Making knives!

So we decided to spend a day and some cash for the chance to try our hands at blacksmithing. This was so much fun, we are actually thinking of starting something similar in Maine when we get back. No stealing our stolen idea!! :)


Start with your mild steel clamped into a handle. Make sure the forge is nice and HOT!!


Heat your steel for about a minuet until it is glowing orange.


Pound on the blade edge of your steel to force carbon into the metal therefore making the blade edge harder. It's not shown here, but after heating and pounding on the steel about 3-5 times, you quickly cool the metal in cold nitrogen enriched water. This gives the steel a stronger and harder structure which is much better for holding an edge.


Next cut your steel to the length you desire, including the handle length.


Sand and polish only the middle of the knife so that the brass edge of the handle can be fixed to the steel.


You literally use super glue to hold the brass on (along with some brass pins added afterwards)


Trace your steel handle and cut 2 pieces of wood to match. These will be used for the handle.


After pinning the handle in place sand the brass and wood down until it matches the shape of the steel.


Sand off the brass pins and begin giving the handle its shape... At this point we actually handed the knives over to Steve, our instructor, who ground them to their general shape. As this is a delicate process and you can mess the knife up pretty badly if you slip, Steve does this for all of the knives while we eat lunch and play on his old time bicycle...




Here are all the knives ground down to their general shape.


There was still lots of sanding and polishing to do, so we got to work...




Here are all the finished knives from our class put out on a cloth along with the materials we started with. We did lots of sanding and polishing near the end, as well as sealing the wood and oiling the knives to prevent corrosion.


A glass of home made sparkling wine to celebrate at the end.


Our class with their knives.