[loki]

Hello, all I have been admiring all many of the customs and reworks of the various blades on this site. I have also seen on knife forums a rework of a old hickory butchers knife that I really like. I want to try to make this one myself. I have never done this before and want to know where to begin and where do you get your slab handles from both wood and micarta. Do you use a regular grinding wheel to shape the blade as wanted and finish with a file. I will start with already cut blades vs a full knife from a file because I just want to focus on learning cutting, fit and finish before I even begin trying to worry about heat treats.

 

[the hog]

I have attempted to make two or three knives, two were from old files and one from an old saw blade.
In all three cases I first had to soften the metal by heating, then cutting out the basic design with a hack saw and angle grinder. The finer work was done using another file and a sanding belt.
Sharpning was done on the belt, then re-hardened in the fire and cooled down with old engine oil.
The handles I used were Teak and oak which I fastened with glue and brass pins. The handles were then sanded down to the desired shape with the belt sander, sand papered then oiled with linseed.
There are various ways of making simple knives without the hi-tec gear, of course the better equipment you have the better the product will be. Take a look at Sticks65 knives and see the quality of knives made with the correct equipment.
Start simple and build up, dont rush it and be prepared for a few falls.
If you need help just ask on the knife thread and help/advise will be given.

 

[loki]

all I have at this point is a angle grinder, a small walmart propane torch and files. I need to know how to get the scales off of the old hickory as well as will me using the grinder to cut the basic shape i want mess with the temper of the knife? I like the old hickory knive and so does my wife, as a matter of fact my first old hickory knife was a boning knife and my wife loves it. she said that she really like the knife slices and dices really well. She has almost taken it. I did have to show her that it needs to be wiped clean directly after use though because it is not of the stainless steel that we are used to.

 

[wulfbyte]

Any time you rework a tempered steel with a power tool you risk raising the temperature to such a degree that you may alter the existing temper. I found the following links to be helpful:
http://www.knives.com/heatreat.html
http://www.threeplanes.net/toolsteel.html

 

[the hog]

The blade you have there seems to be carbon steel.
A good idea would be to allow the knife to tarnish and build up what is called a patina, the natural darkning of a carbon blade. This prevents the knife from rusting and also stops reaction between the metal and some acidic fruit and veg, not only that but it also makes the blade look much more atractive.