DIY Classic Knife Out of Rusted Metal Sheet

In this instructable I am going to make a classic knife out of a rusted sheet of metal.

This project lasted for more than four days and took a lot of work to complete. Well I am not a very frequent metal worker but it feels good to see the finished product after a lot of hard work.

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Lets get building.....

Regards.

DIY King

First off we started by removing the rust from the metal sheet by using a hand grinder.

Well there are many attractive templates available on google for a classic knife but I decided to draw my own.

I have drawn a template on A4 size paper and then sticked it to the metal sheet using some glue.

First pilot holes are drilled on the spots that we have to drive the hole saw in and than we made larger holes of 36mm diameter and then the smaller ones measuring 22mm in diameter for fingers.

Later more holes are drilled on the face of the knife measuring 5mm diameter.

After all the round shapes are cut using hole saws we have cut down the rest of the metal sheet using a jig saw fitted with a metal blade.

This helped us to cut through different curves easily.

Now the initial grinding is focused to remove all the imperfection in the curves of the knife and to shape the blades of the knife.

First the template is removed by using a hand grinder and then continued grinding by using a bench grinder. Later the steep grinding is done on the belt sander.

To remove the minor imperfections and smooth out the rough surface we have sanded the knife by using sandpapers with increasing Grit numbers and later the butter smooth finish is achieved using an orbital sander.

The groves on the bottom of the knife is finished using a small round file.

Since I have been using a metal sheet that is not hardened initially which is good as far as the machining process is considered but now since the knife is machined and sanded to its final shape , now its necessary for the metal to be hardened so that it can maintain its shape when subjected to rough condition.

To harden the knife we have used the most common tempering technique. First we have heated the knife untill it becomes red hot using a bunch of coals and then rapidly dipping it into a bath of old engine oil which results in crystallisation and rearrangement of metal atoms to form more stable configuration and thus the metal surface becomes more resistant to deformation.

Since the hardening/tempering process leaves stains of burnt oil on the surface of knife so its necessary to put the knife through final sanding and grinding process to give it a smooth flawless finish.

A wooden handle is made by gluing two 10mm thick wooden sheets on either side of the knife,clamping them and letting the epoxy so its work.

Next day the excess wood is first cut down using a jig saw and then the wooden handle is grinded on a belt sander. Later then holes are drilled and sanded down to perfect size as of the metal sheet. A smooth finish is achieved using an orbital sander.

Now to protect the wooden handle from damage over the time from weather we have applied multiple coats of varnish over the wooden handle which also give the wooden handle an attractive look.

No doubts the end results are quiet satisfying since it take a lot of work to carve a knife from barely a rusted sheet of metal and at the end it all pays off.

If you like this project than don't forget to visit to my youtube channel and subscribe to my youtube channel for more fun and informative project videos.

Below is the link to my youtube channel....

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC4584D31N9RuQ-aE...

Regards.

DIY King.