Knife buildoff challenge discussion

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Falstaff, are you making a blade from a file?
Yea, just tired of working on my camper build. So I dug out an old file. I've never made a file knife, or made a knife with an angle grinder. So it's a learning process.

For the build off thing, I'll forge something. But won't start until my camper is done. Hopefully mid February.
 
You can do it in the oven.

375 to 400 degrees for an hour, remove and let cool. Then another hour in the oven should work fine.

Same here. Most everything tempers well at 400 for an hour and air cool. Sometimes needs two temper cycles

A little toaster oven works great and is cheap if you're like me and the wife looks at you sideways for using the house oven
 
You can do it in the oven.

375 to 400 degrees for an hour, remove and let cool. Then another hour in the oven should work fine.
Same here. Most everything tempers well at 400 for an hour and air cool. Sometimes needs two temper cycles
With a knife cut out of a file or sheet metal, is there a need to do a heat and quench to harden, or is tempering enough?


A little toaster oven works great and is cheap if you're like me and the wife looks at you sideways for using the house oven
She might still look at me sideways, but probably wouldn't care as long as it didn't ruin the oven, release poisonous fumes, or stink up the place. Does it do any of those things?
 
With a knife cut out of a file or sheet metal, is there a need to do a heat and quench to harden, or is tempering enough?



She might still look at me sideways, but probably wouldn't care as long as it didn't ruin the oven, release poisonous fumes, or stink up the place. Does it do any of those things?
A knife made from a file won't require hardening as long as you don't over heat the metal while shaping the knife. But tempering it will prevent it from being brittle. Remember a file can sometimes break if it's dropped.

If you're using something like a lawnmower blade you'll want to heat and quench, and maybe temper.


As long as what you put in the oven is clean and free of debris, it shouldn't make any smoke or fumes.
 
A knife made from a file won't require hardening as long as you don't over heat the metal while shaping the knife. But tempering it will prevent it from being brittle. Remember a file can sometimes break if it's dropped.

If you're using something like a lawnmower blade you'll want to heat and quench, and maybe temper.


As long as what you put in the oven is clean and free of debris, it shouldn't make any smoke or fumes.
Nailed it ^^^^
 
Porcelain knife, nice.
My mom has a ceramic knife that I bought her for Christmas in the late '80s. She's now in her late 80's, and still the sharpest knife in the block. The knife's pretty sharp too.
 
@us56456712 , how big is that piece of flint? Hard to judge scale as a solo object. Are you thinking axe or adz build?
It’s small, about 2 inches. I’m thinking it will be a knife. I’ve never napped stone before so it will have minimal finishing from it’s natural stat as it is in my posted picture. I’m going to go into the woods to collect deer dung, spruce sap and pulverize some charcoal to try and mix up some glue. I plan to wrap it in raw hide lacing made from a pet treat.
 
This was posted in another thread. Feels appropriate here
Ball hammer.jpg
i want
 
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