Knife Making Without Tools

Here's how to make a hunting knife from a butter knife by rubbing it on wet pavement and wrapping the handle with cord. It looks and feels good in the hand.

This project was inspired by a family I stayed with in Kenya. The only utensil they had was a sharpened butterknife shared by about twenty people.

Select your "blank":
Test your butterknives by bending the blade with your fingers. The farther you can bend it without it staying bent, the better it is.
Instead of a butter knife, you could use a saw blade or any piece of metal.

WARNING: I will be showing a bunch of OPTIONAL steps using tools.
For purist "no-tool" knifemaking, just skip all the steps using tools.
Or just substitute "with a rock" for the name of the tool.
Your knife will be fine.

Step 1 Optional: Drill Holes in Each End of the Handle

These are to tuck the ends of wrapping cord through.
Skip this and the wrapping is the same and 95% as good.

Comments

[jonathan.elwell]

Knife, shank.... potayto, potahto...

[acoleman3]

honestly...the curve of the butter knife blade "edge" is already ideal for a hunting knife. try skinning anything out with the style of blade you have at the top and you'll end up with a bunch of slices in the hide. all id do is remove material on the back until you have a drop point style blade and thts it for shaping it.

[Dr.Earl Insanity]

sheet metal makes a disposable, yet sharp knife. all ya need to do is but a 40ish degree bent on the back bone to make it flex less

[cbarry-1]

Tanto Blade

[Tenebrioun]

*kiridashi

[dawsonj]

but will it blend?...

okay that was lame.
pretty cool instructable though!

[Kendallkip]

Yeah that was kind of an out of place reference. However I do applaud the effort, good show I say.

[BobMarleyFan]

To sharpen it you could use the bottom, unglazed, ring on a mug

[zaqtaq258]

I made the blade on a butter knife and I didnt have to cut away anything. It just took a little longer to where away the metal into a point. I just have a few questions about the handle. Where could you get parchute cord? Would there be any at a walmart or sporting goods store? Does any one have any other ways to make a handle?

[krdog]

For this particular purpose, 1/8th" nylon boot laces work wonderfully. You can by a pair of 72" laces for a coupla bucks at wallyworld giving you 12' of working material. If you deconstuct one you'll find a braided cover around a central core, same as paracord. The difference is essential contruction. True paracord has several cohesive strands forming the core; the bootlace core is more like a clusterf**k, but after deconstruction the separate pices of both can be used for string, thread, etc. enabling you to repair jeans or create fish line for instance.

[commanderzhao]

He meant wal-mart

[Kooshi_Govno]

Well the knife's not sharp yet, so theres no real risk.

[Nicholas G.]

A dull knife is often more dangerous than a sharp knife because it is likely to slip when cutting something, thereby giving you a lovely slice and a serious need for stiches.

[zachery980]

ya lets play the super glue game

[crickle321]

Even a dull knife can cut you. And spinning at 630 rpm will only multiply the hazard.

[jadi929]

its still sharp enough to do some serious damage, safety precautions shall always be followed

[Ganoderma]

 anything spinning at drill speed is sharp enough to do serious damage I think... 

[kethinum]

i made one of these last night and also a simple sheath thx fr da onstructable its a goood one

[krdog]

using a 'whip knot' would make a better handle. it's used to finnish the end of a natural fiber rope that can't be burt n sealed. it's similar to what's been shown. u make a loop with a tail along the blade, wrap the handle, stick the end in the loop at the pommel then pull on the tail along the blade. loolk it up in the 'knot' section, i'm sure it's there

[mysss]

Why would that be better? This looks like it might be more secure to me.

[krdog]

You don't have to drill any holes in the handle, which weaken the knife, to secure the wrap. Also, tied properly it won';t slip off at a bad time. Hemp ropes that are whipped with about 1" of whipping don't fray for years n years.

[mysss]

Alright, but hemp is a whole lot rougher than metal, and parachute cord, if that's used...or really most cord, especially synthetics--is less secure than the waxed string I've seen used to whip rope. If we're using a butter knife, are we really too concerned about strength? An eighth-inch hole isn't much. What do you use to whip your rope?

[krdog]

Actually, yes, you need to worry about strength because you're already dealing with a 'weak' material. Why make it weaker? The outer covering on paracord is a braided cover around a core. That braid works like a boot tread. Give the cord a slight twist and pull tightly as you wrap. It shou;ld be so hard to pull the tail on the knot that you need pliers. If you can pull the tail w/your fingers you haven't wrapped it tightly enough. Try it. You'll be surprised at how well it works. I have a 'buttershank' I made a coupla years ago the paracord ain't come off of yet and I used it a lot living in the street for all nuber of things. I've used that same wrap on many different items over the years and it's never come loose or failed me when I needed it. It's an extremely good repair 'stitch' for round things that split and can also be used decoratively because you have no unsightly loose ends. In whipping rope I've used everything from waxed cotton string to thin nylon thread. The whip's virtue is in how it's tied rather than tyhe material used but it MUST be tied tightly.

[e;a;e;]

this is my knife

[woodstockbirdy]

it does not look that sharp, but if you say so.......

[Slicerr2]

Can u use a grinder instead of concret

[mrdepo96]

It said "Without tools"

[j0nathan]

awesome, I started selling these to my friends at school just before our school hike and I have made a killing. the dremel idea works really well and saves having to look like a dork while sitting on the pavement in the rain with a butter knife.....

[Freeshka]

how long does this step take because ive been working on this for about an hour and i still cant even break the tip off??

[e;a;e;]

i didinnt

[schwabie]

thats why you sclamp down the knife...

[fenrisilver]

I think this a really cool Idea, and I'm currently trying to do it. I have my butter knife, and I've filed down the edge, and its already pretty sharp. I'm no purist who wants a 100 % handmade knife, I just want a inexpensive (but homemade) knife, so I've used a file, and some sand paper. I don't have a whetstone or a section of sidewalk I can use without looking stupid In public, so tomorrow I'll be looking for a nice rock to use. The only problem I'm going to have is removing the knifes original end to make a point (step 11), because my file Isn't precise enough, and I doubt I can just cut it off with a saw.

[Nicholas G.]

Try using a dremel for this.

[xak7]

A hacksaw or some other kind of metal saw should easily cut through it.  It would be a lot faster than filing.

[masterochicken]

I actually couldn't do it with a hacksaw. it wrecked a brand new blade.

[_soapy_]

You can easily cut it with a file, regardless of the profile of it. Just always cut away from you with it, don't saw at it, and it will go through about as fast as a hacksaw if you use a firm pressure.

[pickford78]

instead of drilling holes to put the ends of the string through just whip it. requires no tools, not even a drill. heres my knife, I used tools for that one.

[SasquatchKid]

NICE

[xak7]

Wow that doesnt even look like it used to be a butter knife

[notker]

Wich steel or metal did you use for your knife? It looks very professional
..very nice...