Hi guys, today I took advantage of a half day off and, with the excuse of the next seminar, I built by myself an aluminium training knife. If you have a minimum of familiarity with drill and flexible you’ll make it in a couple of hours.
EQUIPMENT NEEDED:
- An aluminum rod.
- About a meter of 3mm diameter cord.
- Flexible (angle grinder) with cutting disc (thin) and abrasive disc.
- Drill with 5/6mm metal drill bit.
- One pair of files for metal, medium and fine.
- Fine sandpaper.
I chose aluminium because it is a light metal, it’s easy to work with and does not rust. To get a bar of the right size just look in the curtains department of a DIY shop; it’s a 40 x 3 x 600 mm bar used to keep your indoor curtains tight; it costs about 6$ and with it you can build at least a couple of knives. Let’s start with the design that, more or less, will look like this:
Transfer the drawing onto the aluminium bar with an indelible marker, then start cutting it with the hose, taking care of the curved parts. After cutting it, use the abrasive blade and round it ALL, taking care not to leave any edge that may cut you or your training partner. Go over everything with the medium file, then with the fine file and finally with sandpaper; at the end the piece must be completely smooth and rounded (above all, no tip!).
Now create the two holes with the drill; use a small drill bit (2mm) and then enlarge the hole with a 5/6mm drill bit. Remember to remove any burrs.
The final step is to cover the handle of the knife with the cord: bend it in half and pass it through the upper hole, then continue along the handle crossing the two ends until you reach the second hole at the base of the handle. Pass the two free ends of the cord through the second hole, tie a knot and you will have finished your training knife!