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DIY folding knife. Drawings of folding knives that you can make at home yourself. The best pocket knife for everyday carry

Manufacturing should start directly with the blade. First of all, we mark the place for the axial hole. We drill it and, already guided by it, we make further markings of the blade. If you do the opposite and mark and cut the blade along the contour, and only then drill a hole, then during the drilling process, especially in hardened workpieces, the drill can be pulled aside and all dimensions will "float away".

Having transferred the contours of the blade to the workpiece, we begin to make the blade. We grind with the help of a "grinder" and emery along the contour. For the convenience of holding the blade in the process of pulling the descents, the blade itself is not cut off from the workpiece and the heel of the blade is not formed.

To remove the slopes, you can use various tools: grinders, emery, flat grinders, grinders. I do rough turning on emery and fine on a flat grinder.

Next, we start making side dies.

Next, we drill a hole in the dies for the blade stopper pin, install the axle and the stopper pin, install the blade and the second die. We transfer the blade to the open position and mark on the die the position of the blade heel, more precisely, the place where the lock liner should rest. Next, mark out the liner and start cutting it out.

Having prepared the prints in this way, we proceed to their installation on the dies. Different methods: soldering, riveting, spot welding, etc. The most affordable are soldering and riveting.

Soldering requires a soldering iron, soldering acid, solder and a heat source. As a soldering iron, it is best to use a massive piece of copper, which is heated in a torch flame. Soldering acid is hydrochloric acid etched with zinc. POS-60, POS-90 are suitable as solder. Before soldering, it is necessary to clean and irradiate the soldering points. It is cleaned with emery paper, a file. After cleaning, we coat the soldering points with acid, take a piece of solder on a well-heated soldering iron and serve the surface. In the process of tinning, it is necessary to ensure that there are no gaps and the entire surface is covered with an even layer of solder. High-quality tinning and soldering are possible only with good heating of the parts.

After tinning, we wash the parts well in water with soda, removing acid residues. Next, we clamp the tinned parts in a vice and begin to warm them up with a burner from different sides. To reduce heat loss under the jaws of the vice, it is necessary to lay a thermal insulating material; fragments of ceramic tiles are well suited. As it warms up, squeeze the vice until droplets of protruding solder appear between the parts, after which the heating can be stopped.

Soldering the right pritin has features: first, we solder the knife axis into the die, and then we solder the pritin, while instead of one of the ceramic tiles we use a piece of tube larger than the diameter axis.


So, all the components of the knife are ready, it remains to assemble the knife, once again make sure that the lock works correctly. If necessary, readjust. For a smoother operation of the mechanism, it should be lubricated with machine oil. After some time of operation, the parts of the mechanism will grind, the blade will rotate easily and smoothly, the liner plate will slightly rise up.



Today, it is not at all difficult to buy a folding knife, since such a product is not only presented in a huge assortment, it is also sold in many retail stores, as well as on Internet sites. But, despite this, every day the number of people who want to make DIY folding knife... This is due to the fact that homemade folding knives are unique and a person can customize it to their preferences as much as possible. Moreover, in the process of self-manufacturing a knife, a person can use any materials, which will make the device reliable and durable.

Before you start making your own folding knife, you need to clearly define the following indicators:

  • what will be the shape of the future knife;
  • what material will be used to make it;
  • what design the future knife will have;
  • what will be the design of the knife.

DIY folding knives can be made of any material and have any shape, the main thing is to adhere to the established standards in the manufacture. When choosing materials for a knife, it is necessary to give preference to the most durable and durable material. For the blade, stainless steel with a high hardness or Damascus steel is suitable. Of course, most people prefer stainless steel, because it is easier to make a knife from it and, unlike Damascus steel, it is resistant to corrosion.

In addition to materials, for the manufacture of a knife, it is necessary to prepare tools that may be required in the process of performing the work. It is worth noting that in the manufacture of a simple version of a folding knife, you will need the simplest tools at hand. Special attention should be paid to the choice of material for the handle, since it must be not only reliable and durable, but also easy to use. That is, you need to correctly think over the shape of the handle so that it is securely fixed in the hand and does not slip out. Having decided on the most convenient shape of the handle, you need to choose the material from which it will be most convenient to make it.

Making a folding knife can be done using materials for the handle such as hard natural wood, shock-resistant plastic or metal. And, of course, when planning the independent manufacture of a knife, you need to think about the mechanism of its folding. Moreover, the mechanisms of the knife must be treated with extreme caution and everything must be thought out for the little things, since an incorrectly executed mechanism can cause injuries during the use of the knife. Before starting work on the manufacture of a folding knife, you need to make sure that all the necessary materials are prepared.

Folding knife mockup

So, if a person is interested in a question, how to assemble a folding knife, then it is possible to do this even without special skills. The main thing in this process is to take into account all the established parameters and adhere to all the rules for performing such a process. The first thing to do, starting with making a knife, is to sketch the future fixture on paper. You can also use special graphic editors. The most optimal options for cutting out a template for a future knife blade is cardboard, since it is more durable than paper. Moreover, you can cut out all the components of the future knife from cardboard, and then fasten the cardboard blade and the handle with a screw and nut, for this you need to cut a hole in the cardboard for the axis. This approach will help to understand how proportional the elements of the knife are, and how the device being manufactured will close.

In addition, the execution of a cardboard knife layout will help to properly fit the shape of the blade heel, and this part, as you know, is extremely important for a comfortable and practical use of the knife. You can find out what the heel support should look like by looking at DIY folding knife video... The video will help to make sure that the heel of the blade is really correct and has the required bevel angle, the optimal angle is 7-9 0. After that, you need to sketch a linear knife lock, as you know, it is based on three points that form a triangle. Each point of a linear lock has its own purpose:

  • for installing the pivot pin;
  • for mounting the corkscrew pin;
  • the contact area of ​​the support planes of the blade heel and the pressure plate, that is, the stopper.

It should be noted that it is the lateral force of the stopper pressure that fixes the blade in the closed position; there are no other elements performing this function in this design of the knife. That is why it is extremely important to mount a small steel ball from the bearing into the stopper, it will become an additional retainer for the closed blade and, accordingly, will secure the use of the knife. It is very important to choose the correct location of the ball lock, since it depends on the functioning of the entire knife lock.

Having marked the location of the ball lock on the cardboard model of the blade and the locking spring, you need to make sure that it will fit snugly there and will not interfere with the folding of the knife. After that, you need to decide on the fasteners that will pull together the dies. It is not recommended to use fasteners with large heads and position them too close to the edge of the handle. This is due to the fact that later it may become necessary to install a spacer or tubular struts between the mountings.

The procedure for making a folding knife with your own hands

After the cardboard layout of the future knife is ready and all its elements meet the standards, you can start making the device itself. At this stage, the material for the future knife and tools that may be useful in the process of its manufacture should already be prepared. As already mentioned, stainless steel is considered the optimal material for making a knife blade, since it will not rust, even if moisture gets inside the folding box.

For drilling holes in hardened steel, it is best to use ceramic or glass drills. It is very important to drill at low RPM with little effort. If you approach the process of drilling holes in the workpiece irresponsibly, then you can simply erase the drills without achieving the desired result. In order to prevent the sinking of the steel, it is necessary to constantly monitor the level of its heating and often cool the part.

As for the dies, it is better to use titanium for them, because, even with a small thickness, this material has high strength indicators. In addition, titanium is lightweight and does not corrode, which is also important for a folding knife. When processing titanium and giving it the desired shape, it is also recommended to work at low speed grinder, you can even use a hand hacksaw for metal.

To make a folding knife, the next thing to do is cut out the contours of the corkscrew spring, which will be located at the bottom of the die. At the supposed end of the die, it is necessary to drill holes with diameters of no more than 2.5 millimeters, there should be 3-4 such holes. After making the holes, you need to connect them and put a hacksaw blade there. The next step will be sawing the stopper line, but when performing this procedure, you must leave a small margin, which is removed during the process of adjusting and checking the finished knife.

As for the bottom die, it often has the same dimensions as the top one, but there is one difference, in the bottom die it is necessary to make a special notch for the hole to open the knife. Another difference between the top and bottom dies is the diameter of the screw hole. In the lower die, such holes must be made for the screw thread, while the diameters of the holes in the upper die must have the screw diameter. After all the parts have been cut out and all the holes have been drilled, it is necessary to make or pick up two small washers. Washers made of bronze or fluoroplastic are considered the most optimal. Such washers will act as a bearing and be attached to the axis of rotation of the knife.

The next stage in making a knife will be its direct assembly. You need to do this one by one:

  • insert the axis into the bottom plate;
  • put the locking pin;
  • install the washer;
  • put the blade and put the knife together.

If during the assembly process there are some inaccuracies, but they need to be eliminated, for example, if the parts of the knife do not mate, then they need to be adjusted in place. After the knife is assembled, you need to install the corkscrew ball. To do this, in the area of ​​the corkscrew spring, it is necessary to drill a hole with a diameter of 0.1-0.2 millimeters, that is, it must be smaller than its ball. The average bearing ball size is 1.5-2 millimeters. The ball is pressed into the lock plate using a vise, while it should protrude to the surface by about half a millimeter.

After the ball is installed, it is necessary to determine the place of its contact with the wedge, for this it is enough to close and open the knife several times. After that, a trace will remain on the blade of the knife, stepping back from the edge of the trace of 0.3 millimeters, it is necessary to make a small hole, into which the ball will enter when the knife is closed. In order to set and check the functionality of the knife lock, it is initially recommended to assemble the device without the top plate. If everything is working properly, you can completely assemble the knife and check its operation when folded.

That's all the knife is ready. As it becomes clear to do folding automatic knife do it yourself it may take a little time and patience to do this.

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A folding knife is a great tool in a guy's pocket and more. You must definitely take it with you when going on a hike or just to nature. Using a knife, you can not only cut a sausage or open a beer, but also protect yourself from enemies. Moreover, more often the enemy is not a person, but an animal, for example, a dog or even a fox. In this tutorial, we'll take a look at how to make a good, simple DIY folding knife.

To make a knife, the author used a fairly professional set of tools, he needed a jigsaw and other tools. But you should not despair if you have skillful hands, such a knife can be easily made with ordinary hand tools. The fixing device of the knife is also simple, all parts are made by hand. So let's get started.




Materials and tools used

List of materials:
- high carbon steel (which can be hardened);
- pins (can be steel or brass);
- material for overlays (wood, plastic, and so on as desired);
- epoxy adhesive;
- spring rod (for making a spring).

Tool list:
- ;
- drilling machine or drill;
- clamps;
- grinder;
- vice;
- paper, pencil, scissors for making a template;
- sandpaper;
- furnace, quenching oil.

Knife making process:

Step one. Sample
First of all, the author makes a template, including all the internal details. For those who have already made a knife at least once, it will not be difficult to make such a template. You need to think over a locking mechanism, it is made in the form of a lever with a hook.




Step two. Cut out blanks
The author cuts all the details of the knife from sheet steel. The locking mechanism consists of two parts, one part holds the spring, and the second is a lever with a hook that holds the blade.

To make a handle, you will need to carve two identical parts. All the details, including the blade, are cut out by the author using a grinder. In hard-to-reach places, where the grinder cannot crawl, we make a lot of cross cuts, and then gradually cut them out.






















To make a blade, you will need steel with a high carbon content, in America it is customary to use steel 1050, in Russia the most common steel grade for making knives can be considered steel 65X13. A good steel that can be hardened is widely used in tool making. You can also use steel from an old cut-off wheel.










When you cut out the blanks for making a handle, collect them on pins or simply on bolts. Now sand along the contour of the product, in the end you will get two identical parts.

Step three. Grinding
We proceed to more subtle processing of workpieces, namely, grinding. A belt sander will help us out. We bring the details to perfection, and at the end we go through manually with a file where we could not get close with the machine.

Using a sander, you also need to cut out the bevels on the blade. The author attaches the blade to a special device and starts work. The main criterion here is the symmetry of the bevels.






Finally, the author processes the parts by hand using sandpaper. The next step for us will be hardening, before that, do not forget to drill all the necessary holes in the blanks, since then it will be problematic to do this.


Step four. Tempering the blade
To keep your knife sharpened for a long time, the blade must be hardened. Since our blade is small in size, it can be easily heated to the desired temperature using a burner, as the author did. Kalim metal until steel ceases to be attracted by the magnet. If you approach this business more professionally, then for each steel there is a clear heating temperature.






When the steel is hot, dip the workpiece in the oil. Waste oil from a car, as well as vegetable oil, is quite suitable. After cooling the workpiece, run the torch over the metal to burn the oil. Now the steel can be checked, if it is not taken with a file, then the hardening was successful.

The next step in hardening is necessarily metal tempering, otherwise the steel will be very brittle. A household stove is suitable for vacation. Place the blade in it and heat it for about an hour at 200-250 degrees Celsius. Then let the oven cool closed with the knife inside. The vacation is over! The steel will now spring back and the blade will not break under high load.


Step five. Moving on to assembling the knife
After hardening, grind the blade to a shine, as after heat treatment it will change color. Now the knife can be assembled. Lubricate all internal parts with engine oil to prevent the inside of the knife from rusting. Now we collect everything on the pins. We glue the pads with epoxy glue.

Clamp the handle well with a few clamps and let the glue dry completely. Epoxy usually dries for about a day.












When the glue is completely dry, we perform the final sanding. First, the product is processed on a grinder, and then manually using sandpaper. Finally, we bring the handle to perfect smoothness using fine sandpaper.

A knife is a very useful tool, you can use it to defend yourself, sharpen a stick, cut sausage, or use it instead of a screwdriver if necessary. In order for the knife to be always with you, it must either have a protective cover, or it must be folded. The second option is more convenient, since such a knife will be more compact and you will not be able to lose the cover. Folding knives come in a wide variety of designs, we will consider the simplest of them.
The author decided to make the handle of his knife exclusively from wood. This material is available and easy to work with. The author used only hand tools to make the knife. The main emphasis in the article is made on the manufacture of a pen. You can find a blade either ready-made from an old knife, or you can carve it yourself, it's not difficult. So, let's start making a knife.

Materials and tools used

List of materials:
- blank for the blade;
- wooden plank;
- steel rod (as an axis for the blade);
- wood glue;
- insulating tape;
- oil for impregnation.

Tool list:

- jigsaw;
- a hacksaw for wood;
- drill;
- marker;
- plane;
- sandpaper;
- files;
- vice;
- clamps.

Knife making process:

Step one. Cut out blanks for the handle
To make a handle, you need a piece of board. You can use different tree species according to your preference. But just remember that harder rocks will be more difficult to handle. We will cut the board lengthwise into two halves, as a result we will get two blanks. Here you will need to correctly consider the thickness of the board.







We apply the blade to the board and circle it. Now we know how long the handle should be approximately in order for the blade to fit into it. Consider also the location of the locking pin and so on.

Having made all the necessary calculations, we clamp the board in a vice in a vertical position and proceed to cutting. The author first outlines the cut line with a jigsaw, and then a hacksaw with a wide blade comes to the rescue. Slowly, slowly, we cut the board into two halves.

Step two. We make and install the axis of the blade
We attach the blade to the handle using one metal axis. We are looking for a rod that is suitable in diameter and cut off the desired piece. We drill a hole in the blade of such a diameter so that the axis fits snugly into the hole. The blade should not dangle on the axis.



Step three. Modifying the halves of the handle
After the board was cut into two pieces, we got two halves. Each of them needs to be well aligned and sanded, since after cutting the parts will have a lot of irregularities. You can level them with a planer or by grinding, which is safer. Finally, sand the parts with sandpaper so that they are perfectly smooth.



Step four. Internal spacer
There is another piece of wood between the two halves, with the help of it we get the desired gap. We choose the gap in accordance with the thickness of the blade. The main idea is that the blade fits tightly into the handle and does not fall out. There are no additional fasteners here. Also, this part will act as a stop for the blade. Use dense wood for this part, like oak, maple, and so on.





Step five. We drill holes for the axle
Attach the blade to the workpiece and drill the holes for the axle. It should fit tightly into the part. Try to collect all the parts in a pile and make sure that all parts are made correctly. The blade should not spontaneously fall out of the handle. If so, you need to reduce the gap between the halves of the handle.







Step six. Gluing
Epoxy glue is suitable for gluing, but the author decided to use wood glue, it is also quite enough here. We apply glue to the "spacer" on both sides, and then glue the halves to it on the sides. As for the axis on which the blade rests, it is highly desirable to apply epoxy glue to it before assembly, so it will firmly adhere to the handle. But be careful, if the glue sticks to the blade, you may not open the knife after making it.

We clamp the whole thing with several clamps and let the glue dry completely. Epoxy dries for about a day, it is better to take wood glue for about the same time.







Step seven. Final processing
When the glue is dry, remove the clamps. You now need to cut off the protruding parts of the axis, for this we use a hacksaw for metal.
In the end, all you have to do is form the desired profile of your handle. This can be done manually, since the dimensions are small here. We take the files and form the desired profile. Then we switch to sandpaper. Finally, we use the finest sandpaper to bring the product to perfection.

At the same step, you can sharpen the blade; fine sandpaper dipped in water is perfect for this.



Step eight. Impregnation
Wood is a very insidious material, it instantly changes in size, cracks, deforms if moisture gets on it. To avoid these unpleasant consequences, the tree must be protected. Here flaxseed oil or any other oil intended for processing wood will save you. Do not use mineral oils as they will not dry out. We saturate the handle everywhere, both outside and inside. Let the oil dry. You can also easily use varnish instead of oil.








That's all, the making of the knife has come to an end. As a result, we have a small handy pocket knife. Do not forget that the handle is made of wood, so the knife will not be able to withstand the high load on the blade. However, for most household work, its strength should be sufficient. That's all, good luck and take care of yourself!

Dec 21, 2018 Gennady

The variety of types of knives does not allow the topic of their own production to dry out. The knife is an ideal assistant not only in the household, but also in hunting, fishing and other field conditions. Some people probably need a knife in case of tough self-defense. But it's best to try to avoid using the knife as a weapon of self-defense. There are less dangerous to human life and more, so to speak, legal items of self-defense. But life is life and you never know when, how and with what it will have to be protected. It is convenient to carry hiking and hunting knives in a sheath, but in urban conditions a cleaver on a belt will look quite wild and will naturally attract close attention of law enforcement agencies. Therefore, there are folding knives that are convenient to carry in a trouser pocket. Today we are going to make such a thing.

Naturally, it will be much easier to buy a folding knife, but people come to this site who do not pursue simplicity, but try to do everything with their own hands. The article is for informational purposes only and is aimed at readers who already have an idea of ​​how to make knives, so the description is rather short; but from the photographs you can understand almost every step of the work.

To make a folding knife, we need a titanium plate, although you can use stainless steel or some other good steel. Naturally, it all starts with making a template, the shape of which you will then transfer to a steel strip.

First we will make the liners of the folding knife handle. We outline the shape of the liner on the titanium plate and cut it out using any tool available to you. Next, we do a rough processing of the liner, grinding off excess metal on emery and files. We make the second liner. To do this, attach the finished liner to a strip of metal and drill two holes through and through. We cut the threads into them, fasten the liners with screws without a cap and cut out the second liner, using the first as a template. Next, we process the paired liners on emery and files, approaching as close as possible to the contour line of the liner.

It was the turn of the making of the folding knife blade and the back of the handle. We act in exactly the same way: templates, transfer to a titanium strip, sawing out and processing on emery.

We drill holes in the liners for attaching the back of the knife handle. We collect the knife and look where there are inconsistencies, cracks. If necessary, we modify these places, using files to achieve the perfect alignment of all parts of the folding knife.

We put on the second liner and drill additional holes for fastening the back of the knife. You can fasten the parts of the knife handle using special screws by pre-tapping the threads in the holes with a tap. The screws are convenient in that, if necessary, the knife can be easily disassembled and any revision can be made. We flare all the screw holes with a larger drill so that the screw head does not stick out above the surface of the liner.

Next, we cut out the two upper and two lower metal covers of the knife handle. We glue them on the liners with super glue. Now we drill holes for the screws through the liners into the metal plates. The holes in the trims must not be through. Now we put the knife in the acetone bath to dissolve the superglue.

Chamfer and thread the blind holes of the metal clasp knife plates. We attach the liners to the liners with screws. We adjust the overlays, grinding off excess metal on emery to fit the shape of the liners.Next, we make the final grinding of the knife handle.

From the inside, on the front metal linings, we drill recesses under the axis of the blade with a drill sharpened at an obtuse angle. For the axis, we grind the support screws on a lathe. Cut the thread into a die.In the back of the handle we cut out a tapered (dovetail) groove for the leaf spring.

All metal parts of a folding knife are hardened using a homemade forge or a gas burner.We will make the middle part of the linings from any available material: wood, bone, plastic, plexiglass, textolite, etc.

We cut out and grind the plate, adjusting its shape. The job requires precision, so adjust the middle pad slowly and periodically trying it on. After that, we drill blind holes in the liners for attaching the wooden lining. And cut out the L-shaped slots.

It remains to be done for the castle. We drill holes for the lock at each end of the liner. We connect them with a slot. Then we make a cross-section and get an L-shaped notch that forms the locking plate. We harden it with a gas burner and bend it to the side by three or four millimeters.

Drill a hole in the corner of the lock plate and press a metal ball into it. The back of this locking ball is ground flush with the plane of the spring.We sharpen the axle screw, making it rectangular. We mill the screw slot in the liner body.We sharpen the fin of the back of the knife handle on both sides. We grind the metal parts of the handle linings. We make bevels on the blade of a folding knife.

We collect the knife. But the axis is put on a thin washer, a blade, another washer. Then a second liner is put on. Insert the middle pads by snapping them into the L-shaped holes. We tighten the screws with a flat special wrench.