As a knife thrower, your desire is to increase your collection of knives. Unfortunately, this can become a very expensive hobby.
If you are in an online knife throwers community, you probably have seen people making their own, and you are now trying to figure out how to make throwing knives to add to your collection.
What if I told you that making a throwing knife is so simple and fun? All you need is to get the required materials and start making your own. In no time, you will have a great collection of throwing knives.
I’ll walk you through the process step by step.
1. Get All the Material You Will Need
Before making a throwing knife, you must ensure you have all the necessary materials. Remember that the quality of the material you use will determine the quality of the product.
Here is a list of all the equipment, materials, and tools you will need
Tools
- Pencil
- Permanent marker
- Scissors
- Glue
- Cardboard
- Sandpaper. Select the extra fine CAMI grit size of 320 and the very fine CAMI grit size of 180
- Screwdriver or chisel
- Bench vise
- Hacksaw
- Half-round file.
- A file or Bench belt sander
Raw Materials for the Knife
- A4 sized paper
- A4 sized cardboard, 1-2mm
- Steel
Selecting the Perfect Steel
The steel you will need is hugely dependent on the characteristics of the knife you want. Are you keen on having a corrosion-resistant blade? Would you want it to be soft or hard?
The popular choice will be shock-resistant carbon steel of about 280 mm in length and a profile of 40X4 mm. The best type for making knives would be EN 1.4307 / AISI 304L or EN 1.4301 / AISI 304 (V2A); this choice will give you a knife of about 200g, which is perfect for throwing into tree slices.
2. Selecting the Best Throwing Knife Design
Do you have all the necessary tools and materials? Let’s get down to business.
How do you want the knife to look? You can get creative and design your knife or select from hundreds of knife templates available online or on Pinterest. You can put the following keywords on your search engine “throwing knife template pdf” or “throwing knife template to print.” then select a template from the search results.
If you are still new at this, please note that larger knives are easier to throw. Also, consider simpler designs for starters; you still have time to make more complex designs as you get the hang of it.
Many throwing knife templates are available online, which can confuse you. So here is a great and simple throwing knife template by Christof Weese.
Download the template to your laptop, and use a graphic editor to select the correct printout size for your knife. Remember, this will be the size of your knife, so ensure that you get it right. If unsure about the size, measure the printed template using a ruler to confirm.
3. Creating a Rough Outline for the Knife
Take the printed-out template and glue it to a cardboard. Use a scissor to cut out an outline, and ensure that you have smooth edges by using sandpaper to smooth it down.
Place the outline on the steel you will use to make the knife, and use a permanent maker to trace the outline on the steel.
If you do not want to go through all this hustle, use soapstone to draw the shape on the printed template directly onto the steel.
I am sure the excitement is starting to set in, you can now start to see how your knife will look. But we are not there yet. Just a few more steps before you can throw your knife into a target.
4. Start Sawing the Outline
Ensure that the steel is clean before you start sawing it. Use a rag to wipe it to remove any dust on it.
Clamp the steel tightly on the bench vise, so it does not move during sawing. Leave about 20mm between the saw and the bench. To prevent scratches on the blade, place a thick paper between the steel and the bench vise.
Start cutting the steel following the outline on the template. Start with a groove for a cleaner and more accurate cut. If you can cut right on the line, but if you can’t, then cut a little to the outside.
Use a bastard file to smooth away the blade, working on it until the last markings of the permanent marker are filed away.
5. Sharpening the Knife
The sharpening process is a very important step when making growing knives.
A point to note is the knife’s aim is not to cut, so it should not have sharp edges. Rather it should be pointy. Now that you know that, grind the bevel only at the top inch of the knife. Leave about a 1-2mm ridge; this will ensure that your knife sticks to your targets and does not easily cut your skin.
6. Filing
To ensure that you have a smooth and comfortable grip, use a smooth file to file around the edges. The knife should not have sharp parts to prevent injury.
The knife’s center of gravity should be in the middle for a smoother throw. To ensure this is achieved, file away enough meta on the handle.
7. Polishing the Knife
Polish the knife using sandpaper. Only polish the knife after you have finished filling it. Use a wooden block as a grip to hold your sandpaper by wrapping the paper around it. Start polishing the blade, ensuring that both sides are well polished to achieve an even shiny surface,
8. How to Make Throwing Knives’ Handle
Many people opt to only drill holes in the knife’s handles. The advantage of doing this is that the knife’s weight reduces by drilling holes into the handle. Moreover, the holes increase the handle’s grip, making it easier to hold and throw. Other people add holes on the handle just for aesthetic reasons.
Still, you can add a handle to your knife instead of drilling holes. A popular handle among many knife throwers is using paracord-wrapped handles. Making one is very simple. However, you can find many tutorials online if you wish to do this.
Even better, you can wrap the handle using textile tape that has bright color, just do not use green color. Find a color that will make the knife stand out if you throw it on the grass so that you find it easier. Many knife throwers have lost their favorite knives because they could not trace them after throwing them.
You can choose to use a wooden handle, but this is not very popular among knife enthusiasts. Wooden handles often split due to the impact and force of hitting a target. But, others who love to display their knives choose to use wooden handles.
9. Testing Your Throwing Knife
Finally, here comes the fun part. It is time to test your throwing knife.
It is very easy to test and see if your knife works perfectly. All you need is to set up a target. You can use 2 X12 wood planks. Ensure that the wood grains are vertical and not horizontal during setup. A vertical setup will be easier to cut into the grain.
Log rounds will also work perfectly. Choose logs that have a larger diameter of at least 20 inches to help the target last longer,
Finally, if you cannot find log rounds or wood planks, a cereal box will be a great target to test your throwing knife.
The next step is to throw the knife onto the target to test it. Testing a knife is just the same as the actual throwing. Here is what you need to do.
- Hold the knife with your dominant hand, and ensure that your hold is firm and delicate.
- Each knife thrower has their way of gripping the knife based on preference. The popular way is hammer grip; the handle is placed on open palms.
- Place your dominant foot at the back and your non-dominant foot in front. Place all your weight on the dominant foot.
- Angle the knife. Use your dominant hand to hold the knife, bending your elbow and the knife beside the head.
- Bring the forearm forward, shift your weight onto the non-dominant leg, throwing the knife onto the target.
If the knife has been built well, it should stick to the target without falling off.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Makes a Good Knife for Throwing?
A throwing knife is different from a cutting knife, a tactical blade, and a pocket knife; they are designed to be thrown at targets with accuracy from several yards away. Even though they come in different weights, constructions, sizes, and materials, some features are unique to all good throwing knives.
They are well balanced; the center of gravity is around the middle of the knife so that after it is thrown, the knife will spin in tight circles. The blade should also be strong enough to hit the target without breaking. Finally, the handle should allow a firm grip to avoid slipping through the user’s hand.
They are not sharp. A throwing knife should have a dull blade. All it needs to do is to stick on the wooden target. A sharp blade is dangerous because it can cut you while throwing it.
It should have the right length and weight. A longer knife spins slower, and a shorter knife spins faster. But, a longer knife will stick to the target easily compared to a shorter knife. A heavier knife will hit targets farther away and have more impact on the target than a lighter knife.
How Are Throwing Knives Made?
Throwing knives are made out of steel blades. Commonly, growing knives are made without handles, but including handles is becoming popular among knife throwers.
When making throwing knives, a knife template is traced on the steel. The template is cut out, then filed to remove any rough edge. The sharp edge is sharpened, and the handle is designed and added to the knife.
What Steel is Good for Throwing Knives?
The best steel for making throwing knives would be shock-resistant carbon steel S5 or S7, or even L6. Also, 80crv2 steel, 5160, 1084, 1080, and 1075 steel are ideal for making throwing knives.
The kind of steel to be selected should be hard so that it does not bend or break when the knife is thrown onto a target.
Can You Throw Any Knife?
Yes, you can throw any knife. However, professional throwers prefer balanced knives over handle-heavy and blade-heavy knives. The secret is finding the right balance point, and the blade will stick to the target when you do.
If you are using a heavy blade knife, hold the knife’s handle when throwing. On the other hand, if you use a heavy knife when throwing, hold the blade so that the handle gets thrown first.
It is only the balanced knives that users can throw from the blade and the handles. The other advantage of using a balanced knife is that the range of distance from which you can stick the blade to the target is broader.
Bottom Line
We hope that after reading this step by step instructions on how to make throwing knives, you will be successful at making your own.
Start by collecting all the materials and tools you will need. Then look for the right template for your knife, and if you are creative enough, you can design your own. The next thing is to trace the template on your steel and cut the template out. File the steel and sharpen the edge of the knife.
You can choose to add a handle to your knife, and you are now ready to throw it on a target.
Throwing knives shouldn’t be an expensive hobby. With these steps, you can make your first throwing knife.
