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Paring Knife from an Old Hacksaw Blade, with a Poured Lead Ferrule (Boy Mechanic, 1919)

The Boy Mechanic, Book 3 (1919), p. 207, public domain · Public domain

Created by

Woody

14. November 2026

Paring Knife from an Old Hacksaw Blade, with a Poured Lead Ferrule (Boy Mechanic, 1919)

A small kitchen paring knife from a worn hacksaw blade, whose hard steel keeps an edge: the blade is riveted between two hardwood handle halves, a lead collar is cast round the joint in a paper mould, and the blade is ground to shape.

Beginner

Two hours

Instructions

Read the Boy Mechanic

"With a little work a hacksaw blade, or a portion of one, can be made into a paring knife that will prove very durable because of the excellent quality of the steel."

Make the handle

Cut two pieces of hard wood to the handle shape shown and rivet them together with one end of the blade between them.

Materials for this step:

Hardwood Board1 piece

Hacksaw Blade1 piece

Copper Rivets1 piece

Tools needed:

Hand Saw

Hand Drill

Hammer

Files (Hand File)

Pour the lead ferrule

Wrap a paper mould round the end of the handle where the steel comes out and pour melted lead into it to form a collar that holds blade and handle firmly together.

Materials for this step:

Paper1 piece

Lead Ingot1 piece

Tools needed:

Metal Ladle

Propane Torch

Grind the blade

Grind the exposed part of the saw blade to the knife shape you want, cooling it often so it keeps its hardness.

Tools needed:

Grindstone

Troubleshooting

Hacksaw knife troubleshooting.

Flow

History and honest limits

From **The Boy Mechanic, Book 3** (Popular Mechanics, 1919), p. 207 (checked on the archive.org scan boymechanic0003unse). He gives no sizes; the tools and the cooling note are ours.

Materials

2
2
Hardwood Board
1 piece
Placeholder
2
2
Hacksaw Blade
1 piece
Placeholder
2
2
Copper Rivets
1 piece
Placeholder
3
3
Paper
1 piece
Placeholder
3
3
Lead Ingot
1 piece
Placeholder

Tools Required

2
2
Hand Saw
Placeholder
2
2
Hand Drill
Placeholder
2
2
Hammer
Placeholder
2
2
Files (Hand File)
Placeholder
3
3
Metal Ladle
Placeholder
3
3
Propane Torch
Placeholder
4
4
Grindstone
Placeholder

This blueprint makes

Placeholder

Kitchen Knife

Free

829

CC0 Public Domain

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