# knife making help?



## brown down (Dec 29, 2012)

i had a friend give me some old wood chipper blades that are 3/8 thick stainless steel i want to make some skinning knives out of it and want to know what the average or appropriate backbone width should be?
any help would be fantastic 
thanks jeff


----------



## Steelart99 (Dec 29, 2012)

brown down said:


> i had a friend give me some old wood chipper blades that are 3/8 thick stainless steel i want to make some skinning knives out of it and want to know what the average or appropriate backbone width should be?
> any help would be fantastic
> thanks jeff



Jeff, I usually make skinning knives about 1/8 inch thick and about 4-5 inches long As with anything, size varies depending on the maker. Forging 3/8 stainless down to usable thickness will be a challenge. Grinding hardened SS down is also a time consuming project. I'd suggest getting steel in the right thickness, especially if you''ve never made a blade before. Good luck.
Dan


----------



## brown down (Dec 30, 2012)

i am fortunate enough to have a mini milling machine i have the a piece that i hit with the grinder and than milled it flat, its less than a 1/4 now, 
I have built a few blades out of old flies but they tend to rust if not oiled :lolol::lolol: thanks for the advice, i may mill it down to 3/16 but haven't decided if i want a thicker backbone but feel 1/4 is way to heavy i am only making two skinners out of this steel just due to the fact on how much material i have to remove like you said. if i get into it heavy i will most def order the right size steel I had recent shoulder surgery and am going out of my mind so this is giving me something to occupy that :rotflmao3::rotflmao3: thanks for your advice how about your normal standard hunting knives how thick do you keep your backbone on those? once again thanks for your pro advice i appreciate it!!!!!
jeff


----------

