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These are the principal stages of the making of one of my knives.
Obviously, the process contains
many more stages and manipulations, despite this, it should give
you a good idea of the different stages in custom knifemaking
and also the amount of time it takes to make a knife. Other pictures
will soon be available...
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Everything starts with the knife
conception. In general, I draw different designs, until
I find a shape that will be pleasing to the eye, and will
fuction best for the use of the knife (artistic, hunting,
kitchen, general use, etc.)
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Once I have
a general idea, I redesign the knife with a computer which
permits me to correct and perfect the design but also to
try different modifications until I obtain a final model.
Sometimes a prototype is made of wood or plexiglass to get
an idea of the look and handling of the knife before making
it. |
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With
a computer, it's possible to quickly modify or change the
design of the knife. I can therefore try different versions
and alter small details until I find the ideal design. |
The final design is traced
on a piece of steel. The type of steel is very important
in the making of the knife because it's the choice of
steel which permits one to have a knife that cuts well,
is resistant and above all keeps its cutting edge for
a long time.
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The piece of steel is cut
and sanded with different tools (metal cutting bandsaw,
files, grinders and other abrasives) until the right profile
is obtained.
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The
piece of steel is then ground and sanded to remove the scales
and grime of the original piece of steel, and the contours
are ajustd and finalised. |
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Guidelines are then traced
on the blades so as to grind the shape. Guidelines are
also traced on the part that sill became the handle.
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The cutting edge is hand
shaped with a belt grinder. This is a critical stage !
In effect, this stage is delicate and requires extreme
manual dexterity to obtain an effective and sharpe edge
and also be symetrical on both sides.
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Sanding belts of different grits (from 50 to 1000 which
ever is needed) are used to get a smooth and scratch free
finish. The contours and different parts of the knife
are also sanded.
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Holes are also drilled in
the handle part of the knife to lighten the weight and
also help the epoxy glue to stick. Other holes are drilled
for the rivets. Each hole has to be countersunk to lighten
the stress on the steel during heat treatment.
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The blade is then hand sanded to remove any scratches that
might exist. |
At this stage, the
blade is not hard enough to retain its cutting edge, therefore
it must be hardened by thermo treatment. This procedure is done
in two stages; the first consists of heating the blade to a certain
temperature (varing between 1500 to 2000 degrees F depending on
the type of steel) then cooling it rapidly in oil, water or air,
depending on the steel.
The second step in
the thermo treatment is called tempering and consists of reheating
the steel to a certain temperature (lower than for the heat treatment)
until the desired hardness is achieved. After the thermo heat
treatment, the steel is very hard but also quite brittle, tempering
makes it more supple and also determines the final hardness of
the blade (mesured in rockwell degrees). Beside thermo treatment,
it's also possible to subject the blades to cryogenic
treatment (generally in liquid nitrogen) which also adds to the
hardness.
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The thermo treatment leaves
the blade with a thin coat of oxyde which must be removed.
This is when the final sanding and polishing begins. The
blade is hand sanded using finer and finer sandpaper (1000-2000
sometimes). The satin finish is obtained in this final
stage.
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To obtain
a mirror finish, the blade is sanded with very fine sandpaper
then polished with a cotton wheel and abrasive pastes. |
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To make the guard, two small
holes are drilled and are joined with a small file. It's
a delicate and time consuming operation as it has to be
perfectly rectangular so the blade can be inserted tightly.
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Once the
blade is finished, it's possible to add the guard or bolster.
These pieces are made seperatly from stainless steel or
other metal. Bolsters riveted on the knife.
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Guards can be riveted or
welded. Welding the guard is a delicate operation as the
heat can affect the heat treating of the blade. Therefore,
the blade is immersed in water during this operation to
prevent any damage.
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Once
the guard welded, the weld must be cleaned before it can
be polished and buffed.
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It's now time to sign my work. An
electro-chimical process is used to engrave my name and logo in
the steel. This is done with an electrolyte and electric current.
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With
a full tang knife, the wood or other material used for the
handle is cut and shaped ready to be fixed on the knife.
This is a precise operation as both halves of the handle
must line up perfectly. A strong glue (generally an epoxy
with 2 ton holding power) is used to attach the handle and
also reinforced with rivets, bolts or screw. |
With a hidden tang knife,
the handle can be a single block with a hole for the tang
or a block split in two where room for the tang has been
carved out of both pieces. Then carefully assembled and
glued together.
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One the glue has
dried, excess glue is removed from the handle and the rivets,
and with the use of different tools and abrasives, it's sanded
to obtain the final shape desired. As with the blade, the handle
is sanded and blished to the desired finished product. Depending
on the materials used, different products can be used to seal
and finish the handle (tung oil, danish oil, linseed oil, canuba
wax, cyano-acrylate, etc.)
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It's just about finished
! All that remains is a final inspection, the inevitable
touch ups and ajustments, and finish by making the sheath
(leather, kydex or concealex) and then comes the final
sharpening of the blade.
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The knife is now
finished and I can now take a picture of it.
Last but not least,
it remains to sell it...
©
2003 Alain Miville-Deschênes, all rights reserved.
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What is interesting in knifemaking is that
it allows us to discover many different fields, such as :
- Metal work, drilling, cutting, countersinking, tapping, etc.
- Working with wood and other materials
- Sculpture and engraving
- Soldering
- Working with leather and thermo plastics (for making the sheaths)
- Astistic aspect (creating knives is visualy interesting)
- Metallurgy (heat treating, composition and behavior
of the metals)
- Sales and Marketing
Consult the pictures on
this page to see some of the steps of my knifemaking.
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