Making a Fixed Blade Knife

Austin Shaw
Economics, 2019

1095 steel has a carbon content of .95% which is much higher than other typical kinds of steel. The higher carbon content alters the molecular structure of the metal that causes its to be much stronger. With these properties, the knife will hold an edge and be very durable following the heat treatment process. This process is crucial – without it, the knife would be soft or too brittle. By heating the blade in a forge till it is red hot and then quenching it in some kind of oil the hardness of the steel increases due to how the extremely hot metal changes the crystal structure of the metal. Though the blade will be the correct hardness, it will also be quite brittle at this point. The final stage of the heat treatment process, tempering, solves this issue by heating the blade to a temperature between 350-450F and letting it cool on its own. The finishing process will mostly involve wood working and sanding and is fairly straightforward.

Sargeant, Josh, et al. “How Good Is 1095 Steel?” Knife Up, 17 May 2018, knifeup.com/how-good-is-1095-steel/

“Hardening and Tempering of Knife Steel – Sandvik Materials Technology.” Hardening and Tempering of Knife Steel – Sandvik Materials Technology, www.materials.sandvik/en-us/products/strip-steel/strip-products/knife-steel/hardening-guide/purpose-of-hardening-and-tempering/.

This knife required a small amount of materials to build. I started with a 10 in by 2.5 in by 4 mm piece of D2 steel. I also had some pieces of cocobolo wood for the handles, and two 1/4 in by 1 inch brass pins to secure the handle. I chose to use D2 as its high carbon content helps create more durable knives. After sketching and designing the profile of the blade on paper and in CAD software, I reached a final shape for the blade. I traced this shape onto the metal blank and then went to a bandsaw in the machine shop to cut out the rough shape. Then, I cut out the design from paper and glued it to the knife. This allowed me to use the belt sander to get to exactly the right shape. Once I had the desired blade profile, it was time to start grinding the bevel (where the knife’s edge starts to form). To do so, I used a one inch belt grinder with a 60 grit belt. This was all done free hand, which is the traditional method in knife making. Once I had the bevel done, the blade was ready for heat treat. Ryan Amos, a grad student and friend of James, connected me with the New Jersey Blacksmithing Association and I went to one of their open forge nights to do the heat treating process. With Ryan’s help, I put the knife into the forge until it was a dull orange color (roughly 1300 F) then we set it on the anvil to cool. At this point the knife was extremely brittle. If I were to drop it on concrete it would definitely break. Thus, it needed tempering. To do this, I used an oven in a dorm kitchen set at 500 degrees to heat the blade for two hours. I did this for two cycles. The metal actually changes color, and it reached the dark blue – purple shade that I desired.

With the heat treating and tempering done it was time to go back to grinding to finish the knife. After sitting in the hot forge the knife was covered in blackened oxidized metal, which is called scale. To get rid of the scale, I used the surface grinder to precisely remove material to get to the raw steel. When this was done, I went back to the one inch belt grinder to get rid of the scale on the bevel. With the metal part of the knife basically finished, it was time to shape the handle. Using a drill press and the brass pins I bought, I attached the two pieces of cocobolo wood. From there I used the belt grinder to continue to finely tune the handle shape to exactly where I wanted it. I used a polishing belt on the grinder to reach the desired finish on both the blade and the handle.