A knife, formerly a horse shoe, created by Miller Knives
We’re drowning in trash and junk. Look in your neighbor’s garage or head down to the scrap yard and you’ll see so much refuse and detritus that it’s not even funny.
But what if you could take those pieces of scrap metal and make them into something practical and rewarding? Well, you can.
If you put enough work and skill into it, you could turn nearly any piece of scrap metal into a functional knife. Will all pieces of scrap metal make great knives? Heck no! But with the right piece of metal, you can create something useful and even beautiful.
Don’t believe me? Take a look at these knives made from old junk you can find in your garage or the scrap yard.
1. A knife made from a file
Many knifemakers start by constructing a knife from a file. It’s not exactly making a knife from scratch, but it gives you a place to start. Files are made from different steels, such as W-1 and W-1, but a Nicholson file is 1095 carbon steel. That’s a great steel to work with. Way back in 2011, I wrote about how to make a knife from a file.
Here’s a great tutorial of a file knife made with common tools.
2. A knife made from a shovel
There’s a classic video that shows how to make a knife from a shovel and some concrete, but I appreciate how this video from Rusty shows what you can make at home without many tools.
3. A knife made from a railroad spike
The railroad spike is another fairly common starting point for knives. You can often find these lying near old railroad tracks (though be aware that it may be considered stealing to take one), but you can also grab some at a local scrap yard. You can also get some railroad spikes from McMaster-Carr for pretty cheap too.
