These are some of the creative things people have made knives from.
Knife making truly is an art form. It takes a special touch and eye to be able to visualize and then build a high-quality knife. One of the cool things about the internet is being able to see some of these craftsmen and women bring these creations to life from start to finish.
One subset of the internet seems to focus simply on making knives from the wackiest recycled materials. We love the concept because it gives new life to some old junk that might otherwise litter up the outdoor areas we know and love.
From lawnmower blades to old leaf springs, these knives have a sharp edge and an amazing look that only a true artist could have forged.
1. Jeep leaf spring
Continuing the automotive theme from the first knife, Trollsky made this one. This old junk leaf spring may look worthless at first. But a little heat treatment and some grinding and forging of the spring steel put a good edge on it. It also has an awesome "steampunk" type look to it, doesn't it?
2. Stainless steel bolt
When it comes to steel alloys, it seems no matter what a piece of metal has already been forged into, someone else can forge it into one of the best knives around. This bladesmith takes a simple stainless steel bolt from the hardware store, and after a little work, he soon has a tiny, but good steel hunting knife.
3. Old circular saw blade
Probably everyone has a few old circular saw blades somewhere in their garage or barn. These blades aren't usually made to be re-sharpened. But they're also far from scrap steel. A little cutting, grinding and forging, and this saw blade gets a new cutting edge and lease on life.
4. Pipe wrench
Another item everyone probably has laying around is an old wrench or two. This one is badly rusted, its work days clearly behind it. After a little American ingenuity and some serious heat treating, this wrench is completely unrecognizable in its new state!
5. Hedge shears
This pair of hedge shears will never trim another bush or tree again. They're practically rusted shut. But this YouTuber forged the old tool steel into a beautiful knife.
6. Lawnmower blade
This YouTuber says you'll never know what might be available to use as a weapon after the apocalypse and his knife looks like it would be right at home in a Mad Max or zombie apocalypse horror movie!
7. Old file
We found a bunch of videos of people re-forging old files into knives on YouTube. It makes perfect sense. They're made of good steel. They're already the right shape and can be forged into knives with little work. And it's easy to pick one up cheap at a garage sale or flea market and then turn it into art!
8. Railroad spike
Those old railroad spikes were made to last. So it doesn't take much to re-imagine them into an even more useful tool. This was another project several people have undertaken, but we were particularly impressed with this railroad spike bowie knife project.
9. Rebar
When it comes to steel, rebar is pretty ugly by default. It's meant strictly for reinforcement/construction purposes and not for looks. Which is why this piece of rebar forged into a dagger is so surprising. It actually looks pretty darn nice for being made from such a utility piece of metal.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
NEXT: EDC REVIEW: WE TESTED THE KEYPORT PIVOT KEY AND MULTI-TOOL SYSTEM
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