of flat and convex parts.
Triangular - using a similar tool, they sharpen or process grooves, recesses and cut teeth.
Diamond-shaped ones are most often used by toolmakers. Such files are used for removing metal in difficult places.
Skilled craftsmen use rounds to machine holes and concave surfaces.
Needle files are used to fine-tune miniature products.

When selecting a workpiece from which you want to make a knife, you need to pay attention to the size of the tooth. There are tools with large teeth, they use U8 or U9 carbon steel.

For files with small teeth and small cuts, steel U10 or U11 is used. Here the number indicates the presence of carbon, expressed in tenths of a percent. Such materials after heat treatment are characterized by high hardness, HRC 58...64.

If you have a tool manufactured in China, then you may not use carbon tool steels, but bearing steels or complex alloys alloyed with manganese and chromium. They are distinguished by an average hardness value, HRC 40...55.

Attention! There may be files in which only the outer surface is chrome-plated. It can reach up to HRC 54…58. When performing work, the applied layer may wear off, and below there will be metal that may belong to the class of structural steel.

What does a knife consist of?

It is customary to distinguish the components of a knife:

The blade, this part is subject to special requirements for strength, wear resistance and sharpness.

The blade of the future product.

The handle is needed for comfortable holding of the product. The design can be very different. They produce typesetting, wooden plastic and other types of handles.

Collapsible handle. The blade, bolster, handle base, and nut are visible.

Removable handle for the original knife.

Typesetting pen.

Bolster is an auxiliary element with which the handle is connected to the blade. He can be persistent and unrelenting. The stop prevents the fingers from moving when delivering a direct thrust.

Bolster is unstoppable.

Bolster is persistent.

The sheath is included with portable products. In some designs, they are made with special devices for cutting wire; more often, only one function is assumed - the convenience of wearing on the belt or on the hip. Sheath options are available for carrying the knife on the chest or in shoes.

Leather scabbard.

Deep sheath without fixing strap.

Tools to get the job done

To get started, you need to have certain tools and devices on hand.

New files will be used to give the desired profile to the future product. You will be working with steel, so it is convenient to use a tool with coarse and fine notches.
Whetstones for sharpening blades. A lot of work will have to be done removing some of the metal on the descents. Large grain bars are used here. Fine grinding is performed with fine grain stones.
The sharpening machine will help, if necessary, to sharpen the edges and give the overall shape.
A grinder is not necessary, but if you have one, it is much easier to give the knife a special shine.
An angle grinder (angle grinder) with cutting and sharpening wheels will help you perform work related to metal removal.
A forge or muffle furnace is used for annealing, hardening and tempering. Heat treatment helps to give the material the necessary properties.
Drilling equipment: A machine or electric drill is useful for drilling holes in the right places.
Sandpaper, GOI paste, polishing wheels are used to bring the blades to a mirror shine.
Measuring tools, pencils, and scribers are needed to draw the shape and mark the workpieces in the process of preparing the workpiece.
Masking tape is used by craftsmen to hold the product by the blade while working on the handle. For a while, you can seal individual fragments with it, protecting them from damage.
Epoxy glue, mineral and vegetable oils are used to glue the cheeks of the handle and give it a richer look.
Welding equipment and thread cutting tools will help you make original handles.
Leather and thread, punching devices are useful for sheaths.
Brass or steel (stainless steel) rivets will help give a special style to the future product.

Getting started (firing)

Making a knife from a file begins with preparatory work. To make it easier to process hardened steel, its hardness is reduced. In practice, the workpiece is fired.

Based on the study of the properties of steel, it was established that there is a temperature at which the properties of the metal change dramatically. This process was called austenitic transformation. It occurs at temperatures above 728 ⁰C. The structure of the iron-carbon alloy changes. The steel stops responding to the magnet.

Attention! Many people believe that they have reached the required temperature and can proceed to cooling. In fact, the workpiece needs to be heated for 15...25 minutes. The process must take place throughout the entire thickness of the metal.

In order for the resulting large grain to be preserved, it is necessary to slowly cool the workpieces. Therefore, turn off the power and the oven slowly cools down.

Firing in a muffle furnace. Typically, such devices are equipped with thermometers that help determine the heating temperature inside.

If there is no furnace, then you can make a simple forge in which firing is carried out.

The stove is made of brick and must be equipped with a blower (you can use a regular vacuum cleaner to supply air).
Light the coals and place the workpiece in them.
By supplying air, they create intense combustion.
When the workpiece is heated to a bright red glow, the condition is checked. They bring a magnet on a long wire and check its reaction to the metal.
If the magnet does not react, then maintain intense combustion for another 15 minutes.
Allow the coal to burn to the end, the entire oven should cool to a state where the workpiece can be removed with your hands (with gloves).

Firing in a conventional oven.

Attention! It is possible to create a product without heat treatment. However, when doing work, it is easy to burn through the metal and tempering will occur.

Step by step guide

You can make a knife from a file at home if you follow the algorithm presented below.

First, it is advisable to take a sheet of paper and try to draw options for the future knife.

If the workpiece is long enough, the handle will be machined from the main part of the file. If a short file is used, then a triangular shank is used for the handle. Sometimes a threaded rod is welded to it. Then it is possible to make a composite handle from colored plexiglass.

The drawn outline of the future product is glued to the workpiece using PVA glue. The species is assessed. At this stage, you can make adjustments, change the shape and the ratio between the length of the blade and the handle.

Using a marker, it is easy to draw lines along the pasted contour along which the excess metal will be cut off.

After firing, the remaining metal residues that remained after using the tool burned off the surface. The contours left by the marker on the surface are visible quite clearly.

The workpiece is fixed in a vice. Now the excess metal can be cut off with a cutting disc mounted on an angle grinder. If the metal is annealed, then it is even better to use a jigsaw. Then less metal will have to be turned into sawdust. You can cut along the contour.

Having cut off the main part of the metal, you can compare the correspondence of the workpiece in metal and the drawing on paper.

The grinder is especially convenient for work. The presence of a cylindrical part allows you to carefully process the depressions.

The blade is processed on the flat part of the grinder. Using this tool, the desired shape of the product is achieved.

So that the lines left by the scriber can be seen during operation, the end of the blade is blackened. When forming descents, you will have to focus on the planes reaching “zero”.

The contour of the slopes is drawn on the future knife. Most knives use a single-sided sharpening. Therefore, descents are planned only on the main cutting part. Options are possible when a product with two slopes is being worked on. Then the marking will differ from the picture presented.

To better see the difference between the treated surface and the base one, it’s easy to blacken the metal using vinegar essence. It should be borne in mind that the blackening process is quite fast, so it will take no more than 15 minutes to obtain noticeable differences from the original color.

The slopes are turned on a special machine. Its design will be shown below. It can be seen that the desired surface on the knife blade has been obtained. If necessary, it is easy to sharpen the knife.

The slopes are processed on both sides. Their shape corresponds to the accepted drawing.

Aluminum tubes were purchased to attach the overhead cheeks. They will serve as decorative rivets.

Beech board has an interesting texture. After processing, the hard wood will serve as a high-quality handle.

To obtain the required hardness, hardening is performed. To do this, the workpiece was heated to a temperature of 850 ⁰C. We kept it at this high temperature for 15 minutes. Then they quickly took it out and hardened it in mineral oil. To remove residual stresses, low tempering was carried out at a temperature of 200 ⁰C. The workpiece was kept for 10 minutes in a heated oven, and then allowed to cool in air.

To install the rivets, we had to drill holes with a diameter of 6 mm for them.

Many people like a blued blade. The bluing operation is being carried out. Acetic acid with a strength of 9% is used.

The outline of future false cheeks is drawn on wooden blanks.

Cutting is done on a band saw. If the master does not have such a machine in his arsenal, then you can use a jigsaw.

There are cheeks. They still have to be drilled and then processed. Only then will a product be obtained that will satisfy the user.

By inserting the rivets, you can grind both cheeks together. In this case, they are processed simultaneously. This results in a very good surface treatment.

Rough assembly completed. Now the non-working part of the blade and handle is grinded. It is necessary to level the surface of all parts.

Rounded shapes are given. It will be a pleasure to pick up such a pen.

The customer wanted to see a cool knife with cut serrations, so markings were made for future serrations.

When working on the handle, you need to protect your hands from injury. The blade is wrapped with paper and electrical tape.

It’s better to try it on several times than to redo it later. Another rough assembly of the product.

A working solution was prepared by mixing epoxy resin and hardener. Surfaces are greased. It remains to wait for polymerization. To press the cheeks more tightly to the metal, clamps are used.

Attention! Before gluing, the metal surface in the gluing area is degreased.

After polymerization, the vice is removed. You need to cut off the excess from the rivets. At the same time, the surface of the handle is polished. Excess epoxy glue is removed.

Impregnation with oil-based varnish better reveals the grain of the wood. She looks much more attractive. Tinting enhances the internal pattern.

A typical beech tree. The texture looks quite attractive.

When working with varnishes, be sure to wear latex gloves. Then the master’s hands will remain undamaged. Safety comes first.

The sheath is made of leatherette. Wide stitches provide additional decoration. There is a strap for belt fastening. The knife can be worn on a trouser belt.

Finally, the product acquired a marketable appearance. This knife can be given as a gift or used in household chores.

How to make descents

Often, novice craftsmen who are just mastering the intricacies of craftsmanship do not know how best to make descents. If forging is involved in the manufacture of the blade, then it helps to form the vanishing surface from the width of the butt to the cutting edge.

But for such processing you need to have a forge in which the part will be heated. You will need an anvil and a hammer. Few workshops have such extensive equipment.

For stitching, use devices that can be attached to a circle.

A device for uniformly grinding knife edges.

There is an emphasis. It is needed for smooth movement relative to the grinding wheel. A vice is installed on the extension handle. The blade is clamped in them.

When working, you need to slowly move the blade over the stone. Uniform grinding at a constant angle will occur.

The final processing of slopes is carried out using abrasive stones.

Machine for final finishing of slopes.

There are special vices. The blade is attached to them. A series of holes are drilled in the vertical post of the vise to ensure that the specified angle of descent is obtained. An abrasive block is attached to the holder. All that remains is to move the block along the surface from left to right and vice versa. By pressing the tool against the product, they actively remove excess metal.

Finishing is done using GOI paste. The block is removed and a flat fabric-covered support is installed in the cage. All that remains is to achieve a mirror-like shine of the blade with consistent movements.

Video: a simple complex knife made from a file.

Conclusion

It is not difficult to make a knife with a hard and durable blade from a file.

Most people cannot understand why nowadays you need to turn a knife out of a file with your own hands, because you can buy a ready-made one. A good, high-quality knife will be very expensive, but a rusty, old file can always be found. How to make a knife from a file? Anyone who is at least a little familiar with plumbing can turn it at home.

You just need to follow the manufacturing technology. How to turn it, and what tools and materials may be needed for this? What will be the order of operations, all this will be discussed in this article. A knife can become not only a necessary tool, but also a pleasant gift for every man.

Preparation of materials

Heat treatment of the workpiece

Knife making, hardening and tempering

Once the file steel has been tempered, it can be shaped into the desired shape. The workpiece should be clamped in a vice and, using a grinder, cut off everything unnecessary, then sharpen the knife with a coarse-grained wheel on a sharpening machine. If the overhead plates will serve as a handle, then to attach them to the knife it is worth drilling holes for the rivets. After this, you can begin hardening. Heat the steel to a bright red color, and the heating of the blade should be uniform, with the exception of the beginning of the blade. At this point the workpiece should glow white hot. What degree of heating the handle will be does not matter much.

A magnet is a good indicator of heating. Only after the magnet stops reacting to the heated metal can you begin to cool it. To do this, take the hot workpiece with pliers and place it in a container with water. If the metal is hardened correctly, then the blade will leave scratches on the glass.

But it should be noted that a large internal stress is created in the metal, and during future sharpening it may begin to crumble. To avoid this unpleasant moment, the knife blade is released. This helps relieve internal tension; just put the workpiece in the oven and hold it in it for 2 hours at 200 degrees. Remove the workpiece after the oven has cooled completely.

Processing the blade and handle attachment

After all thermal work has been completed, grinding of the blade and installation of the handle begins. To keep the knife blade smooth, we successively treat it with a wire brush, sandpaper, and finally with a felt wheel. To prevent the blade from rusting, it should be etched. To do this, place the blade in ferric chloride, as a result of which it will be covered with a protective film of gray color and will have a matte tint. If there is no ferric chloride, it can be replaced with vinegar or raw potatoes, which are grated. This film protects the blade well and reliably from rust and scratches.

If you use a deer antler for the handle, you should simply place it on the shank of the workpiece through a longitudinal hole. Epoxy resin is first poured into such a hole. The typesetting handle is assembled and clamped onto the thread for tightness. Leather belts are wound tightly, pre-lubricated with special leather glue. Bone or wood overlays are secured with rivets and reinforced with epoxy resin.

Lastly, the knife should be sharpened well. Sharpening should be done manually; the sharpening machine can overheat the blade, which will greatly deteriorate the quality. For such purposes, it is best to use an abrasive stone. If you make a knife correctly, it can cut wood, leather, and thin metal well. It is also possible to make a dagger from a file with your own hands.

DIY file knife video.

To obtain the necessary characteristics of a file knife, you should draw a sketch of it on thick paper. This will allow you to make the most accurate edging of the workpiece.

It is better to take the tool itself with a worn notch. The file is made of high carbon steel, so the knife will cut well without constant sharpening. You can use another metal and then harden it.

Advantages and disadvantages

Making a knife from a file yourself may seem impractical, since there are a large number of finished products on the market. But such a tool will give odds to most of its factory counterparts. It will also be completely unique. To make the blade hard and of high quality, you should choose only high-carbon steel for the workpiece.

There are several disadvantages to making a knife from a file.:

The process of creating a tool is very labor-intensive. A person is required to pay great attention to technical details. Errors in work must not be made, otherwise the workpiece may simply deteriorate.
A file cannot be used to make a flexible product. Such steel has a structure that can crumble under lateral loads.

But a homemade knife made from a file also has its undeniable advantages. They are contained in the selected workpiece. Main advantages:

The material is very durable and strong. This gives the master confidence when performing any work.
A file is a thing accessible to everyone. It can be found in almost any home. The manufacturing process completely pays for the cost of an expensive product.

You can even be proud of a knife of your own production if it turns out to be of high quality and beautiful. If you follow all the instructions, manufacturing will not cause any particular difficulties.

General characteristics

If you know what steel files are made from, you can understand why they are used as blanks for making homemade knives. The grinding tool is made from high-carbon steel (U10A, X12M).

The large amount of carbon in the alloy allows the material to be hardened to 66 Rockwell units. This gives the product high strength, so making a knife from a file would be the best solution.

Craftsmen produce high-quality knives from such blanks:

Metal drills. But here you need to remember that only the working part is subjected to hardening.

Piston connecting rod.

Springs.

File.

Socket wrench.

To professionally make a finca, the material must be pre-forged. It is most convenient to do this with a file, since it has a suitable shape. Forging makes the metal more elastic.
The thickness of the file is too large, so it is necessary to remove some of the metal to be able to form the descent. Forging work does not involve removing a layer of metal, but creating a different shape. Forging takes much less time than making a workpiece on a machine.

Forging metal before work

If a person has experience and the appropriate equipment, he can easily create a professional product. But the question arises about the need to perform forging, because the workpiece already has a suitable shape.
Forging is needed for the following reasons:

The metal will become harder and more elastic.

The workpiece is too thick, which makes it necessary to remove part of the metal during the formation of the slopes. Forging removes this requirement.

The final processing will take much less time.

This process also allows you to remove notches. Of course, this is not necessary, because this way the product becomes more original.

When there is no special equipment, the product can be made without forging. If you use quality material, the result will be an excellent blade. There are a lot of Chinese instruments on the market today. It is advisable to use Soviet-made files, but finding them is not so easy.

Testing metal is fairly easy. It is necessary to clamp one edge of the future workpiece in a vice, and hit the second one hard with a hammer. If the product is hardened, it will break. The alloyed file will bend only slightly. You can also use a sharpening machine to check. If the sparks are short, then the metal is highly alloyed. But you still have to carry out heat treatment.

Firing the workpiece

The first step is to fire the tool. The ideal option is to keep the workpiece for 5 hours in a burning stove. The material should cool slowly. You can also use a regular stove. But you need to remember that this is not a recommendation, but a way out.

The essence of firing is to heat and hold the steel at a temperature of at least 600 degrees Celsius, and then allow it to cool slowly. You can also burn only the part that will be used as a blade in the future.

A home gas stove has a low temperature, which means you will have to build a heat shield. This is done quite simply: you need to create a hill above the workpiece from bolts and nuts, and place a metal plate on it. This way you can reduce the temperature dissipation into the environment, which will increase the heating of the file itself.

It is important to use salt as an indicator. If it melts during firing, everything went well, but if not, then the temperature was too low. In this case, you will have to repeat the process. The pink color should be maintained for 4 hours (minimum duration).

The temperature must be reduced very slowly. First you need to reduce the combustion by about 25%. After some time, reduce it a little more. This is repeated until it cools completely. If the steel cools quickly, it will simply crumble.

Manufacturing of the cutting part

The shape of the blade can be absolutely any. It is selected based on the scope of application.

Main types:

A straight blade made in the shape of a triangle. This shape allows it to perfectly withstand loads from uniform impacts. Also has good cutting resistance.

Concave. This form is not able to withstand large mechanical loads. The deeper you go, the higher the resistance becomes.

Convex lens. These knives are essential for heavy duty work.

The next stage begins after the product has cooled. It needs to be handled carefully. The process consists of the following stages:

Using a hacksaw, cut into the required contour and cut out the shank at the back. It is necessary to create the pattern as accurately as possible in order to reduce the time spent on the machine.

The workpiece is clamped in a vice. Using a file, optimal bevels are created. To maintain symmetry, you can use a metal pipe to create a special device on which the tool will be attached.

After rough processing, it is necessary to refine the product using sandpaper. To make it more convenient, you can wrap paper around the block.

Hardening the finished blade

In order to restore the blade's hardness, it is necessary to carry out the hardening procedure correctly. To do this, it needs to be heated to 900 degrees Celsius. After this, the knife should be cooled quickly.

At home, you can use a blowtorch for heating. The flame jet must be positioned so that it runs along the blade. It is important to ensure uniform heating.

You can also use regular charcoal. You need to bury the blade in it. Heating should also be done with a blowtorch. During heating, you need to ensure the correct temperature. This can be determined by the color of the workpiece, which changes with different degrees of heat. When the temperature reaches 900 degrees, the blade will turn crimson.

It needs to be cooled in water or used oil. The process is carried out as follows:

If water is used, brine or salt must be added to it. Without this, it is undesirable to carry out cooling. To prevent the metal from bending, the knife should be lowered vertically.

The waste must be poured into an iron bucket. The knife must be tied to some kind of wire so that it can be lowered into the liquid. The viscosity of the used oil optimizes the heat transfer process. Complete cooling will occur in a few minutes. Please remember that the oil can catch fire.

Insufficient heating will not allow the iron to be properly hardened. If you do everything correctly, the knife will be hard and strong.

Vacation secrets and creating a pen

The hardening process allows you to improve the quality characteristics of the product. But this also increases its fragility. If you hit the metal against any hard surface, the blade may simply crack. To remove this effect, it is necessary to release the alloy. Tempering is a type of heat treatment.

The knife must be heated at 200 degrees for an hour. A conventional oven is suitable for heating. Cooling occurs gradually in the open air.

You can also vacation in molten lead, but its temperature is too high (327 degrees). Performing the procedure in this way will result in a decrease in hardness.

The handle is made of two wooden plates that are attached to the shank of the knife. You can use leather for gaskets. It should be cut exactly along the contour of the wooden elements. Holes are drilled in metal, wood and leather parts. 3 tubes are cut along its cross-section.

All these elements are carefully coated with glue and assembled together. After a few hours the glue will harden. All minor defects are removed with sandpaper. In order for the finished knife to be well protected from various factors that cause corrosion, it should be polished.

Making a knife from a file with your own hands at home is a rather painstaking process, but the result is worth it. The blade will meet all the requirements that are put forward to perform a specific task. The steel of the file has high quality indicators, which is reflected in the knife.

Read more

One of the main tools not only in construction, but in any business is a knife. Buying a good Swiss knife is expensive, and buying cheap analogues leads to the fact that when performing work as intended, they fail. There is a way out - make a knife from a file with your own hands. To make it, you will need a minimum of effort and expense, and to do everything correctly, you will need to learn the basic recommendations and instructions for constructing a homemade cutting tool.

Why is it better to make a knife from a file?

At home, a homemade knife can be made from different materials, such as a spring, an engine valve, a pipe, etc. It all depends on what is available. Almost everyone has flat files collecting dust on a shelf in the garage. This tool can serve as a good material for making a knife. Let us find out in detail why it is better to use flat files for manufacturing.

During the Soviet Union, high-quality instruments were produced that continue to be actively used to this day. If you ask any specialist, he will answer that modern instruments are not as high quality and reliable as those produced in the USSR. The reason for this was the standards that were adhered to in the manufacture of tools, including files.

During the production of files during the USSR, they did not know what savings in production meant, so they adhered to all standards and regulations, which served to obtain high-quality tools. Even if you cannot find an old flat file in the garage, you can purchase it used. It is necessary to use old-style files made in the USSR, otherwise you will not be able to obtain a high-quality cutting tool.

This is interesting!All USSR files were made from alloy steel, so a homemade knife made will be distinguished by its reliability and durability. Alloy steel contains a high percentage of carbon, which makes it possible not only to harden it, but also to obtain a reliable, durable tool that will not become dull.

Why is it necessary to forge a knife from a file?

If you are wondering how to make a knife from a file, then you need to know that there are two ways to make it:

With forging
Without forging

The method of making a knife without forging from a file is to sharpen one part of it. If you prefer the forging method when making a knife from a file, then you need to understand the following advantages of the final cutting tool:

Increasing the technical properties of the metal, which when hardened becomes even more durable and elastic
Heat treatment means that to make a knife you will not need to sharpen a file, since the forging method will help reduce the thickness
After the forging procedure, you will need to spend less time sharpening the blade on the tool

To carry out heat treatment, you will need special blacksmith equipment. If there is no such equipment, then for this you will need to use the tools available on the farm. This is a piece of rail, a set of hammers, as well as coal and a homemade furnace in which hardening will be carried out.

This is interesting! To understand how high quality the file is, which is planned to be used as a donor for making a knife, you should hit it with a hammer, having first secured it in a vice. A good tool will not break, but only bend, which means the use of alloy steel in the production of files. It should also be noted that Soviet instruments are not subject to wear, which is why they are still used today.

Tools and materials for manufacturing

Before you make a good knife from a file, you need to understand that the manufacturing process is labor-intensive, even if the option without heat treatment is chosen. However, by taking the time, the end result is a high-quality tool that will not only last forever, but will rarely need to be sharpened. Before you get started, you will need to take the following tools and materials:

File. Its length can be any. If it is too long, then you can cut it and make two knives, and if it is short, then this will be the size of the final tool. Throwing knives are made from short files
for sawing a file. It is not recommended to use a power tool, for example, a grinder, since the process of cutting a file deteriorates the properties of the metal
File with handle for final finishing of the manufactured tool
Drill, emery, grinder, jigsaw
Vise
Crafting table
Wooden materials for making the handle
Sandpaper for rubbing the handle
Hardening tools - gas stove

It is not necessary to use all the tools, since a jigsaw can be replaced, and a grinding machine can be replaced with sandpaper, emery or a file. When all the necessary tools and materials are ready for work, you can begin.

Instructions on how to make a knife from a file with your own hands

Let's take a step-by-step look at the process of making a homemade knife from start to finish. Based on the instructions, it will not be difficult to make a knife at home yourself.

Temper the metal. This is done to make the work easier. To do this, you need to warm up the surface of the file by placing it in a gas oven for 1 hour. The exposure temperature should be no less than 200 degrees and no more than 300 degrees. Cooling must be natural, otherwise the workpiece may crack
The next step is to make the profile of the knife. Here you can’t do without diagrams and drawings. You can come up with your own profile or take it from analogues. On a piece of cardboard, draw the corresponding profile of the blade with the handle, and then cut it out. The resulting drawing will allow you to make the tool strictly according to the template, increasing the quality of appearance. The finished template must be attached to a file and traced along the contour using a marker
Cut out the workpiece according to the marks. To do this, it is better to use a hacksaw for metal, which will eliminate the need to release the material. If you use a grinder, it is recommended to water the file during the cutting process. It will be faster with a grinder, but the slightest overheating will lead to a loss of metal strength, so it is better to use a hacksaw. Any irregularities should be sanded down
The bevel grind is the part of the blade that will gradually decrease in thickness to end up with a sharpened base. To sew a bevel, you first need to draw it. To do this, use a marker to draw bevel lines. To ensure uniform grinding on both sides, it is necessary to take a metal drill of the same diameter as the thickness of the workpiece. After this, place the workpiece on a workbench (flat surface) and place a drill next to it. Run the drill along the end of the blade where the sharpening point will be. You can use the resulting line as a guide when grinding metal
Preparing pins for handle linings. The easiest way to make a handle is to cut it out of sheet wood and attach it to the resulting workpiece on both sides. You can also make a round handle by turning it on a lathe. If sheet wood is used, then cylindrical aluminum sleeves will need to be used to secure it to the base of the tool. These sleeves should be of small diameter
Cuts a handle from chipboard or other woodworking materials. It is better to use high-quality wood, since in a knife the main role is played not only by the blade, but also by the handle, which affects the quality of use of the tool. The shape of the handle is drawn out with a marker, and then cut out using a jigsaw or hacksaw for metal
To attach the handles to the tool, you will need to drill holes in the metal base of the knife. Sleeves are installed in these holes, and then wooden blanks are placed on both sides
Cleaning metal using vinegar or citric acid. This procedure is performed in order to prevent the occurrence of corrosion processes. To clean metal, the main thing is not to leave the workpiece longer than necessary.

Place the workpiece in vinegar or citric acid for 1.5-2 hours. After this, the metal will turn black, so sandpaper of minimal roughness is used to remove the blackness. We grind the metal to a shine on the blade, but it is not necessary to process the handle, since it will be covered with wooden handles
Assemble the handle by gluing wooden pieces. To do this, it is recommended to use epoxy glue, which is also called cold welding. It is important to choose liquid glue. Metal and the inside of wooden pieces must be thoroughly cleaned and degreased before applying glue.

As a result, we get a finished tool that is distinguished by high levels of strength, reliability and efficiency. Finally, the handle should be treated with paints and varnishes, which will prevent moisture from getting inside. Under such a knife, you can sew a sheath on your belt, which will allow you to always keep it with you while performing construction, repair and other types of work.

If you plan to make a round handle for a knife, then the back of the workpiece should look like this, as shown in the photo below.

Pros and cons of file knives

Why might you need to make a homemade knife when you can buy a tool of any shape, length, quality and appearance on the market? A homemade knife is made in order not only to save money, but also to obtain a high-quality tool that is durable and reliable. First, you need to highlight the disadvantages of making a knife with your own hands from a file:

The complexity of the process. At almost every step, the relevant parameters must be observed. When hardening, maintain the temperature and time, and when grinding the edge, you need to show skill. If you devote enough time and effort, you end up with an indispensable tool, the scope of which is simply limitless.
The blade of such a tool will not be flexible, like on a kitchen knife, but this cannot be considered a disadvantage, since the homemade product is mainly intended for use in repair and construction work. However, this means that it cannot be used for cutting meat and other products.
Tendency to corrosive effects due to improper care and storage of the instrument

As you can see, this tool has practically no disadvantages. The advantages include the following factors:

Durability
Strength
Hardness up to 60-62 HRC
Availability of the material, since files from the USSR era are not difficult to find
Thickness

This homemade product has enough advantages, so if you don’t yet have a construction knife, then it’s time to make one yourself. If you follow the instructions and all the recommendations, you will eventually be able to get a cool knife made yourself from a file. Reviews show that such a homemade file made from a file is more reliable and durable compared to factory-made knives.

A knife with a durable, sharp blade can be useful not only for household purposes, but also on a hike, travel, or in natural conditions far from residential buildings. Finding a good product is not easy; many brands offer blades made of steel that has not been alloyed in accordance with the relevant standards. You can get the desired result with.

For this purpose, a variety of materials can be used: a spring, a metal drill of sufficient thickness, a file, a socket wrench. When using them as workpieces, it is necessary to use a hammer and an anvil to give the steel part the required shape. An exception is making a knife from a file. To remove the excess layer of iron from the metal that is hot during the firing process, you can use a hacksaw or an abrasive disc.

Selection of working materials

Before telling you how to make a knife from metal, you should consider what materials will be required to make it. If a file will be used as a workpiece, it is better to take a Soviet-made product produced 35-50 years ago. Even in the presence of rust, U-13 steel of this period is distinguished by high quality and uniform carbon content due to strict adherence to alloying standards by the USSR metallurgical industry.

It is advisable to choose a diamond-shaped file, with a rectangular cross-section and a width of 30-40 mm. If you use a product with a flat configuration, the blade will be less durable. To create a handle, you can take wood, birch bark, a piece of leather, bone, plastic plates, or deer antler. The handle is attached to the blade using rivets made of brass or aluminum or epoxy resin.

To work you will need the following tools:

Preparing for work

At the preparatory stage, you should come up with the shape of the blade and the handle for it. These details must be displayed on the drawing of the future product. Also mark on the sketch the method of their fastening. Professionally making a dagger from a file involves forging iron in a forge.

This ensures the strength of the metal, giving it elasticity, allows you to remove excess thickness by flattening the steel with hammer blows, and also speeds up the stiletto manufacturing process, reducing the time spent on its subsequent processing. In the absence of blacksmithing equipment and special skills, you can make a good homemade knife without forging. Its quality will not be inferior to that made by an experienced blacksmith, provided that a real Soviet file is selected.

You can check whether the steel is alloyed or regular, hardened, in the following way: just place the part on the edge of the table and hit its tail tip with a hammer. It should not break, but bend a little.

Processing on a sharpening machine will also determine the quality of the metal - ordinary steel will produce many long beams of sparks, while high-alloy steel will produce a lush sheaf of sparks of short length.

The first stage of making a knife with your own hands is firing. Heating the metal ensures its pliability necessary for machining. Therefore, it is impossible to make a knife from a file without heat treatment.

Firing the file

The workpiece can be annealed in a special furnace or in a stove heated to 650-700°. If firing is carried out on a gas stove, a heat shield will be required to increase the temperature of the heating zone. Metal objects are used to create it. The upper part of the screen is covered with an iron plate. The distance from it to the file must be at least 1 cm. This structure allows you to retain the heat released during the combustion of natural gas, providing stronger heating of the workpiece.

How to anneal a file in a forge:

You can check whether the file is heated correctly in a gas oven using table salt by pouring it onto the surface of the workpiece. If the temperature of the material has reached the desired value, the crystals will begin to melt.

The metal on the stove should be kept hot for 3-4 hours, during which time its color should have a uniform red tint. The subsequent reduction in the temperature of the workpiece is carried out in stages: first, the heating intensity is reduced by a quarter, then every half hour by another quarter, until the steel has completely cooled. It is very important that the cooling of the metal occurs gradually, since with rapid cooling the blade will begin to crumble.

Shaping the blade and handle of the blade

The cooled workpiece is fixed in a vice and the excess parts are cut off, giving a shape according to the patterns prepared in accordance with the drawing. The precision of removing excess metal with a hacksaw will reduce the duration of sharpening the product with a file. When cutting out the shank, you need to take into account that its size must correspond to the length of the fingers. Processing with an abrasive disc attached to an electric sharpener will help give the knife the intended shape.

When turning slopes, the workpiece is secured to the workbench with clamps. When performing this operation, it is necessary to control the symmetry of the processing of both sides of the product, removing layers of metal at one angle throughout the descent. Holes drilled on the handle of the blade will allow you to attach the handle plates using rivets. When the future knife takes on the intended shape, begin finishing the surface with sandpaper secured to the block. The softness of the annealed metal makes it easier to form a blade, but to get a good knife, the steel must be hardened and tempered.

Quenching and tempering of knife blanks

To harden a knife from a file, you should prepare a burner that allows you to obtain the highest temperature values, a container with waste oil, a magnet and glass to check the quality of hardening. Heating the metal with a burning torch should cover the entire area of the blade and the surface of the handle adjacent to it for 30 mm. The area of the stylet on which the handle pads will be located is not hardened. Warming up should be uniform, without overheating.

Checking the correctness of hardening is carried out with a magnet - when the desired temperature is reached, the metal stops reacting to its approach. When no reaction is achieved in a uniformly painted iron part, heating is continued for another 3-4 minutes, after which it is lowered into oil for cooling. You can get a better effect by additionally placing the vessel with oil in cold water. A blade tempered in this way should leave scratches on the glass.

The hardening procedure leads to the appearance of high internal pressure in the metal. This can contribute to the formation of cracks in the blade when sharpening it. Tempering the steel allows you to remove the increased internal stress (at the same time, the hardness of the material will also decrease slightly). To release the metal, the workpiece is placed in the oven for 1.5 hours, setting the heating temperature to 200 ° C. Cooling of the blade should be gradual; it should not be removed from the oven until it has completely cooled.

Etching the blade and creating the handle

The knife, which has passed all stages of heat treatment, is polished with a wire brush, sandpaper and a felt wheel to make the blade smooth. Iron oxidation can be prevented by etching - immersion in ferric chloride. As a result, the material is covered with a matte protective film. In the absence of ferric chloride, you can wipe the blade with vinegar or use gruel from grated raw potatoes for etching. The film covering the etched steel protects the surface of the knife from rust, so you should avoid damaging its integrity.

When installing a dial handle, the individual parts are assembled and then tightly compressed on the thread. A bolster is placed on the shank, which can be machined from aluminum, brass or duralumin. To fasten the side plates, wooden or made of bone, rivets are used; they can be reinforced with epoxy resin. When using leather, special glue is applied to the material and tightly wound around the handle. Before attaching the deer antler to the tang, the hole drilled in the bone substance is filled with epoxy resin. To give the handle a finished look, its material can be sharpened, sanded and waxed.

Blade sharpening

It is better to sharpen a knife manually, since when using an electric sharpener there is a danger of overheating the metal. A whetstone is usually used for sharpening. The procedure begins after etching is completed, after the epoxy resin has dried. The blade is fixed in such a way that it is 20°.

Sequence of work:

Periodic editing of the blade during operation can be carried out with a musat - a rounded iron rod with notches, usually included in kitchen equipment sets. A household knife made from a file is highly durable and has a sharp blade. It can be used when working in the workshop, performing the most labor-intensive operations, without fear of quickly grinding down. It is also good as a throwing stiletto or an original gift for friends.