Watch: Make a Knife From an Artillery Shell

This guy takes a hunk of steel from an old artillery projectile and turns it into a knife for a German friend who found the frag in the Black Forest using a metal detector.

He starts by cutting off a hunk and testing it to see if it can be hardened. From there, he cuts off a long chunk and gets to work.

I like how you can still see the old threads near the tip of the blade as he works.

I didn’t like hearing him whine about making the brass guard, but the result is nice.

The level bubble tool for getting the bevels correct is cool. I hadn’t seen one of those in use before.

The handle is neat, as well. Reminds me of the leather handle I put on my grandfather’s old Buck Bros claw hammer so I could re-roof my old house. As you can imagine, my handle is not nearly as slick as his.

Check out his thumbnail at the end of the video. I bet that hurt.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.