[aaronbev79]

Hello -- this is my first post, but I've been a long time reader and have learned a lot on this great forum.

I am in the process of making my own camping/survival knife. I've decided to copy the layout of a Becker BK2. I love this knife and almost purchased one online last night, but decided instead to try to make one myself first. I already have a couple good fixed blade knives already -- so I can get by for now till my knife is finished.

I have a couple extra leaf springs sitting around my garage, and have been wanting to make either a knife or sword for a while now. Since this will be my first home made blade, I will be starting with a knife first, and eventually I'd like to make a short katana to attach to my bug out bag.

The leaf spring I have chosen for the knife project is 3/8s of an inch thick. The becker BK2 is 1/4 inch thick, so my knife will be a bit thicker. However, this extra weight will be useful for chopping. I have cut a 10 1/2 inch section out of the leaf spring -- the same length as the becker -- and I have removed all of the rust.

The next stage is heating up the knife and pounding it flat -- since it still has a curve from being a leaf spring. After that, I will cut it to the same shape as the Becker and begin heat treating and hardening the steel. I will post some pics later tonight after I finish cutting it and getting the rust off.

Here's a youtube video of someone making a knife out of a leaf spring (the second link is part2):

Here's a youtube video of someone making a similar knife to the BK2:

Here's a pic of the BK2:

 

[aaronbev79]

Here are some pics as promised. As you can see in the pics there is still a pretty good curve in the steel. I will have to heat the steel and pound it flat. As you can see from the pic it's actually 5/16 thick instead of 3/8 -- but some of that extra 16th will be removed when sanding/polishing/sharpening -- so the blade will probably be just a hair larger than 1/4 inch when finished.

 

[hedley]

I used to have an old ~11" (blade) solid 'steel' knife with no handle my dad dug up in the backyard. It did resemble a leaf spring construct and was pitted from age. I remember leaving it in the lit fireplace & it suffered no harm whatsoever. As I recall it even bent from it's own weight in the heat but returned to true quite easily. I never did put a proper handle on it and it had a butcher type tip. It was stolen. I always wanted to see if I could make a knife using meteorite & iron or something material myself.
have fun. Your template looks sweet (albeit small), weight-wise it should be useful.:thumb:

 

[aaronbev79]

Thanks!

I really look forward to getting on with this project. I've wanted to make my own knife for a while, and it seems like a project that others would have some interest in.

I did a lot of research on using leaf spring metal for knives -- and nearly everyone confirms that it's a great metal source for knife making. The only potential problem is hidden stress fractures that could cause the knife to break when you are heat treating it -- but from what I've seen this is rarely a problem. Otherwise, leaf springs make great knives.

 

[aaronbev79]

Here are a couple forge ideas -- let me know what you guys think. I don't need anything too complex or permanent. I just need enough room to get the knife to the right temperature to heat treat it and harden it.

 

[aaronbev79]

I will be flattening the steel tonight -- I purchased a 3 lb hammer from Harbor Frieght and I will be using a normal torch to heat the steel. Since this is the only part where I need an anvil, I will be using a cinder block to pound on. There's no need for a forge at this point since I'm merely flattening the steel in order to cut out my blank.

I will post pics of the flattened steel when I'm finished -- here are the basic tools I'm using:

 

[aaronbev79]

Well, it looks like I'm learning already -- I've already made some poor assumptions. First of all, I will need a forge asap. I thought I could use a basic torch to get the steel hot enough to straighten, but I was wrong. I even tried using some extra Esbit fuel tablets I had from camping recently, and those wouldn't get it anywhere near red hot (and apparently they burn at 1400f -- though I'm not sure I believe that after they couldn't even get the steel red hot). So I've got some extra prep work to do. I beat on this thing for about 20-30 mins, and really didn't affect the shape at all.

Also, I really need to weld a 15-20 inch handle to the end of the piece of steel to help keep it from bouncing around when I'm banging on it. This will also help as I heat the steel in the forge.

Also, using the cinder block as an anvil wasn't the best. It worked fine for a while, but it eventually started to chip away. I figured this would be the case, but I didn't want to purchase an anvil just for straightening the steel. Well, now I will be buying an anvil (unless I can figure out something else for free -- I may try to find a piece of I beam) and building a forge. Here are some pics of me heating the steel, and a pic of the current curve in the steel after beating on it:

 

[grouchy]

Any piece of steel will work as an anvil as long as it has a flat surface and is heavy.

 

[AncientBrit]

Use railroad track as an anvil and if your going to try and make a knife you will definitely need to make a forge.

You could heat thin steel up with a blow torch but that steel is far to thick.

 

[MountainMan]

Oxy/Acetelene will give you the heat you need, but only in a small area risking deformation of your blade.

Fire bricks, a shop vac, and a valve to control air flow=forge.

MM