Article - 6 Forged Knives

**Samurai Stu** · 13-12-2010, 22:29

Forged Knives

I have written before about the Pro's and Con's of carbon steels. There is however one significant point that pertains to the carbon steel school of knife making. I am of course referring to the art of bladesmithing and the forging of knives. In the stock removal method, which is not exclusive to stainless steels as it can be applied to carbon steels as well, the maker will cut out a shape from flat bar stock and grind the profiles and bevels into the steel. Stainless steel does not benefit from forging because the heat treatment methods required are very specific as well as high alloy contents that may be disrupted through the forging method.

The bladesmith has an advantage over this method in that he can achieve more with his steel. He achieves this by manipulating the steel under hammer and anvil. An old bladesmiths axiom says "Move, don't remove". The two disciplines can be likened to sculpting with stone (stock removal) and sculpting with clay (forging).

Further more the bladesmith has the advantage of changing his mind about the shape of the blade without removing more material. By simply heating and reshaping the piece the Smith can adjust the shape of the blade until it is more pleasing to his eye. Once a bevel had been forged into the steel and the profile has been finalised the smith can perform another simple task to enhance the performance toughness of the blade.

The following method has been hotly debated by bladesmiths and knifemakers for many years and there are mixed feelings about it. I refer to the technique of edge or grain refining. This is achieved by heating the blade at reducing temperatures, each tine gently hammering the edge only. This form of hammering is known as 'bumping' because not a lot of force is applies to move steel but rather a firm stroke the impacts the internal structure. By doing this repeatedly at the reducing temperatures it is believed that the grain structure becomes finer and more compact which makes the edge tougher and more harden-able than the rest of the blade. This contributes to the selective hardening methods covered in previous articles.

Should a knife maker choose a narrow tang construction he must cut away material creating much waste of precious knife steel. With a smith we can forge and draw out the steel by heating and repeatedly hammering it until the desire thickness and taper has been achieved. Also the angle of the tang can be adjusted if the smith decides that something different is warranted for the particular blade shape.

Most of todays knife makers waste much of their raw materials because of the stock removal method. As chairman of the Southern African Bladesmiths Association I aim to educate the many makers in South Africa about the practical and artistic benefits of forging knives.

The photos shown here are different stages of forging a knife.