Knife Making

Sympkyn of the Moor

May 30, 2024

On of the projects I did over the past couple of years was knife-making. I made two sets of eating knives with prickers. Both times under the guidance of Master Edward Braythwayte

For each knife, I started with some steel bar that I copied the outline of the knife on. I then cut out the blank with an angle grinder.

Getting the basic shape .

Shaped worked out. I messed up slightly with the hilt end.

After that, I used a linisher to find the profile of the knife

Then it was a case of sanding the blades by hand to get all the scratches out. This was a long process as I started with a fairly coarse grit sandpaper and worked up to a fine grit, each time trying to slowly remove the obvious sanding marks. I think I went through 80, 120, 240, 400, 600 and then 800 grit papers on each blade.

Once that was completed and holes drilled for the rivets that will hold the scales in place the blade was heat treated and quenched to harden it.

Waiting for the blade to go cherry red

After tempering it was back to the sandpaper to remove the blacking that had happened and get the shine back on the blade.

After tempering

Cleanup started

After Cleanup

Once that was done I selected some wood for the handle scales and cut them to roughly the right size. these were then drilled for the brass bar to help hold them in place before being glued to the knife. They were then left overnight for the glue to cure.

The next day was all about shaping the handles. First up was getting the basic shape done on a belt sander, then it was back to sandpaper to finish the shaping and get a nice smooth finish.