File Knives

Making Knives with Files

 Flat File Used To Make
Homemade Throwing Knife

   I have been making knives using all kinds of scrap metal and files to shape them but one day I ran out of metal and decided to use one of my files to make a throwing knife. At first I thought it would be easy until I tried to cut the file with a hack saw. I made it a quarter inch with four hack saw blades as they were no match for the flat files. I then realized I was missing something and went to the internet to find out how files are case hardened, and that the older files were fully hardened than the ones made today.

File Throwing Knife

Of course the file I was making a knife with was pretty old and fully case hardened. I also found out the holder flat files are way better to use for knife making, but you have to take the hardness out of the file first which makes it much easier to form your new throwing knife.

In order to take the temper out of a file you need to heat it up to around 500 degrees and then let the file cool as slowly as possible. This will make the metal a lot softer and easier to cut and work with. The best way to do this is with a good bed of coals make by a good camp fire. Throw the knife File on top of the coals and surround it with more wood leaving it to burn down for at least an hour. After you remove your piece of metal from the coals the key point is letting the file cool down really slow. If cooled down to fast you will re-temper the file and need to start all over. The best way to do this is just letting the fire burn out before you take he knife out, this takes a lot longer but the metal is going to be much easier to work with.

The Same Flat File
 After I was Done Making
Two Different Knives

The next thing I did was draw the design of the knife I wanted to make and transferred it to the file. I decided to make an 8" throwing knife using the same handle that the file had and used the dagger style point for the knife to make sure it would be sharp and hopefully a good throwing knife.

After I formed the new knife and had a good edge started, I decided to re-harden the knife by heating the metal up in until it was glowing red and no longer magnetic. I then dropped the knife in a cup of water making sure to do it real fast and insure a good proper hardening throughout the metal. I then completed the tempering process for the knife by putting it in the oven on 400 degrees for three additional hours.

My file throwing knife was complete and I had to go give it a try. I threw this knife and a few others for a little while and was truly impressed because my store bought knives got a few big nicks in the blade from throwing, but my file knife was still absolutely perfect and proved much stronger. Leaving partial ribs still left from the old file in the middle of the new knife also proved to be a good idea because of its firm grip when throwing while holding onto the blade.

Homemade Throwing Knife
Sticks with Superior Force
Compared to Store-Bought Ones!

Homemade Necklace Knife
using piece of a file.

I still had about 3 1/2 inches of file left so I decided to make a small neck survival knife out of it. I wanted to make a knife that had a lot of different uses in a very small package and came up with a little survival knife/tool that could also be used as a harpoon, spear, a gut hook and a file. I really like this knife because I left the file edge on the knife some it could be used to sharpen other knives and help start fires as well. This is a small do it all survival knife that you can wear around your neck and always have with you while in the woods.