Made a Throwing Knife

[44-henry]

Never built a throwing knife before, but I have a friend who wanted something kind of different so I gave it a go. The total length is about one foot and it is about 3/16 inch thick. I used mild steel, but color case hardened it using the bone and charcoal process, the handles are leather held in place by 8-32 screws so they can be easily replaced in the future. Though casehardening wouldn't be a good heat treatment for a regular knife, for a throwing knife it seems to work out fairly well.

 

[zerobarrier]

That looks like a real nice throwing knife. I have recently been trying my hand a knife throwing(its not as easy and it looks). I got a few cheapies on ebay that are in the pic, I have since broken them all. I need to get a nice big knife like that.

 

[hso]

Nice job!

 

[Valkman]

That is a nice knife for throwing. I have one from my blackpowder days and usually hit the knife butt-first on the target, sending it straight back at me point first! Doh!

 

[44-henry]

Thanks for the comments. I used to throw quite a bit, but haven't for years until this one. It's a great sport and, as was mentioned, keeps you on your toes when the darn things spring back at you. There is enough weight on this one so that it really sinks into the stump, definitely more so than those little light weight knives sold at the local stores.

 

[R H Clark]

I always thought 5160 heat treated a little soft would make a great throwing knife.

 

[44-henry]

I think 5160 would make an excellent throwing knife. That actually was what I was planning to use originally. This particular knife has a fairly deep case that I tempered after the quench, so it is not as hard as it could have been, but should stand up to some serious use. Constant resharpening of the tip will eventually wear past the case, but on a knife of this style it shouldn't be necessary very often and the tip is pretty robust.

 

[Sam1911]

That's pretty great!

I just attended the AKTA northeast open competition in Berwyn PA (as a spectator) and it's gotten my kids and I (back) into knife and tomahawk tossin' pretty seriously.

I grabbed an old discarded half-finished blank out of my "errors and dead ends" pile and roughly finished it into a basic thrower for the boys to use. Turns out dead soft 1095 will stick just fine and is pretty resilient, but bends way too easily. Not too hard to pound it back flat, though.

Yours looks just great!

 

[bikerdoc]

That is a great looking knife. In a different steel, with a rockwell of 59 I would carry that design in the field

I have never thrown but might give it a try, thanks.

 

[Sam1911]

Last weekend I spoke with a knife maker (Flying Steel) who's concentrating on throwing implements these days. He's using something pretty close to 1075 or 1080 and hardening to the low 40s for durability.

He's got a broken steel replacement guarantee eek and I think he said he's not had to honor it yet!

 

[R H Clark]

I would love to hear more about your case coloring method. It looks great and I think it would look very nice on a period style knife.

 

[Rick O'Shea]

Beautiful knife.
I used to throw a bit in years gone by. The leather handles are a great idea. I preferred a handle grip (full turns), and would have liked something other than narrow steel to hold onto, but wood gets destroyed in no time.
Again, nice work.

 

[44-henry]

I agree, the throwers with no handle have always felt a bit odd to me, the leather handles are definitely more durable than any wood would be, plus they are easy to change when they get too badly worn.