If you're going to use the angle grinder on the files, you really don't need to anneal them first. Hardened or soft really doesn't matter to the angle grinder. And since you are going to heat treat afterward you don't have to worry about drawing the temper out when you grind it hard anyway. The only problem about leaving them hard is drilling the tang holes and you can spot anneal with a propane (mapp gas is even better) torch. Heck, if you really want to anneal the files first you can just use the torch anyway. Temper starts to draw (on most tool steels) around 450 degrees, so the torch will do it.

I'll second M_A_X about the cardboard model. Draw out the blade style and handle shape on cardboard and cut it out. You can fine tune the handle shape on cardboard, but it's hard to do after you've made the knife.

If you're not going to make the jigs that GreenPete uses to hold the desired angle when doing the final file work, then you might want to wait and grind the profile for the handle AFTER you've ground and filed the edge bevels. That way you have straight (parallel) edges on the file to clamp in the vise. Then tape up the blade good and grind the handle shape. That will also minimize the anguish of wasted work if you mess up the blade grind.

Greenpete put oil on the wet/dry sandpaper when he sanded off the scale. I really don't know why. That will just make the paper load up and not really cut very well. Use water with a little bit of soap in it to wet the paper and keep it open and cutting.

I've made a bunch of mycarta, including denim. I've used the techniques shown and they work pretty well (now I use a 12 ton press). One thing I don't really like is using the fiberglass resin. You've really only got 10 or 12 minutes before it gels too much to get a good squish. So once you start, you have to be quick to get a good wet out of all the pieces and everything stacked and squished. It's an ugly race. I also don't really like fiberglass resin because it will eventually yellow and it will always smell a bit like fiberglass. That technique works best if you're only making enough for one set of scales at a time.

Good luck

@ fiberglass resin: do you know of any alternatives??

Also I really don't follow anything in the 3rd paragraph could you please put it in more laymans terms as this is my first knife.

Thank you for taking the time to write it all up though!

Check out a book by Wayne Goddard titled "The $50 Knife Shop"

In it he explains quite alot about inexpensive knife making.

Best of luck with your knife project.

Joe

thanks, i know that they have lots of knife making books in my local barnes and nobel so i will have a peek and see. But thanks for the recomendation

Here's probably the simplest, most straight forward example I've seen.

http://hossom.com/tutorial/jonesy/

(Gives you all the info and approximate cost)


Just my $0.02, I’d skip making the Micarta on the first knife. If you’re set on using micarta, you should be able to find slabs for about $8.

I found greenpete's website (greenpete is the one who made the video) and found The tutorial to go with the video! It answers a lot of the questions I had! Yay!!

This would be a fun project this summer.

It sounded like I dislike the fiberglass resin more than I really do. It works, just have everything ready and work fast. I used it for the first several sets I made and it worked o.k. Definitely the cheaper way to learn. I use an epoxy resin, Max CLR, with a long pot time. That stuff is pretty expensive, but it's very clear, and the longer pot time (time before it starts to set) lets me use thinner cloths. I've made some scales that took 42 layers to get 1/4" thickness.

What I meant in the 3rd paragraph is grind the blade shape and the bevels first. If you grind everything out first (have that nice knife shape you want) and then mess up the blade when you grind the bevels, you wasted a bunch of time. Plus, it's easier to clamp in the vise flat before the handle is ground.

Thanks for the Clarification!!

Files do not have an eternal service life. After the file is worn out it would be too valuable to just throw away. A long time ago old files were reworked to have a new sharp (but slightly thinner) file. This profession however is about to become extinct. As files are usually made from good steel the worn out pieces might as well be turned into knives. Some woodworkers used to grind old files into cutting tools for the lathe.
The texture of the material will not allow for a really sharp edge for most files, however.