How to sharpen a knife with your own hands. How to make a knife with your own hands at home

In modern households, a knife is used to perform various tasks - from cooking to cutting out various figures. What to do if all purchased knives do not meet the requirements and do not meet the declared characteristics? In this case, you will have to make a knife with your own hands.

On sale you can find a variety of knife models that differ in price, quality and shape. Seeing such a choice, you can simply get confused. Find suitable model it is possible, but, as a rule, it will not satisfy all the requirements and expectations of the buyer. If required model was not found, and there is no desire to make a knife with your own hands, you can always turn to a blacksmith. It's worth remembering that handmade such a specialist is very expensive. Making a knife with your own hands from start to finish is not only profitable, but also an exciting activity.

What can be achieved making the blade yourself:

As you can see, making a knife yourself is the most suitable solution. In your work, you can implement any ideas, from the selection of material for the handle to the type of steel, shape and stain with which the handle will be coated.

Assortment in stores

What can you find in stores? Among all the finished products, you can indeed find a worthwhile model. But quality always costs a lot of money. The inexpensive assortment presented will include knives that do not have high technical requirements.

Most often you can find a blade:

Such knives can be found in almost any store, and they are inexpensive. But they break down very quickly, then they are simply thrown away and replaced with a new one. This is not very rational, since most often this tool is used while hiking or fishing, and a low-quality knife can easily let the owner down at the most inopportune moment.

In order to choose and buy the right knife, you need to have minimal knowledge in the field of materials, namely, to navigate the characteristics of steel and mechanical properties finished blade. It is also very important to study the market.

Purpose and types of knives

Before making it, you need to understand what the knife is for. Based on this, you should make a list of the desired characteristics and parameters that are presented to the finished product.

There are these types of knives:

Beginners are often mistaken and think that camping and hunting knives are identical. It is impossible to make a universal blade that will cope with all purposes with equal success. Touring knives are necessary for rough work: cutting branches and brushwood. It will be very difficult to cut up a carcass with them. The hunting knife is very sharp and hard, but it can be broken if used as a camp knife.

Manufacturing Features

First of all, you need to decide on the type of blade. Its specifics, characteristics and purpose will depend on this. Once the type of blade required has been determined, the choice of steel to use can begin.

Steel selection

The steel for manufacturing must be chosen wisely, because the type of blade will show maximum performance in only one direction. In choosing steel The following requirements must be taken into account:

  • Hardness, which will determine the frequency of sharpening.
  • Fragility. This indicator decides whether the blade will crumble from hitting a bone or due to a fall.
  • Corrosion. It is also important to take into account that the camp blades will not be in very good favorable conditions. Due to moisture, the product can quickly become rusty.
  • Wear resistance on the blade.

To make a homemade knife, craftsmen use damask steel or damask. But these materials are very difficult to work with. For them, it is not enough to have blacksmithing equipment in the form of an anvil and a hammer. It is necessary to know the specifics and characteristics of materials. Even an experienced blacksmith will not always be able to do a quality job using Damascus. You can resort to a ready-made product, but it will be very expensive.

Therefore, for the first and subsequent work it is better to use alloy steel. It's much easier to work with. Types of alloy steel, which are most often used for blades:

There are many more grades of steel from which a blade can be made. But they are poorly distributed due to their inappropriate indicators.

Stages of work

There are many features in making a knife. It is worth paying close attention to the work, as sometimes it is not possible to correct errors. Each stage is important and must be observed by professionals:

If you already have experience working with metal, then making a normal knife will not be difficult. Each subsequent product will get better. Don't be upset if the first knife is unsuccessful. It is better to take into account all the mistakes and try to do it again. But it is worth remembering that a knife with a large blade is considered a real edged weapon. Therefore, it is first important to figure out which product will be legal.

A knife can be made from anything

Today, I would like to continue the topic dedicated to accessible material, from which you can quickly and easily good characteristics. Many people are interested in the question of what can be made from without resorting to complex technologies. This is written about in some detail in. Here we will try to further highlight some details. suitable material for knives. The easiest thing is to use old broken kitchen knives from of stainless steel. Knives should preferably be Soviet-made, and not Chinese consumer goods. From such a fragment you can make a good knife with excellent cutting characteristics.

Also good knives can be made from high-speed steel, which is used in the production of hacksaw blades for power saws. The disadvantage of this material is that it is quite fragile and tends to rust. But it holds an edge well.

Excellent materials are knives for planer on wood. This metal is very well processed and polished. Planing knife gets burned blowtorch red hot and then cools. After annealing, the metal can be easily sawed with a hacksaw, shaped, or sharpened with a file. After the knife is given its final shape, it needs to be either in oil or water. But, unfortunately, knives made of this metal also rust.

The next metal we'll look at is a regular file. It is very easy to make a knife from a file, without any special machines. Take a file, heat it well, again with a blowtorch until red hot, and let it cool. After this, it is very well processed with another file, sawed with a hacksaw to give it the desired shape. Next, hardening is carried out again in oil or water. The main thing is that in order to get a good knife from this metal, you need. There is no need to unforge this metal. We simply burn, sharpen, file, remove excess metal hand tools or on sandpaper. And we get a pretty good knife.

You can also make it from an ordinary hacksaw for wood. It is also very easy to process, very elastic steel. It can be adapted, for example, to make a kitchen knife that will cut well and hold an edge well.

A car spring is also well suited for manufacturing. The only bad thing about a spring is that it needs to be unchained and properly heat treated. This is quite a time-consuming task. But if you build homemade horn on your site, you can make a good knife from a piece of spring. Or just take it to the blacksmith, who will forge anything for you for a bottle of vodka.You can make a knife from a car valve. It also makes good stainless steel. The valve is heated to high temperature and hammered on an anvil. Then you need to shape the blade and harden it.

Very good knives are made from large drills. Clamp the drill in a vice, heat it until soft, take gas keys and begin to slowly unwind it. After this, you heat it up again and begin to unforge the resulting part, giving it the desired shape. The drill will not be sharpened with a file. All work must be done on sandpaper.

The knife can be made of spring steel. There is no need to anneal this metal. You can immediately make a knife blade from the workpiece. This steel cannot be drilled with a regular drill. It is necessary to use a pobedit drill.

Now let's talk about rust, which is present in most metals. If you want to prevent your knife from rusting, you can treat it with sulfuric acid or phosphoric acid.

The article uses material from a video on YouTube

A hunter definitely needs a gun and a knife. If there are no questions about the application of the first, then there are different opinions regarding the second. Some believe that a knife is necessary for finishing and cutting up a shot animal, as well as for protecting against an attack by an animal.

Others use this item, first of all, to chop branches, cut bread, open cans of canned food and perform various household work, but cutting up game is an occasional task. Thus, it turns out that there is no universal blade. Any man can create hunting ones.

What is the product

A hunting knife is a bladed weapon with a short blade. The blade and handle are its main elements. To protect the hunter's palm from damage at the moment of striking, the product has a utik, that is, a limiter. Homemade hunting knives look very stylish. The photos below clearly demonstrate this.

In order to make a weapon, you need to decide, first of all, on the shape of the blade and handle, select the necessary materials, and also establish a list of tools and equipment that will be required to perform specific operations. Manufacturing hunting knives not available to everyone.

Features of creating a blade

For this item, the ability to cut is more important than the ability to stab. For this purpose, the blade is made curved and bent upward. The curve of the cutting edge should be large enough to allow long cuts to be made in one movement. This greatly simplifies the process of cutting up prey. The shape of the blade of a hunting knife is of great importance.

Such bladed weapons have a shank for the handle made of a single metal blank. The sharp edge of the edge of the blade is called the blade. This is the cutting part of the knife. The opposite edge is always made blunt; it is often called the butt.

Knife hardness and length

To give the blade rigidity, special grooves are made in the metal part of the product. Such depressions are called valleys. They also reduce the weight of the item. The common belief that the lobes are intended to drain blood is deeply erroneous.

The length of the blade ranges from 12 to 15 cm, width - from 2.5 to 3 cm. It is better to make hunting knives with your own hands according to the drawings. But some hunters prefer to carry two types of bladed weapons. One blade is used for cutting prey, and the other for economic needs. Not everyone knows how to make a hunting knife.

Selection of materials for manufacturing

The metal for the blade must be durable and not subject to corrosion. Tool steel has proven itself very well. Blades for pendulum saws are made from it, and it is not so difficult to get it. Of the carbon steels, it is worth noting the brand. It has the necessary hardness, holds an edge well, and has high corrosion resistance. How to make a hunting knife so that it lasts long time, we'll tell you below.

Even the most perfect blade can become ineffective and useless without a reliable and comfortable handle. It is this that ensures proper use of such weapons. Whether the knife blade will move in the right direction or go to the side, whether your hands will get tired or not - all this largely depends on this detail. The handle of a hunting knife should fit correctly and comfortably in the hand, but its beautiful finish is a secondary matter.

Attaching the handle

The handle can simply be mounted on the shank or attached to it using rivets. The first option looks more attractive. The knife shank is made in the form of a narrow rod. Part of it may extend beyond the handle. A thread is cut on the protruding part, and the handle is secured to the shank using a nut, pressing it against the stop. With this method of fastening, the base can be made from a set of individual rings. The lock nut is often called a knob and is usually given an attractive appearance. The handle is simply pushed onto the short shank and glued.

The riveted part is made differently. The shank of the knife is made in the shape of a handle, that is, it is flat and wide. Holes are drilled in it. The linings on both sides are symmetrically applied to the shank, the rivets are inserted into the holes. The fastening is very durable.

Handle: material

The material for making the handle must be durable, comfortable to the touch, not cold on the hand, not soaked in blood and not freeze to the fingers from the cold. The main requirements also include light weight, ease of processing and availability of purchase. It is probably not advisable to obtain exotic materials for a hunting knife.

The best raw material for making a handle is wood. The blanks are made from dense varieties. Very good parts are obtained from maple, ash and apple. Coniferous trees are not used. So-called burls are taken from birch trees, that is, growths on the trunk. A hole is made in the workpiece for attachment to the shank. If it is planned that it will extend beyond the handle, then the hole is made through. Its diameter should allow the shank to fit inside the handle without splitting it.

The advantage of birch bark

Birch bark is considered the ideal material for the handle. To make the product softer, the raw materials are heat treated in hot water within 2 hours. You could say it is simply boiled in a large pot of water, then dried thoroughly. The finished birch bark sheet is cut into small rectangular plates. The size of the parts should be slightly more sizes future handle. Next, the plates are put on the knife shank one by one.

Holes in rectangles must be made immediately before inserting them, since the transverse dimensions of the shank do not remain constant. The collected birch bark is compressed with a nut, which is screwed onto the thread at the end of the shank. If necessary, plates are added until all the birch bark is compressed into a single dense briquette, and several turns of thread remain under the nut. Using a sharp knife and file, the handle is given required form. In the final version, the handle is sanded with fine sandpaper. No varnishes or paints are needed. It's always nice to make a hunting knife with your own hands. The drawings will help you decide on shapes and sizes.

The limiter prevents the hand from moving onto the blade. It is attached in front of the handle. Only a single limiter is installed. The crosspiece is used in However, many hunters prefer not to install a special limiter at all, and protect their hand thanks to the protrusions on the handle. These knives are more convenient for skinning and butchering animals.

Basic operations for making knives

The manufacturing process includes several stages. Let's look at how to make hunting knives with your own hands (photos will allow you to evaluate the labor intensity of the process).


The knife is ready. All that remains is to place it in a reliable sheath. Making hunting knives can be a good business.

When hearing the word knife, a person imagines two pictures. Housewife chopping kitchen tool vegetables for salad, and a hunter making his way through the thicket, with the handle of a bladed weapon sticking out of his belt in his sheath. Edged weapons have always been of interest to men. The designer knives of the production masters fascinate with their appearance and attract with a silent force that is felt in every bend of the steel.

The price of weapons ranges from 7 to 22 thousand rubles. Below we will tell you how to make a knife at home.

History of development from stone to modern

Man first began to use a knife immediately after he stopped walking on all fours and began to get food with improvised means. The tools that people began to use for hunting and farming were fragments of bones or stones. The first ones were much easier to make, due to the fragility of the animal’s bones, but such products dulled unusually quickly, and not all components of the skeleton were suitable for the role of a sharp tool.

To make a knife from stone, primitive man had to put in a lot of effort. However, the laboriousness of the process was compensated by its relative strength and the ability to sharpen the edge of a stone blade. Another advantage of a stone knife over a bone one was the durability of the tool. Bone weapons were fragile and often broke during hunting, so this type gradually passed into economic use and construction.

At the time of human mastery of metalworking, edged weapons began to be made from bronze and copper. They were significantly superior to stone samples in terms of durability. The blades were made from a single piece of metal. Swords, daggers, and knives of those times became indispensable weapons for the soldiers of the Roman Empire, with the help of which troops conquered new territories.


The Iron Age is a century of experiments and new technologies. Knives purchased different shape and length, at this time a sickle-shaped blade and a wave-shaped blade were invented. In Rus' at that time, edged weapons were included in the attributes of the nobility and merchants. The Vikings used wood to make sword hilts so that the steel, frozen in the cold, would not burn the hand.

In the Middle Ages, people began to use steel - an alloy of iron and carbon - in the production of swords. These times were considered bloody; history knows many large-scale wars and battles. As a result, the emphasis in forges was not on quality, but on quantity. And in comparison with ancient times, the characteristics of the samples of edged weapons of the Middle Ages were much inferior to the ancient prototypes.

Although historians cite the example of the daggers of medieval Arabs. Some of the daggers of Arab sheikhs that have survived to this day have retained their cutting properties, despite the passing of centuries.

During the Renaissance, the experience of blacksmiths, passed down from generation to generation, together with new technologies of that time, resulted in steel cutting products that were quite High Quality. But just at this time, firearms began to be used in battles, and interest in blades began to gradually fade away.

During the Industrial Revolution, the production of bladed weapons became widespread, moving from handicraft to factory production.

In factories, the manufacturability of the process reduces costs, which means the product becomes cheaper and is available to almost everyone. Soon, folding knives and world-famous centers for their production appeared - Russian Zlatoust, English Sheffield, German Solingen and Swedish Eksilstun.

Components

At first glance, everything is quite simple, however, the knife includes many elements. The handle and blade are the two main components. The tip, or toe of the blade is called its front point. The blade (cutting edge) is considered to be the sharpened side; it is made smooth, sometimes closer to the handle with a sawtooth shape.


There are knives where the sawtooth component is on the butt. The butt is the opposite side of the blade. Slopes are called planes that taper towards the sharpened part of the blade. The part that is attached to the handle and not sharpened is the heel of the blade.

The handle is that part of it that a person clasps with his hand when handling. A partition, or any other barrier, is built into the front of the handle, designed to protect the hand from slipping onto the sharpened part of the blade. The handle is attached to the tail of the blade.
For production use different materials.

The easiest way is to take scraps of stainless steel. It doesn’t matter what this fragment was before, a pan, a pipe or furniture.

Anything will do. However, do not expect that such a blade will retain its cutting properties for a long time; most likely, you will have to sharpen it after any work.

High-speed steel, which is used in the production of hacksaws and saws, gives the blade good cutting properties, for a long time while maintaining an edge. However, a significant disadvantage of this raw material is fragility and susceptibility to rust.


A good product can be made from plane blades. The material is first heated to a hot temperature, and after cooling in air, it is shaped with a hacksaw and ground with a file, or abrasive wheels. At the end of manufacturing, edged weapons are hardened in water or oil. The disadvantage is the same - they rust very quickly.

But after each work, it’s enough to wipe it well, lubricate it with a special lubricant, and it will serve you faithfully for decades, maintaining both its qualities and its appearance unchanged.


Making a cutting product from an ordinary file is simple; it does not require the use of complex tools. The file is heated, cooled in air, and the workpiece is processed with another file. Sandpaper or other abrasive is used to remove excess elements from the surface.

In order to obtain a high-quality knife at the end, proper temperature treatment and turning are necessary. Then it needs to be hardened again. You can not harden the entire knife, but only its cutting edge, but this is somewhat more complicated, of course.

If you need a small (penknife) knife, a fragment will do hacksaw blade, you just need to sharpen it and make a handle, some just wrap it with electrical tape. It’s not very aesthetically pleasing, but it’s quick and doesn’t hurt if it’s lost.

How comfortable it is to use a knife depends on the design of the handle, and therefore this element is not inferior in importance to the blade. If the product is a souvenir, the handle is decorative. Wrapping a cord around the tail section is a simple way to make a handle. This type of winding is used mainly on tactical and throwing knives.

Other manufacturers use bones and animal horns or wood to create knife handles. For this, pear, oak, walnut, ash, maple and apple are used. Another good resource is birch bark. After processing, the handle becomes grooved and pleasant to touch. And when in use, it sits securely in the palm of your hand without slipping, even if the handle is stained with animal blood or fish scales.


Leather sheaths are universal and reliable, because the knife is held in them by friction, which allows you not to be afraid of losing the weapon even during active physical activity. Sheaths woven from thick cord are also widely used.

But they are more suitable for throwing ones, they are heavy, and usually blunt, except for the toe, of course. The lace cannot provide sufficient friction force, and their use for weapons with a thinner blade than tactical ones is not recommended.

Knife making process

Making a knife at home does not require special skills or expensive equipment. You should start by preparing a product template. The Internet is replete with a variety of stencils, download the one you like and print it. If you wish, you can use your imagination and draw a sketch of the sample yourself. When the design is ready, cut it out and glue it onto a piece of metal. Or simply trace along the outline with a waterproof marker.


The most difficult thing is to cut out a sample of the future knife. A band saw for cutting metal is perfect for doing the job comfortably. If there is none, then use a hacksaw, but then get ready for a very labor-intensive process and be patient.

Drill holes in the tail of the workpiece; they are intended for the pins that will hold the handle structure. For beauty, some craftsmen drill several holes, each of which corresponds to the thickness of the selected pins. In order for the handle to fit firmly to the shank, you need to drill at least two holes.


After working with a file, remove unevenness and roughness from the workpiece after the drill, and also sand rough edges. On grinding machine you can bring the workpiece to perfect condition. Do not allow the future knife to overheat excessively. And do not forget to wear a respirator and safety glasses when performing work that will protect against metal dust.

Take a responsible approach to the formation of bevels. Because the cutting quality and future ease of sharpening depend on the angle at which sharpening will be done. If you want the workpiece to cut well, make the blade thin. If this product is for chopping (a machete, for example), then a thick one is more suitable. Don't go overboard with subtlety.


Otherwise, when heated, the blade will overheat, and hardening may not work. It is better to form the bevels manually. To do this correctly, first draw a line of bevels, and then, focusing on it, start grinding the metal with a grinder.

Heating steel will make it elastic. Depending on the type of steel, its hardening temperature is selected. Use a magnet to help you know when to stop heating. When it stops being attracted to the metal, it means the workpiece has heated up enough and should be cooled.


Usually cooled in oil, rarely in air or water. It all depends on the grade of steel you used for your product. But this is your knife, you can experiment if the brand is unknown.

After the steel has cooled, place the product in an oven preheated to 200 degrees and leave to warm up for one hour. The knife should cool down with it; you cannot pull it out ahead of time. Polish the metal of the product to a mirror shine, having previously cleared away multiple contaminants that will appear after quenching the steel in oil.


Drill holes in the handle halves prepared in advance that are the same size as the holes in the shank. Install them, clamp them in a vice, and drive in the pins. Head to the sander again. This time the work will happen with the handle. Set the shape that will be comfortable for use.

After the machine, walk along the handle sandpaper to remove burrs and small irregularities.

The method of making a knife is given for theoretical reference. Article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation No. 223, part 3 prohibits the creation and use of homemade products falling under the term "edged weapons". This can result in a penalty of up to two years in prison. It is advisable to read this article, because not all knives are punishable.

As you can see, it is not so difficult to make a knife with your own hands at home. You will have a useful time and try yourself in the role of a master in the production of edged weapons or just a household item.


Especially if you have the opportunity to use good equipment when creating a product. Perhaps you will discover a talent for this art.

But do not forget about criminal liability and use only within the framework of Russian legislation. A little patience, attentiveness and pedantry will help in production quality knife, which will last long years.

Video

Warning!
This article was written solely in the interests of the author to convey information to people about how knives are made, what they are like and what they can be used for. That the right knife can become your friend and comrade who will help you out more than once.
If you, dear readers, decide to make a knife with your own hands, then keep in mind that Russian Federation, there is a law: Article 222 of the Criminal Code, Part 4 and Article 223 of the Criminal Code, Part 4. The illegal sale and manufacture of bladed weapons is a criminal offense and any product must be certified. And if you end up with such a product before the lawyers, such excuses as “I didn’t know” will not save you. (It’s better to say “I found it, I’m bringing it to you.” And mentally say goodbye to your favorite product.)
Many people, having made a knife exclusively, for self-educational reasons, found themselves in trouble with the law. Keep this in mind.

Types of steel for knives

What is steel? Steel is iron with various additives ( chemical composition alloy) quite simply iron containing carbon. There are three layers of laminated steel from different grades. There is a Damascus sandwich made of hundreds of layers of steel, two or three grades of steel, more often than two.
What steel to choose for a knife and where to get it?
This table shows the most suitable steels for making knives that you can find at your fingertips.

steel grade Description Where to find
A-2 Holds an edge perfectly. Self-hardening steel. Very often used in the manufacture of combat knives. Subject to corrosion. Regular bolts
L-6 Very durable and holds an edge well. If you need strength in a knife, this is it. Subject to corrosion

An excellent material for making a fishing fillet knife.

Band saw blade
5160 Highly professional grade steel. Holds an edge well and is susceptible to corrosion. Springs for cars and tractors.
52100 It is similar to grade 5160 and differs in carbon content, as indicated by the number 100 (contains about 1% carbon). This steel is widely used in the manufacture of hunting knives. subject to corrosion. Bearings
R6M5 The best steel for making alloy steel knives. Holds an edge perfectly, cuts very well, chops bone. Canvas pendulum saw on metal. Thickness 2mm.

Disc cutter for metal. Thickness 5 mm.

154CM or ATS-34 (ATS-34) The most popular stainless steel for making knives. To order: price approximately 3500 rubles per strip 3x25x250

Blade shapes.


Combat or tactical knife and its features.

Handle of a combat knife.

An extremely negative characteristic of a knife handle is round section. Because the handle may slide during a fight and the fighter will not be able to control the exact position of the blade. Imagine that a fighter is wielding a knife in slush conditions, or worse, bloodied. So when choosing a knife, pay attention to the handle: it should be oval, have special linings and fit well in your hand.

Sharpening.

A combat knife is most effective when it has a double-sided sharpening or one-and-a-half. During a fight, a fighter can use both sides of the blade without turning it over.\

Blade width.

Also, for a combat knife, the width of the blade is very important, which should be at least 2.5 centimeters. This primarily promotes wide wounds; secondly, wide bevels reduce the sharpening angle, which is responsible for cutting properties.

Blade shape.

The importance of blade shape should not be overlooked. The optimal shape is a leaf shape or a leaf-shaped shape, and if it is made with differential sharpening, plus serrated sharpening plays a good role in combat knives.

Limiter.

Any combat knife has a limiter; its function is to keep the hand safe during stabbing strikes. That is, it prevents your hand from slipping onto the blade during a strike.

Knife length.

This is also an important thing in combat knives. Judge for yourself: if the knife is short, then during the strike the vital organs will not be affected, the meaning of a combat knife is lost. A knife that is too long is easy to knock out of your hands, difficult to carry and difficult to hide. So the optimal knife length is 18-30 centimeters.

Blade hardness.

This feature applies not only to combat knives but to all knives in general; if the steel of the blade is not hard enough, it will either break or bend and will not hold an edge and will quickly become dull. In combat knives it is necessary to overcome the material of special clothing which Lately Almost all armies of the world are supplied. For example, Warrior 3 equipment has fabric that can withstand shrapnel loads. Judge for yourself what hardness and sharpness the blade should have. According to the standards, it should be no less than 47-55 HRC.

The location of the tip in relation to the axis.

The tip of the knife must be strictly at the level of its axis. Indeed, during a stabbing blow with a knife, all the energy is focused precisely on the edge of the knife, and the displacement from the axis will have a negative impact on the knife; the force is lost and the penetrating ability decreases.

Knife weight.

The optimal weight of a knife is considered to be about 200-300 grams. If the knife is heavy, it will take a lot of effort to use it, and a light one will not produce results when struck.

Center of gravity.

It is important that the center of gravity of the knife is closer to the handle.

Requirements for the sheath.

The sheath should be: light, without fasteners, the knife sheath should be securely fastened in the sheath and not fall out, the sheath should be dark in color. The sheath attachment should not interfere with the fighter’s movement. The knife should be removed from its sheath silently.

Russian combat knives

“Looking through chronicle texts, you can find a lot of evidence that Russian people have been able to use knives in battle since those times. Consider the description of the siege of the city of Kozelsk by Batu Khan. When he entered the city in battle, he was met by townspeople with knives, turned the tide of the battle in their favor, drove the enemy out of the city and slaughtered 4,000 Tatars.” Since those times, little has changed in the Russian spirit and knife. When foreign military personnel consider a knife to be a “weapon of last chance,” that is, during a battle it is the last hope for salvation. For a Russian person, a knife and a bayonet play a completely different role. Shouts of hurray and the point of a bayonet always instilled horror and fear in the enemy.

The first parent of the Russian army combat knife is considered to be the knife (1940 army knife), (1940 scout knife). These knives were used by the military who had a machine gun instead of a rifle with a bayonet, and the scouts you know why.
Now you can find new knives made by analogy; they are produced by the AiR company under the product name “Razvedbat” - a hunting one and “Shtrafbat” - a civilian version.
Available in four versions: Airborne Forces, Marines, Border Troops, Special Forces. The difference lies in the emblems of the troops that are printed on the blades and the color of the stripes on the handle.
At the same time, 1940, they began to produce for the NKVD services.
In 1943, the HP-40 knife underwent many changes and Soviet intelligence officers received NR-43. It had a straight guard, a leather sheath, a plastic handle and a metal pommel, which made it possible to use it in many brute force moments (even hammering a nail); the second name of the knife is “Cherry”. The knife was so well designed and thought out that it is still used by some troops.
In 1960, to replace the HP-43 knife, the special service received a silent cartridge firing from the handle with a 7.62 mm caliber bullet. NRS (scout shooting knife). This knife has also undergone changes, becoming which is currently the main combat knife of sabotage brigades. Its sheath is designed in a special way and allows you to cut through wire, the blade, unlike the NRS, has become spear-shaped, and the saw on the butt has become half as long. The cartridge in the handle was replaced with a modernized SP-4.
Soviet paratroopers, at that time were recruited, which were intended to cut the lines of a paratrooper hanging on a tree. The sling cutter was not intended for combat battles, but the military personnel, by sharpening the tip and one side of the saw, repurposed this item into
Since those times, a lot has changed, the government, money, various gadgets have appeared, knives have not stood still either. They were manufactured according to various orders of army and internal military units.
These knives include - this knife was released by Zlatoust by order of SOBR, which exists in three variations: a combat knife, an award knife and a civilian knife.
— designed for law enforcement agencies FSB is available in two types "Vzmakh-1" And "Maestro" the handle of which can be made of various materials. "Maestro"— differs in that it is made in anti-reflective design.
Knife "Antiterror"— made for the FSB. The shape of the blade has high penetrating characteristics; the cutting part has a depression, which increases the length of the cutting edge.
Combat knives series. The knives in this series differ from each other in the following ways:
"Katran -1" The underwater combat knife has a one-and-a-half sharpening. The butt has a wave-shaped sharpening; in the root part of the butt there is a hook designed for cutting nets. The sheath is made to be attached to the leg and is made of rubber; all metal parts are coated with black chrome.
"Katran-1-S"- created for ground forces. Made of steel 50X14 MF with anti-reflective treatment.
"Katran -2"— the handle is made of leather.
"Katran-45"- exclusive, specially made for the 45th Airborne Regiment. It has a metal saw on the butt.
– the knife was designed and made by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tatarstan. It has a double-sided sharpening in the root part, the sharpening turns into a serrated one designed for cutting climbing slings, the guard is seven-fold, the handle is made of a set of leather, there is a modification of Shaitan-M (throwing knife) that can withstand up to 3000 throws.
designed and made by order of SOBR for work on the streets and in cramped conditions.
adopted by the FSB
Popular abroad Corsair knife. He fascinated the Germans with his form and performance. The catalogs describe it as one of the best knives in Russia.
A stalker knife or one whose shape resembles a sling cutter modified on the knee by paratroopers. This knife, by the way, is used by the Slovak military.
Development of the Melita-K company, which took the HP-43 as a basis.
This knife was developed by one person together with an applied research center. It was developed for saboteurs, taking into account the specifics of hand-to-hand combat. Tested on animal carcasses. The goal was also to find the optimal knife with a stopping effect when stabbed with a knife.
Knife or K-2. An ideal knife created taking into account all the requirements of our legislation so as not to classify it as a bladed weapon. The tests carried out on this knife are somewhat impressive and I take special pride in the fact that this knife was developed by a Russian person without any large investments. And with all this, the knife surpasses all foreign knives in terms of characteristics and has no analogues in the world.
The knife is designed for ordinary people even for a child. The main purpose of a knife is self-defense.

Popular foreign combat knives

I did not completely write out all the knives that are available abroad; if this is done, the article will be more than tens of thousands of words. You'll just get tired of reading it. And therefore, here are the most popular combat knives that are found abroad.

Bowie knife

Wood processing for knife handle


To process wood you will need sanding paper with a grit of 120-150 to give shape, you can use 40-60 just do not overdo it, for final processing use sanding paper with a grit of 600-800. Prepare a couple of wooden blocks that are comfortable to hold in your hand. Attach a thick rubber plate with a thickness of at least 3 mm to one of the bars. after which you can wrap the sanding paper around the belt and begin sanding the knife handle. You will also use the second block, without rubber, at the junction of the blade guard with the handle (this is done so that there are no differences between the blade and the handle).
These are probably the most simple tools which can be adapted without significant costs and begin to process your future handle.
When sanding light-colored wood at the end of the entire work, in order to avoid eating into small particles formed from the sanding paper, it is necessary to use the wet sanding method. The essence of this grinding is constant impregnation linseed oil wood, which not only prevents the absorption of small particles, but also contributes to a brighter highlight of the texture and pattern of the wood. Impregnation with linseed oil should be done every time the sanding paper is changed. At the very end, after sanding, the handle is impregnated with shellac.
If porous wood is being processed, and this can include any root wood, shells may form, which the craftsmen simply rub over with epoxy glue, after first mixing it with sawdust of the same type of wood.

Birch bark knife handle




One of the popular handles is considered to be a knife handle made of birch bark. It doesn’t look bad, it gives a kind of pattern or texture, so to speak.
The principle of preparing the workpiece is the same almost everywhere: birch bark is harvested and removed from the birch (the birch then dies after a few seasons). Birch bark is cut into even pieces; they are pressed, squeezed, glued together, and after drying they are processed as ordinary tree, a deliberately mounted workpiece on a blade or a special device.
I saw it not long ago unusual way which speeds up the preparation of a birch bark handle, I will try to describe it in detail.
One master told how to make a knife handle from birch bark. Having prepared birch bark, he chops small circles from it using. The notch is made from the outer ring of the bearing with the end sharpened on one side. With this notch he stuffs many birch bark circles, after which he uses the same method to knock out a hole in the circles in the center (the center is not specially measured) with a diameter of 8 mm. Next, he places all the prepared birch bark circles about 20cm long. tries to plant side to side, not to turn side to side. Then he clamps it with washers and nuts, stretches it and sends such a workpiece into a pan of boiling water for 4 hours. Every hour you need to take out the workpiece and stretch it as far as possible. After 4 hours of boiling, the workpiece is taken out and dried for 24 hours, and the broaching must be repeated until the nut is pulled. After the birch bark dries, the workpiece is reduced in length by almost half (keep this in mind when making the initial set of circles). After such procedures for cooking and drawing, the workpiece becomes monolithic, which is what was required of it. Now remove the workpiece from the pin, you can place it on the shank of the blade and process it as you please.
Very comfortable and most importantly quick way preparing a knife handle from birch bark.
The process of preparing a blank for a knife handle is described above. Then, naturally, according to all the canons, it is necessary to treat it with sanding paper and impregnate it with varnish, as indicated above, in the section on how to prepare a handle for a knife made of wood.

Knife handle made of bone or horn.


This is the most difficult task, making a handle for a knife from bone or horn. In order to make a handle from horn, you need to make a handle from some other material at least a couple of times.
If you are planning to make a handle from horn, then you will need horn naturally, and it must be dried. It usually dries in 0.5 to 2 years. There is a faster way: you simply dry it in the microwave for 5 minutes for half an hour at maximum power, after allowing it to cool and ventilate. Of course, not the whole horn is dried, but only the blank.
In general, an incorrectly chosen horn can initially cause you a lot of trouble. It can be caught wet, with rotten inside, with cracks. And all this comes up at the most inappropriate moment.
The handle can also be made from hollow bone. The bone cavity can be pre-filled cold welding or epoxy glue with pre-prepared filler. The bone is also easily deformed under the press; it must first be boiled for 30 minutes and, without waiting for cooling, put into the press.

Types of sharpening and removal of triggers




In order to properly sharpen a blade, you first need to know that before sharpening it needs to be stabbed, because the future blade requires from 0.2 mm to 0.6 mm of thickness, depending on the type of steel. Secondly, you should not sharpen your knife using electric sandpaper. The circle rotates at high speed, reaching 3000 rpm. From such a rotation speed, not only a significant layer of the workpiece is processed, but also loses its hardness.
There are many ways to remove bevels from a blade, some use diamond files, some use a sanding belt on a machine, one of these is correct until it is observed corner requirement, the result will not be achieved. In such cases, beginners can benefit from sharpening sets that allow them to adjust the required angles.
During sharpening, burrs are formed, the edge collapses or the creation of a chichetse-shaped profile, which must be processed because such an edge quickly dulls or shrinks. There are two ways to fix this: use a special grinding stone with paste or the old-fashioned method: a leather belt attached to a wooden block with paste attached to a wooden block.
Also, a beginner may mistakenly think that the knife has been sharpened due to the formation of a “wire cutting edge” this feature lies in the cutting part, not of the blade itself, but of chips that have not been completely cleaned and which were formed as a result of sharpening.
How to check if a knife is sharpened enough. You can check the sharpness of a knife using a sheet of paper that needs to be cut across. The sheet should be cut easily without jamming or changing the cut. Or can you just take the hair and cut it effortlessly? This means the sharpening is sufficient.