The Armour Archive

i have chipped a file,
and am going to be replacing it,
and somewhere i remember reading about using old files to make knives. i would be looking to do this now.
so does any one know how i could?
it doesn't have to serve a porpose other than hanging at my waist and look pretty when i show it off.
as always any help would be much appreacated
cheers
tom

(pictures of greaves on the way and a new gauntlet design)

Do a search about knifemaking/file in google. You'll find all the info you need.

Pad

oooooo, old files make the best knives, they are typically harder than knife grade steel you can get! grind down the file teeth, be sure not to let it get too hot or you'll ruim the temper, and then shape to knife desired shape, then work and edge into it, plus put a handle on it, i know sounds time consuming but they are beautiful and hold an edge soooo well, hey if oyu end up making one, PLEASE put pics up (i sail traditional ships and am always looking for decent knive designs, and decent knives for that matter, but alas i am a very poor college student)

There are two main ways to go about it: grinding it down trying to keep the heat treat from being messed up. And heat & forge it down and re-heat treat it.

Either way you can start by drawing the temper back some so it won't be so brittle. You can do this by heating in the kitchen over to probably about 400 degF It should come out a peacock colour, straw is cooler and more brittle and blue is hotter and tougher.

"Harder than knife grade steel" is not true---it depends on what type of knife steel its being compared to. Files are generally around 1095-W1 steels for knifemaking range from 5160-1080-52100-D2 pluse some real oddballs that are not steels anyway (stellite).

Thomas

Knifemaking is a whole ocean of knowledge that you can just dip your toe into, or jump headfirst into.

I'm assuming you want to just do what they call "stock removal" Thats cutting/grinding/filing the file into a knife. This is simpler you will need the following.

Grinder/Sander and or Files (Hand files will take forever but it's dooable)
Sandpaper from 100 to 800 grit.
Buffing wheel with red and white buffing compound.
materials for handle
A vise helps alot.

Ok first all cut the basic profile of the blade. Then use the grinder to define the major planes. Look at some other knives for inspiriation and such. Once you have the knife basically ground down, you start with low grit sandpaper and sand off all the marks from the previous operation, sand off all the grinder marks, then a higher grit to sand out all the scratches from lower grit paper. At the end you buff it with buffing compound and you got a mirror finish. Then you hack on whatever kind of handle you want.

Sound simple? It is...course actually doing it you will learn a thousand times more then you know right now. Knifemaking is easy, making good knives is infinitely difficult.

If you want to forge the knife...too much to discuss right here. Show up at my shop...bring lots of beer. BTW thats an open invite to just about anyone, I ain't the greatest smith around, but I got my own tools...and anyone who brings beer is more the welcome

Knifemaking is a whole ocean of knowledge that you can just dip your toe into, or jump headfirst into.

I'm assuming you want to just do what they call "stock removal" Thats cutting/grinding/filing the file into a knife. This is simpler you will need the following.

Grinder/Sander and or Files (Hand files will take forever but it's dooable)
Sandpaper from 100 to 800 grit.
Buffing wheel with red and white buffing compound.
materials for handle
A vise helps alot.

Ok first all cut the basic profile of the blade. Then use the grinder to define the major planes. Look at some other knives for inspiriation and such. Once you have the knife basically ground down, you start with low grit sandpaper and sand off all the marks from the previous operation, sand off all the grinder marks, then a higher grit to sand out all the scratches from lower grit paper. At the end you buff it with buffing compound and you got a mirror finish. Then you hack on whatever kind of handle you want.

Sound simple? It is...course actually doing it you will learn a thousand times more then you know right now. Knifemaking is easy, making good knives is infinitely difficult.

If you want to forge the knife...too much to discuss right here. Show up at my shop...bring lots of beer. BTW thats an open invite to just about anyone, I ain't the greatest smith around, but I got my own tools...and anyone who brings beer is more the welcome