The hunter needs a gun and knife. If there are no questions regarding the application of the first, then there are different opinions regarding the second. Some believe that the knife is necessary for finishing and cutting a shot animal, as well as for protection from the attack of the beast.
Others use this item, first of all, to chop branches, cut bread, open cans of canned goods and carry out various chores, and game cutting is already on occasion. Thus, it turns out that there is no universal blade. Any man can create hunting knives with his own hands .
What is a product?
A hunting knife is a short-edged melee weapon. The blade and hilt are its main elements. To protect the hunter's palm from damage at the time of striking, the product has a duck, that is, a limiter. Homemade hunting knives look very stylish. The photos below demonstrate this clearly.
In order to make weapons, you need to determine, first of all, the shape of the blade and the handle, select the necessary materials, and also establish a list of tools and equipment that will be required to perform specific operations. The manufacture of hunting knives is not available to everyone.
Features of creating a blade
For this item, a more important function is the ability to cut than to stab. To this end, the blade is made curved and bent up. The bend of the cutting edge should be large enough that allows one to make long cuts. This greatly facilitates the process of cutting the extraction. The shape of the blade of a hunting knife is of great importance.
Such cold steel has a shank for the handle of a single metal billet. The sharp edge of the edge of the blade is called the blade. This is the cutting part of the knife. The opposite edge is always made blunt, it is often called the butt.
Rigidity and length of a knife
To give the blade stiffness, special grooves are made in the metal part of the product. Such depressions are called dales. They also reduce the weight of the item. The widespread belief that dales are intended for blood drainage is deeply erroneous.
The length of the blade is in the range from 12 to 15 cm, the width is from 2.5 to 3 cm. It is better to do the hunting knives with your own hands according to the drawings. But some hunters prefer to wear two types of knives. One blade is used for cutting production, and the other for household needs. Not everyone knows how to make a hunting knife.
The choice of materials for manufacturing
The metal for the blade must be strong and not subject to corrosion. Tool steel of the P6M5 brand has proven itself very well . Pendulum saw blades are made from it, and getting it is not so difficult. Of carbon steels, it is worth noting the brand of 65 g. It has the necessary hardness, holds sharpening well, and has high corrosion resistance. How to make a hunting knife so that it lasts a long time, we will describe below.
Even the most advanced blade can become ineffective and useless without a reliable and comfortable handle. It is she who provides the correct possession of such weapons. Will the blade of the knife move in the right direction or go to the side, hands get tired or not - all this largely depends on this particular part. The handle of a hunting knife should lie correctly and conveniently in the hand, but its beautiful finish is a secondary matter.
Handle attachment
The handle can simply be mounted on the shank or attached to it with rivets. The first option looks more attractive. The shank of the knife is made in the form of a narrow rod. Part of it may extend beyond the handle. A thread is cut on the protruding part, with the help of a nut the handle is mounted on the shank, pressing it to the limiter. With this method of attachment, the base can be made from a set of individual rings. A locking nut is often called a knob, and it is usually given an attractive appearance. On a short shank, the handle is simply mounted and glued.
The riveted part is done differently. The shank of the knife is in the form of a handle, that is, it is flat and wide. Holes are drilled in it. Lining on both sides symmetrically applied to the shank, rivets are inserted into the holes. The mount is very durable.
Handle: Material
The material for the manufacture of the handle should be durable, comfortable to the touch, not cool your hand, not soaked in blood and not freeze to your fingers from the cold. The basic requirements also include light weight, ease of handling and affordability. Obtaining exotic materials for a hunting knife is probably not advisable.
The best raw material for making a handle is wood. Billets are made from dense varieties. Very good details are obtained from maple, ash and apple. Coniferous trees are not used. So-called burls are taken from the birch, that is, growths on the trunk. A hole is made in the workpiece for the nozzle on the shank. If it is planned that it will go beyond the handle, then the hole is made through. Its diameter should allow the shank to enter the handle so as not to split it.
The advantage of birch bark
Birch bark is considered an ideal material for the handle. To make the product softer, the raw materials are subjected to heat treatment in hot water for 2 hours. You can say it is simply boiled in a large pot of water, then thoroughly dried. The finished birch bark sheet is cut into small rectangular plates. The size of the parts should be slightly larger than the dimensions of the future handle. Further, the plates are put on the knife shank one at a time.
The holes in the rectangles must be made immediately before their nozzle, since the transverse dimensions of the shank do not remain constant. The collected birch bark is compressed with a nut, which is screwed onto the thread at the end of the shank. If necessary, the plates are added until the entire birch bark is squeezed into a single dense briquette, and a few turns of thread remain under the nut. With the help of a sharp knife and a file, the handle is given the desired shape. In the final version, the handle is sanded with a fine sandpaper. Varnishes and paints are not needed. It's always nice to make a hunting knife with your own hands. Drawings will help determine the shape and size.
The limiter does not allow the hand to move to the blade. It is attached in front of the handle. The limiter is set only single. The crosspiece is used in military weapons. However, many hunters prefer not to install a special limiter at all, and protect their hand thanks to the protrusions on the handle. With these knives it is more convenient to skin the animal and cut it.
Basic knife manufacturing operations
The manufacturing process includes several stages. Consider how to make hunting knives with your own hands (photos will evaluate the complexity of the process).
- A general drawing of a knife with a handle and a separate diagram of a blade with a shank are made.
- According to the second drawing, a stencil is made of cardboard or thick paper, with its help a contour is applied to a strip of metal with a pencil. With a sharp object, you need to scratch the metal of the workpiece in pencil trace, in case it is erased.
- Emery with a large grain size grind the metal along the contour and get the workpiece. So that the metal structure does not break due to overheating, it is lowered into a container of water for cooling.
- The shank is preparing to fit the handle. If it goes beyond its limits, then a thread under the nut is cut at the end. If riveting is planned, then holes are drilled.
- Emery with fine grain uniformly remove the slopes from the blunt part of the blade to the sharp. The workpiece is regularly cooled in water to prevent overheating.
- The surface of the blade is treated with a grinding wheel, and then polished. To do this, you can use a felt disc and a special paste.
- A sleeve is made from a thick brass plate and put on the shank. The handle will abut against it. The sleeve can be made together with the limiter. For better fixation, it is soldered to the blade.
- Make a handle and push it on the shank or fasten with rivets. Do-it-yourself hunting knives can be made without it. Just wrap the workpiece with a cord or twine.
The knife is ready. It remains only to place it in a reliable sheath. Making hunting knives can be a good business.