# Guzzo! Look what i made...



## waruikazi (May 28, 2011)

With not alot to do out here and wanting to be a real man like Guzzo i started making a knife. Hardest part was coming up with a design i was happy with on paper. I'm at the point of heat treating (which i'm a little scared about because once that is done, it's all over!) and making the scales (handle). 

On paper (this took two weeks of doodling)!






The steel.





Drawing it out.





a drawing i was happy with





Cutting it out with the hacksaw and a rough file. This was hard work because the edges had hardened in the cutting process. Took alot of time and i nearly destroyed it a could times.










You can see the edges where the steel snapped rather than being cut. The file would not touch the edges.





Now after an hour or so carefully knocking the hard bits off with the bench grinder.





Putting the cutting edge on, all with a hand file.










Now at this point the old fella who was lending me his workshop decided he could do the cutting edge better than me so he knocked it up on the belt sander... He stuffed the cutting edge lol so i was stuck with having to do a full flat grind which wasn't my original plan... but i think i pulled it back from the brink.





And then this is what i ended up with after 6 hours sitting in front of the TV with 400grit wet and dry.





Guys if any of you are struggling with your manlyness i highly reccomend you try make something... something manly that is like a knife. Not a quilt or wollen jumper.


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## CrystalMoon (May 28, 2011)

When you get to the final stage of refining and honing the edge, I have found that Coal wash plant tiles(after the oil stone)are brilliant
the knife edge shaves with barely any pressure(legs not face, no beardy whiskers on me lol)
It is looking promising, good job 
Kind regards
Crystal


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## saximus (May 28, 2011)

That looks awesome Gordo. How would something like this go compared to a commercially bought one? Would it hold the edge as well/better?


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## Nighthawk (May 28, 2011)

Not a bad job; shame about the cutting edge though, don't you love it when others jump in on a personal project and 'help out' (ie: take it off your hands completely, hand it back completely stuffed with a huge proud grin and an expectation of thanks...). What are you making the handle out of? Antler's a really good sturdy material to work with there, and the end effect is pretty manly if that's what you're going for lol. Next step will be getting some leather and knocking up a sheath yeah?


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## waruikazi (May 28, 2011)

Nighthawk said:


> Not a bad job; shame about the cutting edge though, don't you love it when others jump in on a personal project and 'help out' (ie: take it off your hands completely, hand it back completely stuffed with a huge proud grin and an expectation of thanks...). What are you making the handle out of? Antler's a really good sturdy material to work with there, and the end effect is pretty manly if that's what you're going for lol. Next step will be getting some leather and knocking up a sheath yeah?


 
I'll be finsihing this on an oil stone and then, because i ended up with a convex bevel, on a strop. I don't mind if it isn't perfect and i get all my knived scarey sharp, i don't like them otherwise. Next step is to make one with about a 7 inch blade with a similar profile to use for sticking, then this can be the little utility knife to go with it. I have some croc bones and some buff horns that i'll make the handle from. The croc legs aren't big enough to make both sides out of so the inside will be bone and the outside will be horn. Also have some croc leather i'll try and make a sheeth out of!



CrystalMoon said:


> When you get to the final stage of refining and honing the edge, I have found that Coal wash plant tiles(after the oil stone)are brilliant
> the knife edge shaves with barely any pressure(legs not face, no beardy whiskers on me lol)
> It is looking promising, good job
> Kind regards
> Crystal


 
What is a coal wash? I think i may have taken the bevel down too narrow to get a really good hair popping finish though, should still make for a good camping knife.

Sachs

It will cut just the same, probably hold a better edge and last just as long as a shop bought knife. The only diff is that this will rust and i won't be able to keep that mirror finish on it. But that's cool, it's a working knife not a show knife.


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## Jay84 (May 28, 2011)

So are you making these in front of the kids in the classroom? lol

You just got even more attractive you big butch knife maker! hahaha


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## waruikazi (May 28, 2011)

Jay84 said:


> So are you making these in front of the kids in the classroom? lol
> 
> You just got even more attractive you big butch knife maker! hahaha


 
HAHAHA how did you know?!?!?! The kids are loving it too, especially the boys! Cause my kids are learning to speak English i use anything and everything to get them using oral language and they LOVE watching and talking about my knife. We even started 'The Awesome Table' in our class (instead of show and tell) becaue of my lil' project, so far it has knives, bullets, croc skulls and other general things of awesomeness. 

Oh Jay lol, i've almost got a sixpack now too


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## Elapidae1 (May 28, 2011)

Youll be better of with a full flat grind in the long run as long as you maintain the flat with just a slight bevell for the cutting edge. Strops are for Barbers cut throats and will have little use on a knife.

Can't wait for the finish product


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## Flaviruthless (May 28, 2011)

I love the "I come to school to Learn" - slightly disturbing


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## waruikazi (May 28, 2011)

steve1 said:


> Youll be better of with a full flat grind in the long run as long as you maintain the flat with just a slight bevell for the cutting edge. Strops are for Barbers cut throats and will have little use on a knife.
> 
> Can't wait for the finish product



Really? I thought they were good for anything with a convex cutting edge.



Rahni29 said:


> I love the "I come to school to Learn" - slightly disturbing




Didn't notice that... kinda of cool but :lol:


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## Elapidae1 (May 28, 2011)

Are you allowed to make that with the kids? They're asking for ID in Bunnings to purchase hack saw blades


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## waruikazi (May 28, 2011)

steve1 said:


> Are you allowed to make that with the kids? They're asking for ID in Bunnings to purchase hack saw blades



I'm not sure really... And not sure that i would care either way lol. I wouldn't put my kids at risk, this knife at the moment is much less dangerous than a pair of scissors.


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## Elapidae1 (May 28, 2011)

Strops are for fine (surgical) edges and unless your constantly keeping an absolute razor edge you could strop all day with little effect. A quality stone and steel is essential.


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## waruikazi (May 28, 2011)

steve1 said:


> Strops are for fine (surgical) edges and unless your constantly keeping an absolute razor edge you could strop all day with little effect. A quality stone and steel is essential.



I have a good steel which does a great job at keeping the edges true on all my other knives, still looking for a good oil stone. I don't want to buy a new one that i have to break in, i do a big sharpen twice a year when i get back to my parents and use the old man's stones. 

So there goes the idea of making a strop!


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## abnrmal91 (May 28, 2011)

What steel is it made of? Looks like a tool steel bar. You can use files to make knives out it works really well. Just get a old, temper it and it can then be worked and then heat treated again. It holds a edge reasonably well. My brother use to make sum out of files, works well. 

If you want to make a little home made furnace just get a old webber BBQ, make up a pipe so air can be blown through the bottom (he just used a hair dryer) The work surprisingly well. Best of luck.


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## Elapidae1 (May 28, 2011)

Over use of a steel on a sharp edge blunts the knife. The edge will not last long if you are using the steel on an already dull blade. You need a stone!
Breaking in a stone? The stones I use have an oil already impregnated into it, the only breaking in I do is to place it in hot water and degreaser to get the oil out, LOL, then when sharpening I lubricate with a thin water and detergent mix


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## waruikazi (May 28, 2011)

It is 1075 spring steel. It's pretty cheap, i bought 2m of it for about $50 already anealed, so i know it's got no soft spots etc. i've heard about files, i just don't have any lol



abnrmal91 said:


> What steel is it made of? Looks like a tool steel bar. You can use files to make knives out it works really well. Just get a old, temper it and it can then be worked and then heat treated again. It holds a edge reasonably well. My brother use to make sum out of files, works well.
> 
> If you want to make a little home made furnace just get a old webber BBQ, make up a pipe so air can be blown through the bottom (he just used a hair dryer) The work surprisingly well. Best of luck.





steve1 said:


> Over use of a steel on a sharp edge blunts the knife. The edge will not last long if you are using the steel on an already dull blade. You need a stone!
> Breaking in a stone? The stones I use have an oil already impregnated into it, the only breaking in I do is to place it in hot water and degreaser to get the oil out, LOL, then when sharpening I lubricate with a thin water and detergent mix



By breaking in i mean getting a flat surface to work your knife on. I'm yet to find a stone that has a workable surface straight ou tof the box, i've never bought an expensive one though.


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## Elapidae1 (May 28, 2011)

I use Bear combo stones, last one I bought was around $80. I also think stones should be a decent size, the Bears have about the same surface area as the face of a standard house brick. It also helps if your the only persone that uses it


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## waruikazi (May 28, 2011)

Well i discovered quenching and tempering is alot more tricky than it would appear to be...


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## abnrmal91 (May 28, 2011)

Yer you want to heat it up to a cheery red and then quench it in oil. You need to be carefully that you hold it vertically as it when you lower it into the oil. Is it goes in at a anlge one side can cool quicker than the other. This can cause the blade to bend


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## Naga_Kanya (May 28, 2011)

Very cool, and a really nice, balanced design (I like drop points, too!). Can't wait to see it with scales; croc bone and buffalo horn sound awesome. If it's 1075 it should be a nice, lasting knife, too, in between knife and sword steel. It's a shame about your resident "expert" screwing up the grind; it's always the way. :/ What do you use on yours to prevent rusting? I use lanolin on mine (cos I'm old school, and it's good for the leather sheaths, too) but a friend swears by ballistol. I'm in the process of making a deck knife for myself; I found a nice damascus billet, but it's not going to be strong enough to sustain the beating it's going to get (even though it's pretty) so I'm looking into s30v, which may turn out to be a right bother to work with, so failing that d2 tool steel, and I'll use the damascus for a prettier project. 

No wonder the kids are impressed! I really hope you'll keep posting pictures as it goes. I don't know many other people that make their own blades, so this is very cool to see.


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## waruikazi (May 29, 2011)

abnrmal91 said:


> Yer you want to heat it up to a cheery red and then quench it in oil. You need to be carefully that you hold it vertically as it when you lower it into the oil. Is it goes in at a anlge one side can cool quicker than the other. This can cause the blade to bend



I got it to the point of no magnetism (pulled a speaker out of my car for the magnet to check lol) and then dropped it into some old fish and chip oil. I was told to keep it at that temp for a while before quenching... i think i may have let it cool to the point of slight magnetism before i quenched it... i really hope i haven't stuffed it! Just so hard to keep a steady temp on the steel. And the oil wouldn't catch fire which i've heard means it isn't hot enough. I dunno... i hope i've managed it!



Naga_Kanya said:


> Very cool, and a really nice, balanced design (I like drop points, too!). Can't wait to see it with scales; croc bone and buffalo horn sound awesome. If it's 1075 it should be a nice, lasting knife, too, in between knife and sword steel. It's a shame about your resident "expert" screwing up the grind; it's always the way. :/ What do you use on yours to prevent rusting? I use lanolin on mine (cos I'm old school, and it's good for the leather sheaths, too) but a friend swears by ballistol. I'm in the process of making a deck knife for myself; I found a nice damascus billet, but it's not going to be strong enough to sustain the beating it's going to get (even though it's pretty) so I'm looking into s30v, which may turn out to be a right bother to work with, so failing that d2 tool steel, and I'll use the damascus for a prettier project.
> 
> No wonder the kids are impressed! I really hope you'll keep posting pictures as it goes. I don't know many other people that make their own blades, so this is very cool to see.



I would love to do something with damascus steel, but i think i would want to make my own damascus otherwise it would feel like cheating lol. This is my first knife so i have no idea how to stop rust... lanolin sounds like a good idea but. 

I'm suprised at how many people do make their own knives! 

Look i still scratch the steel... does this mean i need to it over again?


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## FusionMorelia (May 29, 2011)

waruikazi said:


> It is 1075 spring steel. It's pretty cheap, i bought 2m of it for about $50 already anealed, so i know it's got no soft spots etc. i've heard about files, i just don't have any lol
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 you sound just like us old abbies workers mate lol


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## abnrmal91 (May 29, 2011)

waruikazi said:


> I got it to the point of no magnetism (pulled a speaker out of my car for the magnet to check lol) and then dropped it into some old fish and chip oil. I was told to keep it at that temp for a while before quenching... i think i may have let it cool to the point of slight magnetism before i quenched it... i really hope i haven't stuffed it! Just so hard to keep a steady temp on the steel. And the oil wouldn't catch fire which i've heard means it isn't hot enough. I dunno... i hope i've managed it!


 
The temp sounds about right but I I don't think fish and chip oil is suitable. As it would have very little carbon content in the oil. As the blade cools in the oil it absorbs some of the carbon in the steel, making it harder. 
I would probably heat treat it again but quench it into the oldest dirtiest diesel oil you can find. Old diesel oil is good as it has a very high carbon content. 
What heat source are you using. A oxy torch should be sufficient if you use a large cutter tip or a actual heating tip.


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## waruikazi (May 29, 2011)

abnrmal91 said:


> The temp sounds about right but I I don't think fish and chip oil is suitable. As it would have very little carbon content in the oil. As the blade cools in the oil it absorbs some of the carbon in the steel, making it harder.
> I would probably heat treat it again but quench it into the oldest dirtiest diesel oil you can find. Old diesel oil is good as it has a very high carbon content.
> What heat source are you using. A oxy torch should be sufficient if you use a large cutter tip or a actual heating tip.



I did it again and the steel feels about right now. I just used heat beads for the bbq and a hair dryer. The fella i bought the steel off said that i should use veg oil rather than engine oil. I'll see how it goes, if it works out i'll keep doing it but if it doesn't i'll try the diesel oil next time.

Now it's in the oven at 270deg for two hours. Not sure if i am meant to let it air cool after the two hours or let it oven cool. Any ideas?

Righto, heat treated and tempered.... now to clean it up and throw the buff handle on. Hopefully finished this arvo.


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## AM Pythons (May 29, 2011)

you inspired me to finish mine this morning, i used an old blade from a kitchen knife, shortend it, re-shaped the handle end, ran the grinder over it, cut handle, put it together, sharpened it back up..


a few hours later the finished product..


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## waruikazi (May 29, 2011)

I just dropped the finished product blade down onto the road...


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## AM Pythons (May 29, 2011)

waruikazi said:


> I just dropped the finished product blade down onto the road...



doh..!!


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## waruikazi (May 30, 2011)

Well this is the finished product... pretty much. I've oiled the handle and still working on sharpening it up. I've got it to a hair popping stage but i think i want a better edge so i think i might start again.


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## AM Pythons (May 30, 2011)

next thing for me is to learn how to make blades from scatch, great work mate.. i like it..


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## waruikazi (May 30, 2011)

You need to take that hideous screw out of that knife! Get some some cutlers rivets off ebay and use them instead. That self tapper is ruining the finish of that knife.


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## AM Pythons (May 30, 2011)

i agree mate, didnt have anything else to use, i know nothing about making knives, but would love to learn...

thanks for the advice mate..


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## waruikazi (May 30, 2011)

You could use and brass or stainless bolt too, you just file them flat.

I know sod all about making knives too, this is my first foray into it.


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## Asharee133 (May 30, 2011)

can't you glue it?


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## waruikazi (May 30, 2011)

Asharee133 said:


> can't you glue it?



Yes, you use glue and bolts/rivets.


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## Torah (May 30, 2011)

mad !


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## waruikazi (Jul 4, 2011)

I decided i didn't like it and it turned out it didn't heat treat properly. Messed about with it over the weekend, made a few changes and re-treated the fella. Quite happy with the finished product now.​


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## SnakeNBake (Jul 4, 2011)

Love your work waruikazi. I've been making knives for a while now, well when I find the time. I'm currently working on a camp knife farily similar to yours. 

guys check out Knifeforums.com homepage. Very similar to this forum there are many helpful people and lots of knowledge about knife making, straight from the guys leading the industry. Also i can dig up all my knife making supply links if any one wants them. 

I will get some pics up this arvo of my current project. For my dads birthday last year I made him a set of neckers, one tanto shaped and one clip point.

here are my knives that get put through their paces regularly. 











NB: I didn't make these blades


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## waruikazi (Jul 4, 2011)

Nice! Do you have any pics of the knives you made?

Next one on the drawing board is a skinner and a big sticker which will probably be a bowiesque style of knife.


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## SnakeNBake (Jul 4, 2011)

I don't have any pics of my knives handy, but will get some of my camp knife project as soon as I get home. I'm a member of the Australian Knife Collectors club as well they have good supplies for knife making. 

Australasian Knife Collectors (AKC)

Gotta love a big bowie pig sticker!!! My knives are all utility knives, I don't have any big beasties to contend with down here, so they are only really used for bushcraft.

This is my camp knife. Very simple drop point design.





Some home made micarta slabs. These will eventually be my handle scales but it's hard to work with.





what is going to be a carving knife, as mentioned earlier it's an old file


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## waruikazi (Sep 4, 2011)

A friend of mine had a baby boy, so i made the lil fella a knife. Pretty happy with how this one turned out too!


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## guzzo (Sep 4, 2011)

waruikazi said:


> A friend of mine had a baby boy, so i made the lil fella a knife. Pretty happy with how this one turned out too!



Hey Mate,

That looks great....I am making another spear....will post pics soon


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## abnrmal91 (Sep 4, 2011)

If anyone wants to learn more about heat treatment of steel look up this website. Watch the three videos (they are about half way down the page) they are old videos but explain about steel in great detail. http://www.mdme.info/MEMmods/MEM30007A/steel/steel.html

It's the website my Tafe teacher has set up for engineering. Have a read it's interesting.


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## waruikazi (Sep 5, 2011)

A spear is something i plan on making sometime soon too. Are you cutting down a tree to make one too?


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## guzzo (Sep 5, 2011)

waruikazi said:


> A spear is something i plan on making sometime soon too. Are you cutting down a tree to make one too?



I have cut two Peices of bamboo and straightened them over the fire and have one made from Milkwood. I have made 1 fish spear and 1 shovel nose out of bamboo and repaired a shovel nose made from milkwood that was given to me. The Woomera was made by a mate at work. I have found some good wallows close to home and now that it is heating up I plan a visit in the middle of the day next day off. Failing that plan I will go for a walk next full moon if it's not too cloudy. I will take some pics after work. Have you started another knife yet?


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## waruikazi (Sep 5, 2011)

I started a 10 inch sticker but i've either miss placed the blank or it has been knocked off by a student. Which is disapointing because it was my last peice of steel. 

I'm pretty happy with how my knives are looking so i'm thinking it may be time to buy a peice of damascus steel and have a dig at a show styles knife.


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## guzzo (Sep 5, 2011)

waruikazi said:


> I started a 10 inch sticker but i've either miss placed the blank or it has been knocked off by a student. Which is disapointing because it was my last peice of steel.
> 
> I'm pretty happy with how my knives are looking so i'm thinking it may be time to buy a peice of damascus steel and have a dig at a show styles knife.



Damascus is great. I know you can layer a bit of mild steel with high carbon and then mild steel again do this for about 5 layers and heat it up and bash it all together then heat it up again fold it etc...I have never tried this though but it is supposed to make a good blade.

In any case if you get some I think a nice buffalo bone handle would be the way to go.


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