I mean, it works, so you do you, but if you're going to lug a giant metal weight across your entire workbench, which is what a router is, you're doing at least as much work as you would with a hand plane, with none of the skill improvement to show for it at the end.
Had you not experienced the coping saw mishap, I wonder how many of us would have done the same. Thanks for taking one for the team. You gave me the education and confidence to try this! Great video!
Al knives have their own distinctions. In order for a knife to be called a “Bowie” knife, a blade length of 9 inches must be its first designation. You built a very nice “fighting” knife with a 7” blade. It’s a bit short to be called a Bowie.
I love the tanto style blade. I've been knife making for a year and a half. I'm still a beginner but I've gotten a lot better. You hit on something with me. I need a 2×72 bad lol. I'm using a 1×30 and I feel like a I need more power.
I just want to provide a bit of clarification here; 7075 aluminum (which is what the knife-holding clips are made of) has a Rockwell hardness of around 54, which is well below the hardness of any steel used in knife blades. This fact alone means using tape on the knife to prevent scratching is totally unnecessary. Having said that though, tape may help to keep the knife stable in the clamps during sharpening, especially if not enough initial clamping pressure is applied.
Looks very similar to a Bark River Aurora. Just wondering why you didn’t make it a full tang knife since you had a big enough file to begin with. Lovely looking knife though and nicely made.
Good job, you gave your Grandad's file a new life. Thanks for sharing and giving some valuable tips and for being open about your mistakes, it makes the rest of us that are also not perfect feel better and more hopeful for our own projects 😉. Don't worry about the structural integrity of the handle, it will hold up perfectly. Thank you.
On this occasion you , unfortunately, chose the wrong file type! The file you have used ...a rasp...is case hardened and the core steel is not good knife steel. As a general rule files that are made to work on soft materials do not make good knives...files for working on hard materials do...just go through the annealing process and it will be fine. Dr Larrin Thomas of Kinfe Steel Nerdschannel goes into a great deal more detail about file steels on a recent video ....its a great watch...hope this helps!!
Thank you. Yeah this video was made almost 3 years ago when I was pretty new to knife making. I watch all of the knife steel nerd videos and have read his book. With that being said is the file optimal to make the best knife? No. Of course not, However in real world use for almost 3 years it has performed just fine. I can carve away on a 2x4 for a half hour then proceed to shave my arm. I definitely agree with what you are saying though. I always strive to get better but when you are new you work with what you have and make the best of it.
Unfortunately no it's just something I drew up on paper and never uploaded or anything. You can find plenty of templates online. If not and you draw one yourself. Just cut it out of the wood first and make sure it feels decent in the hand before you make the knife. Good luck!
I’ve really been wanting to get into bladesmithing… like REALLY bad. Been looking at belt grinders and kilns but you’ve given me a little motivation to try it with cheap tools first. If I love that long enduring process I’m bound to stick with the craft with the proper tools! Only thing I’ve ever liked about my chef job was using the knives… so thinking I’d enjoy my life a lot more if I could just make a living creating my beloved knives 😂
