From the Forge

A native stubborn streak, a perennial lack of funds and an insatiable appetite for tools has led me to the craft of blacksmithing.  I'm certainly a novice at this but my skills and understanding are growing.  I've just finished a batch of knives made with O-1 tool steel, a high carbon alloy that is particularly good for edge tools.  

Shaping red hot metal at the forge and anvil is addictive.  It's a task that seems embedded in human consciousness, like a character trait handed down in DNA.  I felt that way about working in clay for the first time too, like I'd done it before and was remembering how.  However, the skill and knowledge to properly heat treat steel is not so easily come by.  Metallurgy is a fascinating field, and the molecular changes in steel at different temperatures becomes the critical variable in producing a blade that can hold an edge yet be resilient enough for hard use. 

 

 Here is a picture of the knives in their sheaths. I'm particularly drawn to Scandinavian knife models, like the Swedish sloyd or Finnish puukko knives.  Many of those are made with laminated steel, a hard sliver of tool steel forms the edge and is forge welded to a softer spine and tang.  This composite offers good edge retention of the tool steel with the shock absorption of the milder metal.  My knives are made with a similar idea, differential heat treating, where the knife is forged of one alloy, but the edge is treated to retain hardness and the spine is tempered to be softer. 

 

The smallest of these is a neck knife.  It is a partial tang blade with a pear handle.  The sheath is made with six rare earth magnets that retain the blade while hung around the neck.  This sheath can also be worn as a conventional belt knife.

 

This is a partial tang knife with a copper ferrule and a bubinga handle.

 

Lastly, a full tang knife with a bronze bolster and tang nut.  The handle is osage orange.  Thanks for your interest.