Every tool in these instructions is operated by hand and each piece of equipment is available in most garages.

It takes a lot of work, but the end result is a usable and great looking knife.

Tools and Materials

Here's a quick overview of the tools and materials that I used to make this bushcraft knife.
-Old file
-Piece of hardwood
-Two-part epoxy adhesive
-Coal
-Forge (something to burn the coal in)
-Air pump
-Tongs
-Quenching oil
-Kitchen oven
-Scriber, permanent marker
-Caliper
-Vice
-Clamps
-Hacksaw
-Lubricating oil
-Files
-Sandpaper
-Drill
-Hammer

Annealing

Annealing the file: Make a charcoal/coal fire and bury the file in it. Make sure there's plenty of coal to surround the file completely. Blow air into the fire with a pump to speed up the heating process.

The file should be heated to the “austenitizing temperature.” At this temperature, the carbon steel is red-hot and non-magnetic.

Bury the file in the fire and heat it back up again (the file cooled down while it was exposed). Keep it at austenitizing temperature for about 3 to 5 minutes. Then allow it to cool down with the fire.

Profiling

Marking out the knife pattern: Print and cut out my knife pattern or cut out your own design. Then, trace the pattern onto the annealed file (workpiece) with a scriber or permanent marker. I used a white pencil, which quickly faded due to the use of lubricating oil.

Cutting out the rough shape: Secure the workpiece in a vice in such a way that you can make a vertical cut, and that the cut is as close to the vice as possible to reduce vibration.

Don't start a cut on a sharp edge or else less than 3 teeth will be engaged in the material. When sawing, apply a little bit of oil to the blade to reduce friction. Use long, steady strokes and only apply pressure on the forward, cutting stroke. Remove as much material per cut as possible. If the cut is wandering away from where you planned to cut, turn the frame gently in order to twist the blade into the right cutting direction.

Refining the shape: In this step, you'll first use a cross-filing technique to remove the most material, and straighten the somewhat wavy edges made by the hacksaw. Then you'll use a draw-filing technique to clean up the rough surface and flatten the slightly rounded edges produced by cross-filing.

Cross-filing (straight-filing): Grasp the handle in one hand and the tip of the file in the other, so that you can apply downward pressure. Place the file diagonally on the edge, so that the file covers a large area. This ensures that large errors (wavy edges) are corrected. Move the file from tip to handle, in a direction not quite parallel to the file, to prevent grooving. Use long, steady strokes and only apply pressure on the forward, cutting stroke.

Draw-filing: Use a fine (smooth, single cut) flat file. Grasp the file at each end. This way you can hold the file steady. Place the file perpendicular on the edge. Push and draw the file from one end of the workpiece to the other. With this technique, be careful not to remove more material in the middle of the workpiece than on the edges. Also regularly remove filings, as these tend score the surface when they get caught up in the file.

Making the Grind

Marking out the grind boundaries: To get a grind with the desired angle, you'll need to mark out the grind boundaries.

Measure the thickness of the blade with a caliper. If you used a file that tapers in thickness, measure the minimum and maximum thickness of the blade.

Calculate the grind width b: b = T / (2tanα) with blade thickness T and grind angle α.

Mark out the calculated grind width on the two sides of the blade using a scriber and caliper. Color the edge of the blade with a permanent marker so that a scribed line will stand out. Place the blade on a flat surface. Scribe the edge using a drill bit with diameter T (thickness of the blade). This way you get a line running along the center of the edge. If you used a file that tapers in thickness, put something underneath the tip of the blade to compensate for the taper.

Filing in the grind: Secure the workpiece into a vice. If you want to have a small ricasso (unsharpened section of the blade near the handle), clamp a piece of steel to the blade as a means of guiding the file.

File in the grind on both sides of the blade. Apply the same filing techniques you've used to refine the knife profile.

Regularly check if the edge is straight.

Quenching and Tempering

Quenching: Heat the blade evenly to austenitizing temperature. Keep it at austenitizing temperature for about 3 to 5 minutes. Don't heat the entire tang. The end of the tang needs to stay soft, so it can be peened later.

Grip the end of the tang with a tongs. Wear work gloves to protect your hands from the heat. Quickly lower the blade tip first into a heat-resistant oil container. The blade should be at austenitizing temperature when it hits the oil.

Tempering: Heat the blade to 350 to 660 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1-1/2 hours in a kitchen oven. A higher tempering temperature yields a slightly softer material with a higher toughness, while a lower temperature yields a harder and slightly more brittle material. I would recommend tempering in two or more cycles of 1-1/2 hours, because of the inaccuracy of a kitchen oven.

For example, if you want to temper your blade at 480 degrees Fahrenheit (brown-red): First temper the blade at 350 degrees. If the steel didn't reach a brown-red, temper again at a higher temperature.

Making the Bolsters

Marking out the shape and the hole positions: Mark out two ovals measuring about 26-by-19 millimeters. The front bolster will need a rectangular hole so that it fits around the tang. The rear bolster will need a slightly smaller hole so that it fits around the narrowing at the end of the tang.

Mark out the rectangular hole in the center of one oval. Center-punch two holes inside the rectangle. Also, center-punch the center of the other oval.

Making the bolsters: Use a drill press or secure the workpiece into a vice. Use a drill bit with diameter T (thickness of the tang) or slightly smaller. Make sure to hold the drill perpendicular to the surface of the workpiece. Apply lubricating oil to reduce friction when drilling. Cut out the ovals with a hacksaw and refine the shape with a file. Make the holes rectangular with a small square- or flat file. You can also leave the hole in the rear bolster circular and make the end of the tang cylindrical.Both bolsters should fit snugly around the tang.

Make the hole in the rear bolster (very) slightly tapered. In the next step the bolsters and the handle material will be secured onto the tang by peening the end of the tang. The end of the tang will expand in cross-section and fill up the tapered hole, so that the rear bolster can't slide off.

Making the Handle

Making the handle: Find a nice piece of hardwood. I used a piece of about 35-by-35-by-100 millimeters.

Mark out the rectangular hole. Use a drill bit with diameter T (thickness of the tang) or slightly smaller. Make sure to hold the drill parallel to the length of the workpiece. Drill two holes alongside one another. If the drill bit isn't long enough, drill from both sides.

Remove the wood between the two holes by gently moving the drill perpendicular to the axis of rotation. I know this is not what a drill is made for, but it's the quickest way of doing it.

Make the hole rectangular using a small chisel and/or file. The handle should now fit around the tang. Saw the wood roughly to the dimensions and shape of the handle.

Assembling the knife: Secure the blade into a vice. Use aluminum vice jaws or two pieces of wood to protect the blade against scratching during peening.

Apply some two-part epoxy adhesive to the tang, bolsters and hole of the wooden handle. Slide the handle and the rear bolster over the tang. Start hammering on the end of the tang. Be patient. The end of the tang should slowly “fill up” the tapered hole. Let the epoxy cure.

Making a knife out of a used up hand-file takes time and a lot of effort.

In a survival situation, particularly a longer-term survival situation, however, knowing how to do so is invaluable.

To learn more about how to make your own tools, please visit Instructables.