Making a Bush Craft Knife
One of the most popular knife I’m asked to make are Bush Craft knives. Sometimes referred to as survival knives, they are intended for survival in harsh environments, practicing survival techniques or bush craft. A conventional bush craft knife is a multi-purpose tool, often designed to cope with many tasks to suit the needs of hunters and general outdoor folk, such as cutting branches, splitting logs, setting traps and skinning animals.
Generally they have blades that are generally 7 – 11 cm long, and the blade and inner part of the handle are made from a solid piece of steel (full-tang). A full-tang means a strong and solid knife. The handle scales are generally made from natural material, most commonly wood but antler, bone and sytnthetic materials can also be used.
For this knife I’m using 1080 carbon steel which has a carbon content of between 0.75% and 0.88%. This makes it an easy to work material but can be hardened to hold a decent cutting edge. The material as supplied is 3 mm thick by 50 mm wide in a 1 meter length. Prior to shipping it has been annealed (heat treated to its softest cold state) which makes it easier to cut, drill and grind.
The template for this knife is 23 cm overall length with an 11 cm blade. For the cutting edge, I’m going with a Scandi or V-grind which is actually just a variation on the flat grind. The difference it doesn’t taper until much closer to the blade which results in a strong spine whilst maintaining a good edge. With the steel being thicker behind the edge you have a much more robust blade capable of carrying out heavier jobs such as carving or battoning.
