Introduction: Homemade Pocket Knife

About: mechanical engeneering student

In this instructable I`m going to show you how to make your own pocket knife! you can make it any shape you like, be creative and make the knife you`ve always wanted



!!!!!  Be careful, this is a sharp object, be cautious while making/using it  !!!!!!!! 





please don`t be hard on my English, i`m not a native speaker.

Step 1: Materials

To make this knife you need a couple materials, I found most of them in my workplace`s dust bin, so it`s likely that you will find the materials just laying around!



The tools you will need are:

-drill

-heatgun

-woodsaw

-ironsaw

-(optional) metal cutter



The materials you will need (also pictured above) are:

-A thin piece of wood

-3 small nuts and bolts (not pictured)

-an old sawblade or a piece of metal

-10 cm of pvc pipe

Step 2: Cutting the Pvc

To start you need to cut the pvc pipe horizontally on one end, not all the way through! so when we apply het to it we can make it to a flat square.

Step 3: Applying Heat 1: Flatten the Pvc

To make the pipe into a small flat square you need to apply heat to it, when it is fully soft apply presure to it on a flat suface with a flat object while it hardens again. Do this until it is completly even like in the picture above.

Step 4: Folding the Pvc

To make the handle of the knife we`re going to fold it over a piece of metal that is more or less the same thickness of your blade (which we will make later). take your pvc square and lay it over the object you are going to fold it over and again apply heat after the pvc is soft press it against the metal so it will make a sharp bend. and you get the same shape as you would when you fold a piece of paper in half.

Step 5: The Blade

To make the blade I used an old sawblade, but you can use whatever piece of metal you have laying around.



Before you`re going to cut the blade out of your metal think of what shape you want it to be, trace this over onto your metal piece so you can follow these lines while cutting it.

Step 6: Cutting Your Blade

To make the blade you can use ant metal cutter like I did or just do it the old fashioned way by a saw, either way make it a shape that you like and one that will fit into in pvc piece you made earlier. I used the teeth of my sawblade as the back off my knife so it can also act like a saw when You need to take a small tree down for example.



when shaping your blade shape it more or less like my example above, to make the knife function as it should.

Step 7: Insert the Blade in the Handle

To insert the blade in the handle take the blade and fit it into the pvc piece, trace the place where you want the blade to rotate around, and drill a hole in that place (same diameter as your bolt). also drill a hole in the middle of the the lower part of your blade. 

To stop the knife from wiggling drill a second hole in the pvc but only half into the blade, so it "clicks" into place when opened( like above)

 secure and try the fit by putting the bolts in place and open and close the knife a few times.

Step 8: Make It More Pretty

To make the knife more pretty and to make it handle better we are going to make wooden plates for on the sides. First take your piece of wood and trace the shape of the pvc handle onto it, cut this out and drill the holes in the same places as in the pvc, after that file the wood to make it fit your hand and get rid of the rough edges. 

Step 9: Sharpen the Kife

To sharpen the knife I used a file, i don`t recommend this, us a sharping stone instead, this will give a better result.

besides of that sharpen the knife like you would a normal one, be careful. you`re working with a sharp object.

Step 10: Finishing Up

When all your parts are ready, assemble your knife and take it outside!



Be careful when using it!





To improve your knife you could treat it to withstand water, paint it, or engrave your name!

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