How to Cut Out Knife Blanks With a Cutting Torch

Making your own knives has a satisfaction that does not come with a simple brick-and-mortar or online purchase. The blade you make for yourself has the balance you desire, a more natural fit to your hand and can be specifically designed to perform intended tasks more effectively. Knife blanks are basic knife shapes laid out and cut from desired materials such as steel. Cutting torches work well to cut steel knife blanks.

• 1

  Skip this step if you are using purchased steel with a known carbon content. Press a sample piece of your chosen scrap steel against a running grinder to determine its carbon content. High-carbon steel will make more sparks than lower-carbon steels. Compare the spark pattern to patterns produced by known steel samples to help you decide which steel it might be.

• 2

  Use a soapstone marker to sketch your chosen knife profile onto a piece of high-carbon steel that is long, wide and thick enough to accommodate the material loss that occurs during cutting, grinding, polishing and finishing.

• 3

  Don wrap-around eye protection, heavy leather work gloves and full protective leathers. Open your shop doors and windows and turn on any exhaust fans or other ventilation aids.

• 4

  Light your cutting torch. Follow an imaginary line while cutting 1/16-inch outside the soapstone line, to ensure that you have enough metal available when you grind away the slag from the cutting torch.

• 5

  Grind away the slag produced by the torch until you reach the soapstone line. Finish your knife by grinding it to the desired blade geometry.