Forging an English trade knife.

I was asked this past week if I could forge a colonial style knife to cut a cake for a 320th birthday party at a historic house in town. The house was built by English settlers in 1697. So in keeping with the theme, I wanted the knife to look like a common trade item.

I believe the event is next weekend. Snow is predicted tomorrow, so I got to it today. I did a little research and just winged it. This is the first knife I have made.

I rough cut the billet out last night and set up the kit today. Knife making doesn't require a lot of tools at the forge, just some tongs and a few hammers. I made it easier on myself and took out the smaller English anvil.



The face is a little rough on this anvil, so it helped make the blade a bit rustic.

It was 28 degrees out, so I had the forge running hot. The metal lost temp quicker with a cold anvil.





Just about ready for hardening and tempering.



I used some tiger maple for the handle and iron pins to fasten it.



I just put a slight edge on it. The handle was finished in shellac and some other tricks.





My 10 year old son wanted to make a small knife. I roughed the blank out and he hammered it up. I helped clean it up and grind the edge. Drawing out the metal causes the tip to curl up. He liked it and wanted it to stay like that.

 

Great work as always Jon...............

 

Looks good. The boy wants to be a blacksmith, he's especially into knife/sword forging. I built him a small forge to see if he's really into it. Last summer we bought a Champion forge on an auction, but it needs the blower rebuilt. I've been gathering parts and hopefully this winter I will get a new one fabricated up. We built a couple Viking shields and he did a real good job pounding out the bosses for them.

 

That's great that he has an interest. My son is hooked pretty well. I'd like a rivet forge to set up at demos, but the one I have works well for what I do around here.

His little knife was done in the shop using a soup can forge with a Mapp torch. It works very good for the smaller pieces.

 

Excellent job by both you and your son.

 

Nothing I couldn't do....IN MY DREAMS!

Very cool!!!

My son is starting to make knives. Do you know of any resources or books that would help him?

 

Very authentic looking old knife. Your son's looks pretty good as well. My father used to use hooked knives similar to that in his roofing jobs.

 

This is a great book covering a lot of basics of forging. It is not strictly for bladesmithing though.

The Complete Modern Blacksmith: Alexander Weygers: 8601401105336: Amazon.com: Books

Iforgeiron on the net is an amazing resource. There is a lot of information and the members help jump any hurdles.

 

I hope he sticks with this. If he starts young, he should do well. It also teaches him patience and perseverance to see a project through.

 

Here's a picture of the forge I built for Ben. Used an old air tank off of a lowboy trailer and a hairdryer for the air supply.



Here's a picture of the forge we bought, with the blower in the pan. Oh, and Grizz too.

 

You da man Jon. Glad they chose you to do it. Shows they know what your capable of. Very nice indeed!

 

Bgoathill , nice size forge. That homemade one would work well for blades because if it's length.

You dog also has human-like eyes.

 

Stole this off Facebook. Hope I could ever get 1/2 this good playin with iron n fire.

 

I sure love my set! True craftsmanship.

 

I have some I could send you some pictures of the covers.

 

Here are the pictures of some very good blacksmithing, knife and sword making books. This first book is a must for anyone intrested in pounding iron. Although I am not sure if its still in print or not. All of the other ones are still in print and were bought at Barnes and Noble. I hope this helps and this is what he's looking for.