How I made a mini hacksaw blade knife

I made this DIY knife using an old hacksaw blade and a piece of niangon wood.

First of all I cut the blade to size and shape with my rotary tool and a cutting disc.

The blade is really hard tool steel. In order to drill the holes for the knife’s pins, I used a propane torch to heat the blade and lose it’s hardness. I then moved to the drill press and drilled out the two holes.

After that process, the blade was bent. So I reheated it and used a hammer and a mini anvil to forge it straight again.

I then heated the blade to red hot again in my mini homemade forge. I then quenched the blade in oil to harden it.

Because the blade was now really hard and could easily snap. I heat treated it in the oven at 180 degrees celsius for 2 hours. This procedure should help the blade regain some of it’s flexibility. Ofcourse these procedures vary from steel to steel. I just did the basic DIY stuff and hoped it will work fine.

I then sanded the blade to clean it up with 100 grit sandpaper and oil.

Next, I moved on the belt sander to grind the bevel of the blade. During this procedure I dipped the blade in water quite often. This way the blade does not lose it’s hardness.

I used the bandsaw to split a scrap piece of niangon in half. I mounted a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface and jointed the two pieces of wood.

I then used my chisels to carve a groove in order to receive the blade.

Back on the drill press I drilled the holes for my pins.

I used two nails to act as knife pins. I mixed two part epoxy glue and glued everything together.

After the glue dried, I used my rotary tool again, to cut the excess metal of the nails.

I used the bandsaw to cut out the shape of my handle and then used rasps and sandpaper, to finish the handle.

I finished the handle with 4 coats of clear, satin water based varnish with sanding between coats.

I sharpened the blade using three different grits of oil stones. Every time I created a burr on one stone I removed it and moved to the next grit. I polished the blade using polishing compound and a strop.

My blade came out nice and it is razor sharp.

I think it works great for small carvings and detail woodworking jobs.