Okay, so this really isnt an intrcutable, because im not actually doing the steps, i didnt think of documenting making this. There is a story behind it though. A couple years ago, i found an old steak knife, really beat up, in terrible shape, in my yard while digging.. The handle was totally trashed, not saveable, the blad was real dull and had an odd shape to it. Recently i found it in one of my drawers so one boring saturday i decided to make a whole new one. I split the handle apart, threw that out, but i kept the steel.

P.S. - Before this, i had no knowledge of making knives, the shape, the desgins, pretty much nothing about knives. So go easy haha :) Tips are welcome :)

Step 1: The Blade

I decided to keep the steel from the old blade, so my first step was to cut/grind it down do the shape i wanted. It was in terrible shape, all rusty and stuff, so i set about cleaning it. I didnt know what i was doing, but i thought i heard somewhere that vinegar worked good, so i soaked it in vinegar, and with some steel wool, and sandpaper, the worst came off. I used a bench grinder and a dremel for the finer applications. i drew out the shape of the blade i wanted then grinded it down, leaving some room for error. i didnt worry about sharpening just yet.

Step 2: The Handle

I used cherry for the handle because my dad said it was a nice wood.. So i found some scraps, and cut out 2 halves of cherry in the rough shape i wanted the handle to be in. Then after i cut them out, i used a combination of hand sanding, a homemade sander thing, and a belt sander.

Step 3: Putting Them Together

Putting the handles, and the steel together was a long process of trial and error for me, i never measure anything, i just go by eyes and feel. after i lined everything up, i taped everything together real tight, and drilled 2 holes through the kinfe handle, for rivet things. Im not totally sure what theyre called. I took them from the old knife handle and polished em up nice and shiny.

Step 4: Finishing Up

After everything was lined up and drilled, i took the rivets, fit them through each side, and hammered it together, it was final. Then, i took "Tung Oil" (which my dad said it would make the wood look pretty good) and put a coat on, let it dry, put another coat on, let it dry, and repeated that until it looked the way i wanted it to (that took a couple days) After that, i polished the blade itself with fine sand paper till it looked alright. THen i put a quick edge on it.

Step 5: Done

This is the final product.. I dont think its too bad considering everything is hand carved and stuff, and its the first knife ive ever attempted to make. Looks kinda like a filet knife to me. Constructive criticism and comments are welcome! :)