The Nick Knife
Learn about the Nick Knife, a custom “neck knife” that is a cut above the rest
Getting Started: What to Make?
The best way to learn a tool is to make an awesome project with it. For Nick, the tool he’d been eyeing was the Tormach CNC mill: a computerized milling machine in the metal shop, capable of turning hunks of metal into complex shapes. He’d taken the Mills class (which teaches both the Bridgeport manual mill and the Tormach CNC mill) back in February of 2024.
Now, a year later, not only did Nick want to gain familiarity with the Tormach, he also wanted to practice putting together a small production process. That meant successfully taking a design from sketches in a notebook to finished product, and then making it repeatable.
The project Nick settled on was the “Nick Knife”, his own spin on the practical style of neck knives.
-
The name sounds more menacing than it is! Neck knives are fixed blade knives that can be worn on a necklace, thanks to their light weight.
The Project: Challenges, Solutions, and Success
The Metal Half
Nick’s initial design for the Nick Knife
Nick started with a sketch on graph paper to figure out a shape he liked. He wanted it to be a good fit for campers and backpackers, so it needed to be compact and lightweight. Easy enough — he made it short and “skeletonized” the handle to reduce weight.
Sketches and CAD models are useful for dialing in dimensions and weight, but they can’t tell you how a knife (or any tool) really feels in your hand. To test the grip, Nick built a prototype and discovered the handle needed more heft for a comfortable fit.
One of Nick’s Fusion 360 designs, which would let him mill 6 knife blanks from one piece of steel
After finalizing his design, he modeled his knife in Fusion 360. He then created instructions for the Tormach CNC mill, allowing him to machine out multiple O1 tool steel knife blanks at once.
-
Fusion 360 is a popular, powerful, and free CAD/CAM software. (CAD stands for Computer-Aided Design, while CAM stands for Computer-Aided Manufacturing). The CAM portion of the software is what let him convert his 3D model into instructions for the Tormach CNC mill.
Maker Works offers two classes on Fusion 360, one for the CAD and one for the CAM.
Because Nick wanted to make multiple knives, he also designed and machined a knife-holding fixture and adjustable angle-setter on the Tormach. The knife fixture allowed him to do the rough shaping of the knife on the Tormach, and the adjustable angle-setter let him get consistent results when belt grinding.
Nick’s fixture holds the knife in place while the Tormach thins the knife’s cutting edge
After using the Tormach to rough out the knives, Nick sent them off to be heat treated. This process is critical for giving the knives a sharp edge that lasts. Nick had done homebrew heat treating in the past, but acknowledged that it is sometimes best to leave some things to the professionals.
A collection of roughed-out Nick Knives
A heat-treated, media-blasted, powder-coated knife
Once the blades were heat-treated, Nick set up his adjustable angle jig on the Maker Works belt sander and sharpened every knife by hand. He gave some blades a satin finish by staying on the sander, while others he media blasted and powder coated for a durable, matte look.
The Wood Half
The wood handles after being milled by the ShopBot CNC router
While most of the project took place in the metal shop, Nick also utilized the ShopBot CNC router (in the wood shop) to create wooden handles. The ShopBot is a computer-controlled router that can cut, carve, drill, and mill wood and plastics. Nick’s process for creating the handles was very similar to how he made the blades: he came up with a design, made a prototype, then made a fixture and milled them out.
A completed Nick Knife!
Looking Ahead: What’s Next?
The next step for Nick in the Nick Knife project is figuring out a process for making custom knife sheaths (hanging an exposed blade from your neck is less than ideal), but currently he is taking a break from blades and working on an owl-nesting box.
Tools
Metal vertical bandsaw
Tormach CNC mill
Bridgeport manual mill
2”x72” belt sander
Mediablasting cabinet
Powder coating booth & oven
ShopBot CNC router
Materials
O1 tool steel from Buffalo Precision Products
Wood sheets from The Hardwood Edge
Miscellaneous parts from McMaster-Carr
