Edger blade Knife Build-A-long

[knightd]

Ok A few of you guys asked if I would Do a  Build-A-Long on how I make knives out of edger blades.. I am by NO!! stretch of the imagination a knife maker so bare with me on this. So here it goes.. I got my edger blade at the local hardware it cost 3 bucks.. The first thing you want to do is lay out a basic profile of the shape blade you want to have.. keep in mind you will get 2 blades out of each edger blade and you might as well cut both of them out at while you are at it..here is the basic way I lay them out..


Then I use a dremel with one of the fiber cutting disk to cut out the blanks.



At this point I use a belt and disk sander to finish shaping out the blank.. I keep my old belts just for sanding and grinding on metal..I don't have a bench grinder so I am using my belt sander to put some what of a hollow grind on the blade I like to keep a cup of water close by to dip the blank in to keep it cool while grinding on it..The edger blades are tempered well enough to hold a good edge when you get them and if you are carefull when you are working on them not to get them to hot. Then you wont have to retemper the blade. 

[Jesse]

Great idea Im gonna have o try one now.

[DanaM]

What kind of edger are these again? How thick are they? Which one is mine

[knightd]

They are edger blades that go on like a side walk edger. They are 1/8" thick.. If you go to a lawn care center or such you can get heavy duty ones that are around 3/16" thick..
Dana see the third one down in the pic?? It is yours!!

[DanaM]

I got ya now, but whats a lawn Is that the green crap that grows for about a week in August

[madcrow]

Nice.  Me likey.  Show me more. 

[knightd]

It will be the first of the week before I can get any more done on them..I will post more pics then..

[knightd]

OK I finally got the time to work on this again.. OK I use a hand sander with 220grit to remove the deep marks from the sanding belt..


Then I drilled the holes for my pins in the blank. I lay the blank on top of one scale and them clamp it down. I then drill my holes in the scales using the knife blank as a template..




Then I slide 2 of the pins through the holes to keep every thing aligned. then I place the blank on top of the other scale and clamp in place and drill through to the other scale. After I drill the hole I place a pin in it and remove one of the others and drill it and so on till you get all your holes drilled..

[knightd]

OK then I take every thing apart. I like to ruff up the tang on the section that will be under the handle with 60 grit sand paper to help give the epoxy something to get ahold of..Then I put epoxy on both scales and put it all together and put the pins through so that they stick out both sides and then clamp it all with clamps until the epoxy dries.. Which will be tomorrow.. .. Sorry about not having pics of puting it togather with the epoxy. I just didnt have time with the 5 min epoxy to stop and take them..

[cracker]

Very informative thread keep it coming.Ron

[Hillbilly]

That's cool, David-looks like they're gonna be some nice'uns.

[Timo]

Neat stuff.Curious as to what the pins are? Brass?

[woodsman1031]

great tutorial!

[knightd]

The pins are 1/8" brass.. Thanks guy's for the kind words.. I will get some more pics up tomorrow..

[billy]

No, you will get more pictures NOW!!  I want to see the end result NOW!  NOW!!  Gimme more pictures!  Hurry up!  I'm getting Tired of waiting......o.k.  I've waited long enough.  Post them NOW!!!!