Introduction: Handmade Knife and Acid Etching
Hi!
This week my dad will celebrate his 46th birthday, so I decided to make him a gift that's useful. Some time ago he used to go hunting regularly so he has one really good Italian handmade knife, but i hope that he will like this one too.
Also this guy: Garra23 asked if i could make an instructable about acid etching so i made it :)
Tools and materials:
- Angle grinder
- Sandpaper
- Files
- Glue
- Fe Cl2
- Used plastic bottle
For the handle I used deer antler and cow horn but that's optional
Step 1: Blade
First I took a piece of steel and cut out the blade and grinded it. I choose this form of the blade because it's the usual form that's used for hunting knives.
Step 2: Preparing for Etching
First thing to do is to put duct tape on both sides of the blade.
Then I drew the lines that I wanted to be etched on the blade and cut them out and also i put some nail polish on the places where duct tape didn't cover the blade.
After that took a plastic bottle and cut it in half, poured water and FeCl2 mixture in there and put the blade in there.
Step 3: Etched Blade
I left it in FeCl2 for couple hours, however I regularly checked, because I didn't want to overdo it.
Unfortunately it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to be, because I didn't sand it enough.
BEFORE PUTTING IT INTO FeCl2 SAND IT NEATLY!!
Step 4: The Knife

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30 Comments
Tip 3 years ago
Hey, just wanted to mention that if you harden and temper your knives they will be stronger and will hold there edges longer. your can find a lot of info about this subject at bladeforums.com. I love the etching you did on this knife!
Reply 3 years ago
Also wanted to ask to to post pics of the entire knife, I would like to see what the end of the handle looks like :)
6 years ago
Hello,
I have a question for you about acid etching metals. Do you think it's possible to 'dye' the metal a specific color using a similar method to acid etching or not? and if so how would you do it?
Reply 6 years ago
Hi!
Yes! It is possible, however consider that this process makes the metal become weaker against rust! I have tried something similar, only with electric etching, but you can simply put the metal into the FeCl solution, and "dye" the metal from light to dark grey color!
7 years ago on Introduction
very cool knife! would it be much harder to make a sword? by the way, you should be a model, you are georgous!
Reply 7 years ago on Introduction
Yeah sword is really one level too high for me, considering how much work I put in my knives, so I'm sure sword would be quite harder to make! Thanks!
8 years ago
That's a great knife, one question: why, if you had enough steel, did you make the tang so small if you had enough to make it stronger?
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
Thanks. I did so, because the the cow horn had limited space in it, in lenght, the hole in it was too short even when i drilled it, and I didn't want to overdo the drilling, so i just made the tang shorter! :)
8 years ago
Really Awesome!! You did great!
Reply 8 years ago
Haha you even added me in there. Priceless lol.
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
Glad you liked it! :)
8 years ago
this is a wonderfull knife, did you have to temper the edge and if so did it effect the etch in any way?
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
thanks! i didn't temper or heat treat it because i took steel from a massive saw that most likely was already tempered, and i think that tempering shouldn't affect the etch
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
could you do an instructable on how to make a knife without power tools because i dont have access to any :p
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
wow, if this is quite time consuming, then working without power tools is incredibly hard, i could do it, but i have many other projects, so sorry, most likely i won't do it
8 years ago
how do you make handle?
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
I didn't make it, it's cow horn, i only polished it, and glued the blade into it
Reply 8 years ago
how do you polish the horn or bone?
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
i used very fine sandpaper (1000 grit and more), and polishing wax
8 years ago
think I found my next project from you good sir :)