I made a knife!

"Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'" (otto-the-croatian)
05/05/2020 at 13:41 • Filed to: i made this

Started from an old metal box and a stick. The stick is found from a trip to the mountains I took with my friend, and the knife itself is gonna be her birthday present.

The knifemakers and skilled/knowledgeable people here will be disappointed to learn that the metal was not heat treated, so the knife isn’t hardened and w ill lose its edge soon. I will try to get access to a torch for my next one!

But please give me a little b it of a break because this is my first attempt at such a thing, almost my first time holding an angle grinder at all. FForst time polishing anything, too and man, the results are so satisfying! I just enjoyed working on it, and it’ll just be a conversation piece more than a functional object... Hope you guys like it. Have you made something similar? Show me!

DISCUSSION (19)

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'
05/05/2020 at 14:02

Looks great! Th e only thing I made today was a pizza and breadsticks disappear.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'
05/05/2020 at 14:09

good job :)

considering ive spent most of my working life so far doing metalwork its remarkable how little i make at home

wich is to say...nothing

phenotyp > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'
05/05/2020 at 14:16

RAD.

My neighbor mentioned last night that she loved the sound of knife sharpening coming from the garage all day long, yesterday. I had six knives, all different profiles, from neighbors, to sharpen, so we spent the day with the garage door open, kids doing their school work, and I set up the table and stones and just worked on them all day.

She said it sounded like the 1800s. It’s very zen. I warned another neighbor that there might b e a kiln and hammer filling this garage soon.

It looks like a really useful shape . What’s the idea for using it, aside from just a general knife? Love the bottle opener integration and lanyard hole.

nerd_racing > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'
05/05/2020 at 14:23

My quarantine binge watch show has been forged in fire... I’m really surprised I have not built a forge yet.

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI
05/05/2020 at 14:56

Someone has to make sacrifices in these tough times

Snuze: Needs another Swede > nerd_racing
05/05/2020 at 14:58

Do it! Knifemaking is fun, although laborious, and way harder than the show makes it out to be. I have 2 full days, i.e. 16 hours, into a knife and I’m not even ready to put a handle on it yet, and it’s maybe of middling quality at best.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'
05/05/2020 at 14:58

Cool looking blade! I think it’s a neat shape, very creative, especially for a first effort.

Now you just gotta get that torch and heat treat it!

Nom De Plume > farscythe - makin da cawfee!
05/05/2020 at 15:15

Not sure your lips sucking on an aluminum beer can is something you can claim as metalwork.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Nom De Plume
05/05/2020 at 15:26

good thing i didnt then...thats stuff i do at home

i keep my drinky self as far away from work as possible

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'
05/05/2020 at 17:18

Nicely done!

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > phenotyp
05/06/2020 at 04:10

Awesome, seems to be a very tolerant neighbor, you’re lucky!

The idea is that it’s just used for hiking. Cutting a few ropes, maybe sharpening sticks, and I made the tip rounded a bit so you can use it to scoop cheese and mayo onto a sandwich. Bottle opener was an afterthought, but it’ll be useful I hope. It works at least.

To be honest I just wanted an excuse to try knifemaking - the most important part of this knife is the handle, made from a stick from our trip together.
I’ll definitely try more, I really got into it.

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > Snuze: Needs another Swede
05/06/2020 at 04:11

Yeah it’s a lot of work. I was hand sanding this for a few hours, but they went by pretty quickly.

Nom De Plume > farscythe - makin da cawfee!
05/06/2020 at 07:40

What did you do; Fabrication, construction?

Nom De Plume > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'
05/06/2020 at 07:52

D on’t want to be negative. You did a fine job making the knife.

Not all metals are safe for food if camping is the intended use. Slicing rope or any number of other duties it would be fine for. I’m concerned if the metal is hard enough to avoid depositing itself inside cans it is opening or be a good choice for meal preparation.

phenotyp > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'
05/06/2020 at 09:40

Very cool. Looking forward to seeing more.

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > Nom De Plume
05/06/2020 at 11:04

Gotcha, thank you for the info. I’ll be sure to tell that to the gift-recipient.
If properly heat-treated and tempered, would it be safe to use for food then? Don’t know what type of metal this is, from a random hollow metal box.

Nom De Plume > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan'
05/06/2020 at 14:11

The random metal box could have any number of things in it that are now recognized as dangerous. Especially coming in contact with food. Heat treating it might have actually brought about a worse effect or it could have burned off something. Honestly have no idea what is in the metal you used or if there is a concern to be had from contact with it

I don’t want to lessen your enthusiasm. I also don’t want to see your friend get sick.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Nom De Plume
05/06/2020 at 14:22

last few years its been mostly fabrication and machining mostly sheet metal

i actually started as a panelbeater doing car body work...finished my schooling just in time for that job to largely go extinct as replacement panels got cheaper than fixing bent ones..

currently making fancy pants coffee machines.. doesnt pay so good...but its actually kinda fun as i get to build the whole thing from scratch

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > Nom De Plume
05/06/2020 at 17:18

Oh don’t worry , no less enthusiasm here, just more things to learn and master. Thanks again, I’ll look more into it. One of my friends is a chemist, so I will start there for some pointers.