This knifemaking challenge will bring out the blacksmith inside you and let you transform an old wrench into a knife!
Enhance Your Knifemaking Skills and Turn an Old Wrench into a Weapon
Knife Forging Supplies
Knifemaking is an ancient art. However, like many other skills, the skill of traditional knife making seems lost in our modern world of convenience.
You can include knifemaking in your essential primitive survival skills. Every knife, whether made from ancient Damascus steel or modern carbon steel, comes from a set of tools.
A knife maker needs the following materials before making a blade:
- an old wrench
- a grinder
- blacksmithing forge
- a hammer
- sandpaper
Also, don't forget a knife maker needs protective clothing. You don't want to burn yourself with sparks from the belt grinder or get bits of steel in your eye.
Use goggles, gloves, even breathing protection so your DIY knife making is safe.
Step 1: Choosing the Knife Side of the Wrench
First, choose which end of the wrench you want for the knife blade and the handle. Use a portable grinder to straighten out the end you chose to be the knife blade.
Then, use the grinder to cut through the steel to shape the blade.
Step 2: Setting Up the Blacksmithing Forge
Meanwhile, you can create a simple blacksmithing forge at home. You can use an old grill or any solid platform where you can place a lump of burning coal.
Make sure to incorporate a blowing mechanism in your forge to make enough heat for forging steel.
Step 3: Putting the Wrench on the Hot Forge
After using the grinder on your knife, place the knife side of the wrench on the burning coals. Keep it there until it's hot enough for the steel to be shaped.
You should be able to determine when the steel reaches forging temperature. At this point, the color of the steel should be red hot or yellow.
Step 4: Pounding the Steel
Once the steel gets really hot, place it on an anvil or any metal surface hard enough for support. Now, you can manipulate the steel.
Pound it with a hammer until you get the desired shape of the blade. The metal may move in strange ways when hit by the hammer. Take this as a test of your blacksmithing skills.
RELATED: How to Make a Survival Knife
Step 5: Making the Blade
You can start making the blade as soon as you have achieved the form you want for your knife.
A belt grinder or belt sander for metal is perfect for the job since it helps refine the blade.
The belt grinder also gives the blades an even, smooth stainless appearance.
Step 6: Heat Treating the Steel
After you've worked on the blade's sharp edge, put it back on the hot forge. Wait for the color of the blade to turn into glowing red.
Remove the knife from the forge then douse it in engine oil to conclude the process. Finally, try not to apply pressure on the blade and allow it to cool for an hour.
Step 7: Sharpening the Blade
Once your blade has cooled down, give it a nice edge. So, keep your knife sharp by making sure you have these materials.
Step 8: Appreciating Your Work
After making the knife, appreciate your work! Only a few people make custom knives and can call themselves knife makers today.
If you want some knife sheaths for your blade, follow these steps. Soon, you can try making pocket knives, hunting knives, and other blades to test your skills.
Check out this post from Trollskyy for a full knifemaking video:
Knifemaking is a really great first blacksmithing project. We're lucky to have modern tools at our disposal to simplify the work.
Forging steel and blades must have been really difficult centuries ago. Lucky for us, we have all the tools and means needed to transform any old wrench into a knife.
Take advantage of this opportunity and continue improving your knifemaking and blacksmithing skills!
What can you say about this knifemaking project? Have you ever turned an old wrench into a blade? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Up Next: Blacksmithing: Useful Hobby and Survival Skill!
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Editor's Note: This post was originally published on April 16, 2018, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
kool,…i really like that one,ive seen a few others,but they all looked like crap,not like this at all..
If this is supposed to show us how to make a knife when the shtf, shouldn’t we be shown how to do this without electricity? I mean if we had all these new electric tools to make the knife, are we really in a shtf scenario? Show us how to do it without the tools found at hardware stores and that don’t require electricity…FYI
It’s about making a knife today not Yester Century
Actually it’s a poor instructional on making a knife with modern tools. The most important part of making a knife is metal selection and heat treatment. There is no telling what the wrench is made from, heating to red is vague, and motor oil is a poor quench fluid. There is no mention of tempering either.
this is a real good basic video on forging. any steel can be forged. even stainless. and if you know anything about forging, you harden in oil and case harden in water. oil tempers the steel all the way thru and water only tempers the surface of the steel making it brittle.
I made mine by cutting (using an acetylene torch) the shape (5 inch Bowie) I wanted (including the tang) from an old Chevrolet leaf spring. Then used hand filing to refine the shape and form the blade cutting edge. Drilled holes for the handle and splurged on some brass rivets and a brass guard. Hand filed the brass guard to fit the tang. Epoxied it in and then cut 2 pieces of well aged small-leaved (Dominican) mahogany for the scales. Rivetted them into place and then did a serve and tuck using #21 polished nylon cord. Then did 2 dip and dry steps on the handle using marine spar varnish. Finally, hand ground and honed the the blade. Not the prettiest knife around but very easy to use and plenty sharp for anything you want to cut. If you live near a saw mill, old used rotary buzz saws are about as good as the leaf spring steel for your home made knife. Did the whole thing as a project with one of my grandsons.
Great information. Thanks!
Amazing tips. I will try it out soon.
Many thanks to Zach and Mansa for techniques to forge and/or cut blades. I know a guy who forges his blades from a blend of mild steel, high carbon and stainless. First he hammers the steel into strips, then layers the strips and hammer folds the strips several times (sometimes dozens of folds) until the finished forging looks right to him. ( It’s fascinating to watch the flowing heat patterns in the metal in the dark!)