How to use knife templates: print, check scale, transfer to steel and cut out

Knife templates only work if they print at true size. So the order is: print at 100% (Actual size), check the ruler on the sheet against a real rule, join any tiled sheets, transfer the outline to annealed steel, then cut, file and drill before heat treatment.

This guide walks through each step using our free knife templates, which are drawn 1:1 with a scale-check ruler, pin positions and a spec block on every sheet.

New to this? Start with the first knife template, designed for a hacksaw, files and a filing jig.

What you need to use knife templates

• A printer and plain A4 or US Letter paper
• A steel rule, ideally 300 mm (12 in) with mm and 1/16 in marks: Steel rule 300 mmAmazon
• Scissors or a craft knife, and a glue stick or spray adhesive
• Layout fluid or a permanent marker: Dykem Steel Blue layout fluidAmazon
• A carbide-tipped scriber: Draper 150 mm carbide tip scriberAmazon
• A centre punch and hammer
• Annealed steel bar of the right thickness: see the steel guide
• A way to cut: hacksaw with bi-metal blades Bahco 319 hacksawAmazon, an angle grinder, or a metal-cutting bandsaw
• Files: Bahco engineers file setAmazon
• A pillar drill with HSS or cobalt bits: Einhell bench drill pressAmazon (UK) or WEN 8 in 5-speed drill pressAmazon (US)
• Safety glasses, ear defenders and gloves for handling sharp offcuts (not at the drill)

Ways to transfer and cut out at a glance

Step 1: Print at 100% (Actual size)

Open the PDF that matches your paper. Our templates come as A4 and US Letter PDFs, plus a single-sheet PDF and an SVG in mm for laser and CNC work. Pick the right one: A4 is 210 × 297 mm, Letter is 8.5 × 11 in (215.9 × 279.4 mm), and printing one on the other forces your printer to rescale.

In the print dialog:

1. Set Scale or Page sizing to 100% or Actual size.
2. Turn off "Fit to page", "Shrink oversized pages" and "Scale to fit".
3. Print from a PDF reader (Adobe Acrobat Reader, Preview, or your browser's PDF viewer), not from an image of the page.

A PDF can't force your printer to print at actual size, so check every time (Adobe Community).

Step 2: Check the scale against a real rule

Every template sheet has a ruler along the bottom: centimetres and millimetres on one side, inches in 1/16 in steps on the other, with the note "SCALE CHECK: compare with a real rule".

Lay a steel rule along it.

• 10 cm on the sheet should read 100 mm on your rule. Check the full length, not just the first centimetre; a 2% error is only 2 mm over 100 mm but nearly 5 mm over a 240 mm gyuto.
• Check both the mm and inch scales. If one is right, both are.
• If it's off, don't adjust the knife. Reprint at 100% / Actual size. If it's still off, try another PDF viewer or printer.

Then check the overall, blade and handle lengths printed on the sheet.

Step 3: Join tiled templates (TRIM and ALIGN marks)

Long knives don't fit on one sheet. On a long template (most chef's knives, gyutos, bowies, choppers), the sheet header says "Sheet 1 of 2" (or 3), and the spec block explains the join.

Each join has two marks:

• TRIM sheet 1 here: a dashed vertical line near the right-hand edge of the first sheet, with short tick marks.
• ALIGN trimmed edge of sheet 1 here: a dashed line near the left-hand edge of the next sheet, with matching ticks.

To join them:

1. Cut sheet 1 along its TRIM line with scissors or a craft knife and a rule.
2. Lay the cut edge on sheet 2's ALIGN line. The sheets overlap by about 12 mm.
3. Line up the outline and the tick marks so they run straight across the join with no step.
4. Tape it on the front and back.
5. Re-check the overall length with your rule against the dimension on the sheet.

If the outline steps at the join, a sheet printed crooked. Align on the outline, not the paper edge.

Step 4: Choose the right stock thickness

The spec block on every sheet gives the suggested stock thickness in mm and inches, and suggested steels. A few examples from our library:

Also check the bar width. The first knife sheet says it fits 27–30 mm wide × 3.2 mm flat bar. Wider bar is more waste and more cutting; narrower bar won't fit the blade height.

Buy the steel annealed. You'll saw, file and drill it soft, then harden it. See where to buy knife steel.

Step 5: Transfer the outline to steel

First, clean the steel. Degrease it with a solvent wipe so glue or layout fluid sticks. Remove mill scale from the area if it's flaky.

Option A: glue the template on (quickest)

Cut the paper template out about 2–3 mm outside the line. Stick it to the steel with a glue stick or a light coat of spray adhesive, smoothing out bubbles. Then cut and file to the printed line.

Good for a first knife, but the paper can lift as you file.

Option B: layout fluid and scribe (most accurate)

1. Paint a thin coat of layout fluid (blue or red) on the steel. A broad permanent marker works on small areas.
2. When it's dry, cut out your paper or card template exactly on the cut line.
3. Hold or clamp it to the steel and scribe round it with a carbide scriber, keeping the point tight to the template edge.
4. Mark pin and lanyard hole centres through the template with a sharp point, then remove the template and centre-punch each mark.

A scribed line in layout fluid stays crisp through sawing and filing, and you can see when you've filed exactly to it.

Step 6: Cut out the blank

Cut outside the line, leaving about 1–2 mm to file or grind back to it. Clamp the steel firmly in a vice for hand cutting.

Hacksaw

Fine for 2–5 mm stock and the right way to learn.

• Use bi-metal blades. They outlast carbon steel blades by roughly 5–10 times on workshop work (AIMS Industrial).
• Choose 24 TPI for 2–6 mm stock and 32 TPI under 2 mm. Keep at least three teeth in contact with the steel at all times, or the teeth strip.
• Fit the blade with teeth pointing away from the handle. It cuts on the push stroke: firm on the push, light on the return, around 40–50 strokes a minute.
• Make relief cuts for curves. Saw straight cuts in from the edge to the line every 10–15 mm around a curve, then saw along the curve; the waste drops away in pieces.

Angle grinder

Fast for straight runs and thicker stock. Use a thin (1 mm) cutting disc, keep the guard on, and stand out of line with the disc. Make several straight cuts rather than trying to cut a curve, and leave more margin, because the disc wanders and heats the edge of the steel. Finish curves with a flap disc, belt or files. See angle grinders for knife making.

Bandsaw

A metal-cutting bandsaw is the fastest way to cut out blanks accurately. A woodworking bandsaw runs far too fast for steel. As a starting point, one blade maker's chart suggests about 200 ft/min (61 m/min) for 1065–1095 carbon steel and 240 ft/min (73 m/min) for O1 in material up to 1 in (25 mm), and slower for stainless such as 440C (Sawblade.com).

File or grind to the line

Clamp the blank and file straight across the edge to the scribed line, or grind to it on a belt. Keep the edges square to the faces. Don't file the bevels yet if you're drilling next.

Step 7: Drill pin and lanyard holes before heat treatment

Drill while the steel is soft. Hardened steel ruins ordinary drill bits; one KnifeDogs thread found hardware-store cobalt bits beat carbide on hardened tangs, and carbide bits broke (KnifeDogs). It's far easier to drill first.

Our templates mark each hole with its diameter. For example, the first knife uses two 6 mm pins (or 3/16 in brass) and a 5 mm lanyard hole; the chef's knife uses three 5 mm pins; the petty uses three 4 mm pins.

1. Centre-punch each hole mark you transferred from the template.
2. Clamp the blank in a drill vice or against a stop on the pillar drill table. A blank that catches and spins will cut you (KnifeDogs).
3. Drill a small pilot hole (about 3 mm), then the final size.
4. Run the drill slowly and use cutting fluid. Larger bits need lower speeds. See our workshop calculators for drill speeds.
5. Deburr both sides with a larger bit turned by hand.
6. Test-fit your pin stock. Pins should slide in snugly. If your pins are imperial, match the bit to the pin, not the template.

Drill the same holes in your handle scales later, using the drilled tang as a guide. The dotted line on the template shows where the front of the scales sits.

The first knife sheet sums up the order: drill, saw outside the line, file to the line, file the bevels, then heat treat.

Step 8: Mark the bevels and keep the template

The dashed line on the template is the grind line. Scribe it on both faces, plus a centre line along the edge (see knife grinding jigs). Then write the steel and thickness on your card template and keep it.

FAQs

How do I print a knife template to the correct size?

Open the PDF for your paper size (A4 or US Letter) and print at 100% or "Actual size", with "Fit to page" turned off. Then lay a steel rule against the ruler printed on the sheet. If 100 mm on the sheet doesn't measure 100 mm, reprint; don't try to correct the drawing by hand.

Why is my printed knife template the wrong size?

Almost always the print dialog. "Fit to page", "Shrink to fit" or borderless printing rescales the page, usually by a few per cent. Printing an A4 file on Letter paper (or the reverse) does it too. Reprint at Actual size from a PDF reader and check the scale ruler again.

How do you join knife templates printed on more than one sheet?

Cut the first sheet along its TRIM line, lay the cut edge on the ALIGN line of the next sheet, and line up the outline and tick marks so they run straight across. Tape front and back, then measure the overall length against the dimension on the sheet.

What's the best way to transfer a knife template to steel?

For accuracy, coat the steel in layout fluid, cut the template out exactly on the line, and scribe round it with a carbide scriber. For a quick first knife, glue the paper straight onto the steel with a glue stick or spray adhesive and cut to the printed line.

Can I cut out a knife blank with a hacksaw?

Yes. Use a bi-metal blade, 24 TPI for 2–6 mm steel, keep at least three teeth in contact, and make relief cuts around curves. Cut just outside the line and file to it. A 3.2 mm blank for a small knife is a very manageable job by hand.

What thickness of steel should I use for a knife template?

Use the thickness on the template's spec block. As a guide, kitchen knives use 2.0–3.0 mm, small outdoor and first knives 3.2 mm (1/8 in), bushcraft knives 3.2–4.8 mm, and choppers up to 6.4 mm (1/4 in). Thicker steel is slower to grind and harder to get thin behind the edge.

Sources

1. Adobe Community, forcing "Actual size" printing (2025): https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/can-you-force-a-pdf-to-always-print-quot-actual-size-quot-in-the-settings/td-p/15417540
2. AIMS Industrial, hacksaw blade guide (TPI, three-tooth rule, bi-metal): https://aimsindustrial.com.au/en-nz/blogs/product-guides/hacksaw-blade-guide-tpi-materials-and-how-to-choose-the-right-blade
3. Sawblade.com, band saw blade speed and feed chart: https://www.sawblade.com/tech-tips/band-saw-blade-speed-and-feed-chart
4. KnifeDogs, most common beginner mistakes (2011): https://knifedogs.com/threads/most-common-mistakes-that-beginners-make.15486/page-2
5. knifemakingtoolsguide.com template library (spec blocks, TRIM/ALIGN tiling, scale ruler), Oct 2026: /knife-templates/