Making a Cord-Wrapped Tactical Knife - Simple Knife for Beginning Knife Makers 

I always respect craftsmen who share their knowledge as opposed to those who will not tell you a thing. Great video, clear, concise, articulate and easy to follow.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to show us newbies how to do this for free. I appreciate your videos!

Walter. Your videos are some of the best out there in any genre . They really stand out. An expert bladesmith willing to take the mystery out of knife making for beginners and is effective of a teacher as you are is a precious commodity. 100% no B.S., usable information. Thank You.

Walter I appreciate these videos more than you'll ever know. I'm working on my third knife today and thanks to you I've learned the basics of everything I need to know.

I just started bladesmithing in metalwork and I love it. Thanks for showing me how to make a paracord handle.

Love this guy. Full of knowledge yet in layman's terms with a bit of comedy injected. You the man Walter :)

You're a good teacher; very encouraging and humorous.

Thanks for the video....i really appreciate you not only showing the various methods but also pointing out reasons why you have to do things like heat treating and tempering

Ok Im 10mins into this video and im subbed and +1. You are extremely well educated and you can make a knife out any piece of metal you find within walking distance of your house. Colour me officially impressed.

Walter, awesome work. Love the high production value and clear information. Will be making my first knife very soon.

Such a fantastic tutorial, many thanks for taking the time to share this ~Peace~

Impressive presentation. I greatly enjoy your clear and witty commentary. Keep it up!

Walt, I could listen to that accent all day, definitely the best instructional videos on the tube!

Hey Walter, wanted to throw you a huge thank you and say how inspired I was by this video, the cord wrapped tactical knife. For the record, I am a chef, 35 years so, as well, I have been brewing my own beer as an award winning home brewer for the past 6 years. I am not tooting my horn here, but for anyone who is reading this I wanted to say your tutorials on how to make this knife, as well as some of your past ones on equipment have yielded me the perfect birthday present for my daughter who is turning 21 this 22nd of May. She is an avid outdoors woman, hiker, climber etc. and since I cant be there to protect her, I figured this would be a great time to try my hand at knife making and give her a gift that will keep on giving. Would love to send you the finished work in a really short clip so I can get your personal critique as I think this could be something I want to pursue more and more. I will say however I am not making anymore knives until my thumbs heal form the sanding, grinding, wet sanding, etc. etc. Again Walter, thank you, the channel is fricking awesome!!!

Hi Walter, greetings from Czech Republic (central europe region). You are probably the man who changed my mind from just collecting knives to make knives on my own. Thank you very much so far I've made one throwing knife no scales - shape like dagger from springsteel using file jig from Gough. In about a month I'll start with grinding on custom and powerfull belt grinder. Keep a good work!

Walter Sorrells Your videos are amazing, and my son and daughter are inspired by them just as I am. Keep the work up.

As always, great video. Like to say your videos got my nose out of the phone and off the couch to the garage and started filing. Your videos are just a tap away if I need help. Thank you for your time and knowledge.

My initial impression of you was that you really seem to know your stuff inside and out and you're a stand up guy for giving up so much of your free time to pass along these lessons to new knife makers like myself.Well, after hearing your suggestion for acvtivities during tempering, I now know I was correct. Go Tighers!! Big thanks and thumbs up to you from the upstate. Still have a few weeks before kickoff so while i'm tempering in the oven for now I'll just start pracricing saying DJ's last name. With a little luck it will be rolling off the tounge by the time we line up against jawja. And maybe I'll even have a few new knives. Thanks again and Go Tigers!!

Great video, wish I saw this when I first got into making knives! Thank you for sharing your knowledge, you have a great channel!

Thank you. Awesome to see videos for absolute beginner's itching to do something without a full setup already.

This one is one of my favorites. Simple and tells the basic story of how to make a knife for those who think it will be too difficult.

Walter, Love your videos. I am an avid knife maker from way back and admire your skills. I would be ashamed to show you the best of my work but they are tough and effective. I never buy knives, I just study the design and make a copy for my own enjoyment. If it breaks, and that is rare, I can make another. On another note, I think you got a raw deal on "Forged in Fire." Had they tried less to make the challenge look silly, you would have had the chance to showcase your work. You would have likely won the title. Nevertheless, your fans know who is the real champion. It is rare that I send out a kudos in knife-making videos but felt compelled to share my appreciation for your work and willingness to share your knowledge with your fan base. Great work, keep it up. Much respect.

great video! i cant get enough of your videos! Because of you ive started making my own knives.

Thank you very much, this has been very interesting and informative to the point in the near future I'd like to make my own knife. Looking forward to also watch and learn more about this art.thank you again Walter.

Very nice video. Great concept of showing both approaches.

Brother, your humor takes a great video and makes it awesome!

Thank you so much for this detailed guide! My friends and I will give it a try :)

When I heard you say"beginer using tools that don't cost the world OR more experienced users with more expensive tools" made me watch the whole video. Great content brother

im half way through my first knife at the moment and this video really helped me with the baisics

some poor kid is gonna go to the store looking for elbow grease

you are very inspiring and you encouraged me to make my first knife

Lovin your video's Walter. Thanks for sharing. I think it's finally time to make my first knife. John

This is the first video of your I have watched and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will be checking your other vids. Thank you!!

Excellent knife tutorial! Thanks Walter!

As always, love your work. Thank you for doing these.

Walter, thank you very much for the tutorial guide, it is really easy to understand and nice to watch, cheers from Brazil! I will try to begin and do my own knife! thank you!!

nice video Walter I've been waiting for this one for a while

Walter! Thanks for this video. This knife is realy simple. I very like yours tutorials. Greetings from Poland!

fellow Clemson fan here, love your work!

It's truly an art you do I'm such a big fan

A buddy of mine got me into this hobby. Me and him worked on a couple knives together. Im pretty knew and havent started my own knife just yet but i plan on making a tanto blade or hunters knife with a black and green paracord wrap. Not a big blade maybe 3-4 inches max. Cant wait though. And i almoat forgot, i live in souther alabama. And its summer. The average temperature is 95 degrees, we were in jeans, boots, welding jackts, masks, and gloves. We both took welding so we cut stuff that way, unless its too small to cut. So its hot in the shed with humidity the heat index is usually in the 100's. We were out there sweating, hot, getting cut and getting minor burns. Felt miserable due to the heat but we loved making the knives. Best feeling ever was when people asked us where we got em and tell them that they're handmade

Very good and easy to understand instructions. I subscribed.

really good video! you explain it understandable and quite easy even for people without english as first language. will try it the old fashioned way soon.

i hate a dam know it all, but MR Sorrels, i tip my hat, you evidently do. Keep up the good work, Ron

Nice! Thanks for sharing, Walter.

OMG!!!! I built a knife with hand tools from Lowes. You really have to be committed and ready to sweat. Awesome video as usual Walter. Thank you!

Really sweet videos. Going to start up with my brother soon.

Walt does a great wrap for a handle! I use a strait lash method because it's quick ! 30 minutes and thats if I take a long coffee break!

Thanks for posting this now to decide what I want my blade to look like

thanks for your knowledge and time, walter.

Excellent video. I may have to try my hand at knife making..Well, if the garden this spring allows the time for it.

Best knife making video on RU-vid at this time. I enjoyed the commentary. Well done sir. However I will be supporting the Buckeyes during my down time.

That sandblasted finish looks gorgeous. thanks for the vid :)

Awesome video and not boring like some similar ones.

Hi Walter Sorrells Rick from Australia here. Just stumbled upon your video by accident and only 6.09minutes in And well done New Subscriber from OZ Cheers Mate

Great video, and a well-illustrated lesson on, "the more you know, the less you need."

Really awesome step by step instruction and the knife looks really nice in the end ... I though you would skeletonize the grip and then somehow wrap the cord through it but this one is easier ... I think I´ll made one like that, but smaller :)

love it i love that you explain everything thank you

Great video! You're the reason I'm getting into knife making. I do have one question about this, though. Do you anneal steel before you cut it to length or is that only if you don't get it from a mill or something? In the series in which you make a knife from a file you annealed it but not here. I just don't want to trash a hacksaw I could have saved.

So I just checked out Admiral Steel. Thanks! Just purchased a good bit of 1095 for some upcoming projects, and such a good price!

Dude r a beast!! U explain everything so well!!👍👍

walter: thanks for this videos and many others. they hare very usefull. by the way i like your sacastic humor. grettings from chile

Hey walter! i love your videos! im trying to start knife making, but im not entirely sure what i need to get started. could you make a complete list of everything you need to get started on a project like this? like a shopping list lol. the cheapest supplies list ideally. im not to concerned about power grinders and what not, and i have the heat source im gonna use figured out as well. thank you so much!

thank you so much for this video I am set on making a knife but everywhere I look all I see is tutorials which require expensive equipment this is the only one which only requires simple tools

thanks for this awesome video! keep up the good work!

Excellent! Thank you for this.

Great vid, I feel like young Conan learning about the secrets of steel!

At 14:04 Sweet! Amazing how the right steel/quenchant allows for differential hardening with no need for claying or anything, just because the thinner edge area cools quicker. Really cool stuff!

Love your videos Walter!

Awesome video, liked and subscribed.

you have great videos. I'll probably never make a knife but watching is fun

thanks for show the two approaches was good way to motivate new people

Fossilized mastadon.... Haha! That one thing I love about your videos... You always throw something random and ridiculous in your explanations. Keep them coming!

Nice... You have earned a new subscriber!

What would be your advice for forging a knife rather than stock removal?

Appreciate the effort you put into your vids Walter. They're very informative, and your willingness to share your experience shows through at every stage. Thank you! I have ordered a basic file set (per your recommendations) and am going to attempt my first knife soon. On a side note, I'm not from the US, and don't have access to a variety of steels. I'm contemplating having it shipped to me an expensive and cumbersome effort to say the least), but also have come across suggestions of using the steel off leaf springs. Is this something you would ok for a beginner to get a passable end product? Or would I be wasting my time with it? Thanks again for the time you put into these, cheers!

Nice hair cut Mr. Sorrells. Looking forward to see the coatings!

I would love to see u do a series on making different knifes from files just to see what designs fit on a file do u think you can do something like this

Thank for making these for the beginners, I'm trying to learn to make some for my friends and family for birthday presents. Most of us are hunters and so hopefully I can successfully give them gifts that they actually appreciate! :)

when heat treating, can i use the foundry instead of using the oven? of course i would lower the temperature by putting less charcoal in it first

Sec vol Nation here. Sec just got tuffer with Texas and sooners coming.

I've wanted to get into blacksmithing, This video is awesome I learned a lot in 20 montes, but roll tide

Yet another awesome video, and now I've got a project for this weekend!

Mr. Sorrells, thanks for the video. Tons of information I have been looking for. I have wanted to make a blade for a very long time. Could I use a laser thermometer to check the temperature of the steel when I heat it? I make kydex holsters and already have one for that.

Nice!!!!! So helpful!!!

thank you this video was very useful

dude great video, especially liked the Clemson reference! as a Duke fan ill be watching them, but I always keep an eye on the tigers as well. I hope they beat the he'll outta the tide this year!

Thank you for this vid. I also have a ? A bit off subject I'm been trying to try my hand at knife making and have had a bit of trouble with the finger guards and "pummel" being loose. Any suggestions?

Awesome vid! Thank you!

I was thinking about making a basic knife like this but I do not have a belt sander. But I do have a orbiter and a vibrating portable sander. Would these work to make the bevel?

Great Video !!!!

nice work

Nice video very informative.

one nice "rough coat" i use sometimes is to leave some of the rapeseed oil from hardening on there to get a black (cind of rust resistant) coating on the blade that can look kind of cool after a while. just go over it a bit with some scotch brite to get the biggest particles of the blade and leave the rest.

Great work this help alot thank you

this is fantastic!

Go Tigers. Great tutorials.

great vid. Looking forward to seeing the coatings vid.

I love your videos. awesome. thanks!

love this guys vídeos!