KNIFE FROM A NAIL

Forging is fun. Steel needs to be hot forged but iron can be cold forged, needing only to be annealed when hammering has hardened it.
Common nails are made of iron, (or of mild steel in this case you must anneal them when you feel they are getting harder to hammer) ; any nail, around 3 inches long, can be turned into a small knife. Old bent nails cost nothing so you can try and make different shapes at no cost. Annealing means bringing the steel to a red-heath temperature and letting it air-cool.

Step 1 WHAT YOU NEED

You need a hammer, a lump of steel for an anvil (a sledge hammer head will do), a stump, a flame, a couple of pliers, and a file.

Comments

[W8L42B9]

very good i also did a project like this...i used a nail to make a scalpel...i need to sharpen it so i can use it to cape animal hyde....today i was working on a sword..a little harder then i thought but it is comeing alone very well...all i am useing for this project is a hand held torch, regular hammer...25 pound dumbell that i hammer against...heavy leather gloves and a aluminum coffe pot to cool it down ....and last and the best creativity...

[handful of dust]

I don't have a propane torch, but I do have unlimited access to a bunsen burner. Would that get hot enough to work?

[pennabilli]

Probably it won't suffice. Yu need a hissing flame, not a soft one. A portable propane torch like the one you see in my tutorial, costs from 20 to 30 $, and is very useful also in other occasions.

[codongolev]

made a couple of itty bitty nail knives (well, I guess one's a sword). here they are!

[shortone]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Gifts-For-Guys/

Put you in my gift guide for guys! Just thought I'd let you know :)

[ninja_maker]

is it possible to make a mini Egyptian blade like one of those curved ones. or could u bend it a little more to make a scimitar or a katana like blade?

[lae52]

Try using an old rail road spike. Lots of steel and will make a knife that can actually hand held and usable. Rail spikes are usually pretty decent steel as well.

Dave

[sstock1]

Rail spikes are mild steel and cannot be hardened to produce a good cutting tool. Mild steel is also weaker. Better, use an old car coil or leaf spring or a lawn mower blade. Heat it red hot and quench it in oil or water, then polish it so you can watch the temperature indicating colors run as you reheat it to temper it to the hardness desired- straw for metal cutting and bronze to purple for wood cutting. Blue indicates it's annealed and soft again.

[jnass]

Yes and no Dave... for knives you want to look for the spikes marked "HC" or HCX" on the heads... these are a higher carbon content (about .4%-.6%) and are hardenable. Normal spikes are simply mild steel and as such aren't hardenable by conventional means, so will not hold much of an edge.

I am a professional blacksmith and have much experience with RR spike knives...

[extrordinary1]

Those RR spikes also make great war-hammer heads in a pinch. I've got a knife design I would like to make with one. I made one on a larger scale with stainless steel I would like to reduce in size from 2 ft length down to a spike length.

[lae52]

Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware of the markings. Are they literally on the head or are they on the side by the head?

Dave

[jnass]

Usually right on the head Dave, though it can be kinda tough to find when they get rusty... a wire wheel helps clean them up so you can see it sometimes.

[conway106]

jnass,
Try putting the HC spikes in a bath of white vinegar. It will take the rust off of the spike-all of it. The spike will look brand new!. Leave it covered by the vinegar for 2
or 3 days. Any longer and the spike will start pitting. Good luck! Mike

[sstock1]

Common nails are mild steal and cannot be hardened to make a cutting edge that will stay sharp, Concrete nails, springs, files, saw blades, snap ties, and other non mild steels that can be heat treated are what you need for making cutting tools that can cut and stay sharp. Those nails look pretty, but won't work well.

[TheBlackSharpie]

My dad told me that as a child he and his friends would place nails on train tracks creating mini knives.

[pennabilli]

a hammer works better!

[zigzagchris]

Gona go try this with a train :)

[zigzagchris]

not as expected

[zigzagchris]

Edit: not what i expected

[TheBlackSharpie]

I cant really tell anything from the photo

[ashjil]

can you use galvenized nail because i can't find iron nails that arn't galvenized

[pennabilli]

sure you can, if they are of iron. If your nails are of steel, you must hold them with tongs or pliers and forge keeping them red hot

[ashjil]

thanks

[nail face]

galvanized nails can be toxic when forging them

[pennabilli]

and can burn your fingers!
Don't breathe over your forge or flame (with or without nails in it).

[ihaveguitarskills!]

i made three or four of these. not the flip ones. i thought about it and your right. when i did mine though, i didnt forge it, and it turned out better then when i did forge it. i also found that when u are finished(with a un-forged nail) if u take a lighter/flame, and put the blade in it, it makes it harder. it also adds a cool color.

[ihaveguitarskills!]

nice, i thought of a way to make it a flip knife.ill try it and tell u the outcome.if u dont swirl it, but flatten the head, u can get a smaller nail and put a hole in it. then make a wooden handle, and put a hole in the top. put a bolt through the knife and wood and put on a nut, then cut a deep enough groove in the wood and fold the blade into it tell me what u think.

[pennabilli]

No way, your blade will rotate round the bolt but when you use it the blade must be in a fixed position: quite a job. I suggest you make a fixed blade knife with a sheath for the blade

[Venemot]

Hey guys! I made the knife and it is quite beautiful but i do not have a propane torch to heat nail for the handle so there is no proper distinction in the blade and hilt....can anybody tell me another way of heating it up to red hot....i used my stove but it doesnt seem to be enough.....!!!!!

[benduy]

pump you wood buner fire up then let it become embers, stick your nails on the ember and wait a while. i suggest leather gardening glove (leather is heat restant) and tongs or pliers

[Alpha2904]

hmm.. First, how old are you? If you are 18+ you can propane torch really cheap. And you can use coal to heat it up, but you will probably need a furnace and billows. I also suggest so tongs, pliers, or something to hold it in place.

[Venemot]

well i am 15 but that isnt the problem i can do it. the problem is i dont have propane torch,furnace or billows and where i live i cant seem to find them..not easily

[matt_and_nick]

try local hardware stores, and tell them that you just want it so you can do forging. they might let you buy one

[Venemot]

thats where the problem arises....first of all i live in a place where you cant find such stuff....and other problem is that i am restricted to my home..i am not allowed outside my house..that means that i cant go out and search for stuff i have to tell somebody else to bring it for me....!!!

[matt_and_nick]

idk then. my dad has like 4 different blow torches, so i always have one to use.

[fail]

I am making a knife out of a 20cm bolt, and it is curving upwards insanely, like a 45 degree angle. Any tips on straightening it out? I am afraid that if I just hammer it flat the top will not stretch, but rather crack. Any tips?

[pennabilli]

If you cold forged it and it didn't crack yet, anneal it and let it air cool. Then (give a look at the topmost of the three knives in my instructable) hammer it on the other side of the blade, near the handle. Doing so you force it to bend the other way.

[fail]

I tried this and it worked perfectly. Now I have an awesome knife. Ty for the great ible BTW.

[codongolev]

after my grandmother moved to assisted living, we found a bunch of really old tools in her attic, including one of those old timey really robust bench vices that is all cast iron. after installing it, I noticed a little flat part on the back. I realized it was an anvil, and, being a maker, I had to do something with it. I remembered this instructable, and now I have a little scimitar/hunting knife! (I say both because it's either a scimitar with a thick handle or a hunting knife with a funny blade, I can't decide.)

[codongolev]

oh, and I also found a small ball-peen hammer in the attic too, which I found helpful in shaping the blade's edge without too much filing.