For my birthday this year the family paid for me to go on a course to forge a knife. It was the Foundations of blade smithing course from blacksmith Douglas Morlock. I really enjoyed it.

The course was two days over a weekend. Obviously in two days I can’t claim to have made anything more than I did, which was “My First Knife”, but being exposed the skills was definitely enlightening. I didn’t take that many photos but here’s a few to give an idea.

The first step was to draw the knife you wanted to make. I had no idea at all and so basically copied the instructor’s. Even at this stage I had no illusions of a making something that fit the picture! To the right you can see the blank that was used to make the knife.

This was the forge and anvil I worked on. There were two forges and four anvils in the room. You are supplied with ear and eye protection. I brought my own over the ear defenders just because I have some and prefer the over the ear style.

Behold, my forged knife! Not to worry, there’s going to be a lot of sanding ahead.

After much sanding it’s starting to look more knifey.

At some point in the process the knife was tempered by heating and rapid cooling. The blacksmith really wanted us to understand what was happening and even included a 30min lecture on the chemistry of tempering.

After the blade is tempered and has its final polish we worked on the handle. There are three copper pins holding the handle to the blade. Again, much sanding ensured until the wood was stained.