Ax from a circular saw. How to make a knife from a saw with your own hands. Sharp drinks and good weather to everyone

It is believed that, in terms of its parameters, any multifunctional tool is worse than a tool designed to perform a single job. Despite this statement, US inventor Glenn Klecker decided to improve the well-known ax and turn it into a multitool. Moreover, all the new functions of the ax should not go against the main purpose of this tool - cutting wood.

According to Glenn, being an avid traveler, he was more than once faced with a situation when the need arose to chop branches for a fire, unscrew or tighten a nut, or open a bottle with a metal cap. Carrying around a whole arsenal of tools for this is not an option: it’s difficult, inconvenient, and there’s no extra space in your backpack.

After some thought, Glenn decided that the ax, with some modifications, could be turned into a multifunctional tool. The inventor decided to start by getting rid of... the ax handle.

Glenn thought: “Why carry around extra wood when any stick of suitable thickness will do for an ax?” As a result, after drawing several sketches, the inventor developed a design for a universal metal blade for an ax.

The canvas can be mounted on the ax handle in a couple of minutes.

For this purpose, the blade is equipped with a special screw clamp and rotating “legs”. All the traveler needs is to find a stick of suitable length, wedge one of its ends, hammer it in and then secure the blade with a screw.

Due to the wedging effect and the legs that grip the ax handle, the blade is securely fixed and does not fly off during operation. Those who do not want to search for a suitable stick are encouraged to purchase a particularly strong wooden ax with a ready-made slot at the end.

The versatility of the tool is achieved through special shaped cutouts in the canvas. An ax can be used to open bottles, tighten hex nuts and bolts, twist screws, plan wood, and hammer nails. Also in the ax blade there is a mounting hole for a bit holder, and on the butt there is a notch with numbers, which can be used as a ruler.

In total, the inventor developed four types of canvas. They differ from each other in functionality and in the way the blade is fixed to the ax handle. In the cheapest model, the blade, which does not have a special screw fastening, is wound to the ax handle with a thin nylon rope - paracord. The most expensive model has an ax blade that is laser sharpened and made of titanium. To carry the ax, there is a hole for a lanyard in the canvas.

Another universal tool is the multitool, which combines three tools at once: an axe, a hammer and a saw.

Essentially the tool is regular ax, in the ax of which there is a pencil case for storing a saw blade about 40 cm long.

If you need to cut wood, a protective plastic cover is put on the ax blade, which has a screw for fastening the saw blade. Thanks to the cam clamp, the blade is stretched between the ax handle and the blade and is brought into working position. The ax turns into a saw.

The ax handle and cover are made of high-strength plastic, and all metal parts are made of stainless steel.

Hi all! This summer I went on a 5-week trek in the Alps with some friends. The time spent left a lot of positive impressions. But during this trip I discovered that I had forgotten one very important tool- axe. After a long day in the mountains, it's nice to sit by the fire and drink beer. But in order to start a fire without an ax, we had to spend a lot of time looking for small branches that could be broken by hand.

Therefore, as soon as I arrived home, I had the idea to make a tourist hatchet, in which, like a knife, a saw is hidden and there is a beer opener.

In this master class I will tell you how you can make such an ax yourself.

Ax design

The design of this ax consists of three parts.

Ax blade

The shape of the blade was borrowed from the tomahawk, an ax used by Native Americans and European colonists. But you can change its shape by adding some spikes or a hammer on the butt. The ax blade will be glued to the handle and secured with rivets.

Opener

First, as an opener, I wanted to make a suitable hole in the blade. As a result of test drilling, it was found that a regular drill It's impossible to make a hole, so I changed the type of opener. Both options can be seen in the image. New type will be made in the form of a specially shaped hook.

Saw

I wanted the ax to come with a saw and thought it would be nice if it could be hidden like a jackknife. From the handle and it can be unfolded using the finger groove. The saw will be hidden between two pads. The shape of the metal part of the handle will allow the saw to be locked in both open and folded positions.

Once the design was chosen, I tried it on a circular saw blade to get the dimensions to fit.

Materials and tools

This ax is made from a used circular saw and hardwood that I had. I only had to purchase a folding saw blade. It was already hardened, so it did not need heat treatment.

Materials:

• Old circular saw blade.
• Hardwood timber (approximately 50 x 40 x 300 mm).
• Epoxy resin.
• Large nails for use as rivets.
• Folding saw blade (I used 200mm).
• Bolt, nut and washer.

Tools:

• Angle grinder (don't forget about safety equipment!).
• Rasp.
• File.
• Sandpaper.
• Drill.

Let's make sparks!

I transferred the outline of the ax and the metal part of the handle to a circular saw and cut them out using an angle grinder with a fine cutting wheel. Then using grinding wheel, corner grinding machine and files I completed the formation of the elements. The final shape of the metal part of the handle can be given later.

Making the handle

You can glue the template to wooden blank and cut out two overlays. I took advantage of mine milling machine with CNC.

Drilling hardened steel

I didn't have a carbide metal drill, so I wasn't sure how the process would work with a hardened axe. I came across a video where it was said that you can use a sharpened concrete drill bit to drill hardened metal. That's what I did, and everything worked out pretty well.

Adding an opener

This is probably the most irreplaceable part of the ax! Whenever I go camping, my friends and I usually have a couple of beers around the campfire in the evening. Opening them with stones and tree branches is very inconvenient. So I thought this detail would come in handy. I transferred the outline of a regular bottle opener onto the ax blade and cut a recess into it. Works great :)

Drilling the handle

Next, I drilled holes in the handle and checked that everything fit. The metal part of the handle should act as a spring that will fix the saw blade. If it is too elastic, it can be made thinner. First I used metal part handles as a template for making holes. Then I fastened the two pads together with clamps and then drilled a through hole. This way all the corresponding holes were in one line.

To connect the parts of the ax without gluing, I used bolts. This way you can check whether all the parts of the ax fit and whether the saw folds correctly.

Blade sharpening

Once the outline of the blade was traced, I used an angle grinder with a sanding disc for a rough finish. Then for more fine workmanship they used a file and grinding machine(use water to cool the blade). The final sharpening was done using the sharpening wheel of a sharpening machine.

I'm not an expert at sharpening an ax blade, so you can do this another way.

The ax will primarily be used to split wood into smaller pieces, so I did a little testing of its functionality.

Gluing and riveting

By making a knife from a saw with your own hands, you can get at your disposal a cutting device that performance characteristics much better than factory counterparts. When making a knife with your own hands, it is given exactly the shape that suits the master most. Factory-made knives are beautiful, but not always reliable. There is no guarantee that they will not fail at the most crucial moment.

A homemade knife made from a disk, a hacksaw for wood, or a saw for metal will last for many years, regardless of the conditions of storage and use. Let's look at how to make a knife from metal parts factory production, what is needed for this and what special attention should be paid to.

Raw materials for production homemade knife Can be any new or old hardened steel cutting part. It is better to use metal cutting discs, hand and pendulum saw blades as a workpiece. A good option is old chainsaw. From its chain you can forge and sharpen a blade, according to its quality and appearance not inferior to the famous Damascus steel.

In order to make a knife with your own hands, you will need the following equipment and materials:

• Bulgarian;
• sharpening machine;
• electric drill;
• ruler;
• hammer;
• sandpaper;
• whetstones for sharpening;
• files;
• core;
• epoxy glue;
• copper wire;
• marker;
• bucket of water.

Separately, you need to think about the issue with the handle. The finished product should fit comfortably in your hand.

To make a handle it is better to use:

• non-ferrous metal (copper, bronze, brass, silver);
• wood (oak, alder, birch);
• organic glass (plexiglass, polycarbonate).

The raw materials for the handle must be intact, without traces of cracks, rot or other defects.

Rules for working with metal

In order for the blade to be strong and elastic, during its manufacture it is necessary to follow the rules of working with metal. They are as follows:

1. The workpieces must not have visible or hidden damage. Before making a knife, the workpieces must be inspected and tapped. A solid part sounds loud, but a defective part sounds dull.
2. When designing the shape of the blade, angles must be avoided. In such places the steel can break. All transitions must be smooth, without kinks. The cuts of the butt, handle and fuse must be ground at right angles.
3. When sawing and sharpening, do not overheat the steel. This leads to a decrease in its strength. An overheated blade becomes brittle or soft. During processing, the workpiece must be constantly cooled by completely immersing it in a bucket of cold water.
4. When making a knife from a saw blade, you need to remember that this product has already gone through a hardening cycle. Factory saws are designed to work with the hardest alloys. If you do not overheat the canvas during the turning and finishing process, then you will not have to harden it.

The blade shank should not be made too thin. It is this part of the product that will bear the heaviest load.

Making a knife from canvas

If the canvas is large and does not have much wear, then several blades can be made from it for various purposes. The effort and time spent are worth it.

A knife is made from a circular saw with your own hands in the following sequence:

1. A pattern is applied to the canvas, and the contours of the blade are outlined. Scratches or dotted lines. This way the design will not be erased when cutting out the workpiece and adjusting it to fit the required form.
2. Blanks are cut from a circular saw blade. To do this, it is better to use a grinder with a metal disc. You should leave a margin of 2 mm from the contour. This is necessary in order to remove the material burned by the grinder. If you don’t have a grinder at hand, you can sharpen the workpiece using a vice, a hammer and a chisel or a hacksaw.
3. On sharpening machine everything that is unnecessary is sanded off. You will have to spend a lot of time on this process so as not to overheat the steel. To prevent this, the workpiece must be regularly immersed in water until it cools completely.
4. The blade is outlined. Here you need to be careful to maintain the contour of the knife, not burn it and maintain an angle of 20º.
5. All straight sections are leveled. This is conveniently done by placing the workpiece on the side of the grinding wheel. The transitions are given a rounded shape.
6. The part is cleared of burrs. The blade is ground and polished. To do this, several interchangeable wheels are used on a grinding machine.

Separately, we should dwell on how the handle is made. If wood is used, then a monolithic fragment is taken, in which a longitudinal cut and through holes are made. After this, the blank is placed on the blade, and holes for fastening are marked in it. The handle is fixed to the blade using rivets or bolts with nuts. In the case of bolted connection The heads of the hardware are sunk into the wood and filled with epoxy glue.

When the handle is assembled from plastic, 2 overlays are used, which must be symmetrical. To give the knife originality, the plastic linings are painted with inside. You can make cavities in the overlays that can be filled with jewelry, items made of colored and precious metals, small compasses and photographs.

After fastening to the blade, the handles are ground until they acquire the required shape and smoothness.

Knife from a chainsaw chain

Saw chains are made of high-quality alloy, which perfectly withstands long-term friction and high temperature. The blade manufacturing process is long and labor-intensive, but the result is a beautiful, unique and very durable knife. To work you will need a heavy anvil, a barbecue and charcoal. To make it easier to handle a hot workpiece, you need to purchase blacksmith tongs.

Making a blade from a chainsaw chain should be carried out in the following sequence:

1. Prepare clothes and gloves made of thick fabric and a protective mask. Pour charcoal into the fireplace and light it with a special liquid.
2. Fold the blank from whole piece chains. In the place where the handle will be, you can add several pieces of chain. It should be remembered that the result of the work should be a single monolithic product. The handle for the knife is not made separately.
3. Place the workpiece on the coals. Provide air flow to raise the temperature. Wait until the steel turns dark red. In this state, it becomes forgeable without losing its quality characteristics.
4. Remove the hot chain from the fire and place it on the anvil. Several with strong blows flatten it so that the links melt together, turning into a single monolithic part.
5. Step by step, by heating the workpiece in the oven and giving it the desired shape with a hammer, forge a knife with a designated handle and blade. After the workpiece has cooled, sharpen and polish it.
6. Harden the product. To do this, you need to heat it red-hot again and lower it into cold water. After this, you can finish the knife. For this purpose, acid and an engraving machine are used. The finished blade is polished again and washed in a warm soapy solution.

At self-production blade must adhere to certain parameters in order to finished product did not fall under the category of bladed weapons.

This hatchet combines three functions, it is itself an ax, and there is also a small sharp hacksaw, as well as a beer opener. The author calls this device a survivalist's axe, although it is more likely just a small assistant in tourism.

The hatchet was made for mountaineering and, in general, outdoor recreation, drinking beer, so there is an opener here. As for the hacksaw, it is convenient for sawing moderately thick branches, and then using a hatchet to chop into kindling. The ax is easy to make; we use a saw blade as the material.

DIY materials and tools used

List of materials:
- saw blade;
- wood for making handles;
- nails for making pins;
- epoxy glue;
- washer, nut and bolt;
- Sawzall hacksaw blade (the author used 200 mm).

List of tools:
- marker;
- ruler;
-
- ;
- good set files;
- sandpaper;
- It is highly desirable to have a vice or clamps.

The process of making a hatchet:

Step one. We come up with and cut out the main profile
First of all, you will need to come up with the shape of your hatchet. Always remember that the main cutting characteristics of an ax depend on its weight. The more metal there is, the heavier the ax will be, and the better it will chop. Also decide on the shape of the blade; everything depends on the purpose for which you will use the hatchet. Draw the profile of the ax on the cutting disc. Or you can first do it on paper, and then cut it out and transfer it to metal; this is a more professional solution.

In addition to this, you will need one more piece to cut out. But it will be needed if you install a saw blade in your hatchet. A narrow steel plate should pass through the entire length of the handle; as a result, a groove is formed in the handle in which the hacksaw will be hidden. Of course, the shape of this steel plate should be such that the hacksaw blade fits into place without hindrance. Since the author’s handle is quite long, it will not be possible to cut out these two parts in one piece; we cut out the ax and the long plate going through the handle separately.

As for the tool, you can cut out the whole thing using a grinder. Try not to overheat the ax blank, as this will temper the metal and make it soft. However, re-hardening solves this problem. This work can also be done with a hacksaw, although in this case the metal is usually tempered by heating, after which it is easy to cut. Finish the remaining fragments with a sharpener or with the same grinder.

Step two. Making a handle
This step will be fairly easy if you have a CNC machine. But this pleasure is expensive and few people have such a device. But all this work is quite easily done manually. We draw the handle profile on the wood and slowly cut it out. It’s good to have a jigsaw, if not, don’t worry, everything can be done and hand tools. You will need to make two halves. Make sure that the handle is not too thick. Then sand the workpieces thoroughly so that they are smooth and uniform.

Step three. Drilling holes in metal
The metal of the saw blades is hardened and made from high-carbon steel. Just drill it like that with a regular drill you won't succeed. For these purposes, you will need a special drill with a carbide tip. Usually this can be done with the same drill that is used to drill concrete.
There is another option, you can always heat the metal until red hot, and then let it cool for outdoors. As a result, it will be drilled without problems with a regular drill. Also be sure to drill two holes in the long metal plate that runs the length of the handle. However, you can temper this metal without any problems; there is no need for hardening.

Step four. Beer opener
It just so happens that our author is a fan of drinking beer by the fire with friends. Of course, you can open a bottle on a twig, but it is much more convenient to do this with a prepared tool, in our case an ax. It’s not difficult to make an opener; just use a grinder to cut out a tooth that will securely cling to the lid. According to the author, it works great.

Step five. Trial assembly
First of all, you have to deal with the locking mechanism hacksaw blade. That thin metal plate that runs through the entire handle acts as a spring and retainer. First, the author assembles everything with bolts and checks that everything works well. To do this, drill holes in in the right places, where exactly, look at the photo. If something is wrong, it is not too late to adjust everything. Try to pull out the blade and cut something, it should be securely fixed.

Step six. Sharpening the ax
The most crucial moment in making an ax comes - sharpening it. Since the hatchet is made without subsequent hardening, it is important for us to sharpen it correctly. When sharpening, the blade will heat up, which means tempering of the metal may occur if the temperature gets too high. After tempering, the metal will be soft and the ax will quickly lose its sharpness. Before sharpening, stock up on a bowl of water and constantly cool the blade in it. The author sharpens it carefully using a grinder and a grinding disc. This creates a bevel and also produces a rough sharpening.

For finer sharpening, we take files and sandpaper. If desired, the hatchet can be sharpened to a blade using sandpaper. But since we will be cutting wood with it, we don’t need it to be very sharp, and besides, it’s unsafe.

Step seven. Gluing the hatchet
We use epoxy as glue. It will be convenient to use a double syringe that simultaneously applies resin and hardener. The glue must be applied carefully as there are moving parts inside the handle. Before mixing the resin with the hardener, prepare the pins. The author used ordinary nails as pins. We cut them to the required length so that they protrude slightly from the handle on both sides.

We apply glue in the part where the hatchet is attached, and also glue the upper half of the steel plate. There is no need to glue the bottom part, it works like a spring. We tighten the whole thing with clamps and leave it for 24 hours, which is how long epoxy glue often dries.

Step eight. Forming a handle
When the glue has completely dried, take a file and thoroughly sand the surface of the handle, removing excess. After rough processing, take coarse sandpaper and continue sanding. Finally, by gradually reducing the grain of the paper, we make the pen absolutely smooth. After this, the hatchet is almost ready, try it in action!