FORGED: Making a Knife with Traditional Blacksmith Skills

And the third was that stock removal, until relatively modern times, could
not compete with the work-a-day-blacksmith for time expended, quality of, or
the production of goods. For countless generations they were truly artisans in
iron and steel; they just didn’t know they were. To them it was a day’s work;
“Something attempted, something done, has earned a night’s repose”.
Daily they forged, forcing and finessing lumps of steel into functional implements,
apparatus, utensils, old-time paraphernalia and of course, blades, using just a
hammer and a handful of hardy and fuller tools. Those old smiths could produce a
near-finished plow part, wagon fitting, kitchen spoon, mason’s chisel or knife blade
by hammer pounding alone. For centuries in Europe, North America, Asia and
across the globe, they were the black metal “smyths”— the masters of their craft.
Traditional blacksmithing can still be seen at places such as Colonial Williamsburg
in Virginia, The National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee,
The Blacksmith Museum in Elk City, Oklahoma, The Old Millstone Forge in New
Jersey, The Museums at Lisle Station Park in Illinois, and many local history
museums and settlements across our great land.
Forge to Finish
A smith of old cleaned up his work but most likely didn’t polish up a blade to make
it glisten like a piece of jewelry. We do. The occasional presentation knife or sword,
made for the king or a wealthy knight or later a railroad executive, was probably
finished bright. When families or soldiers passed armor, weapons and tools down
through generations they remained bright through constant use and cleaning. Much
of a museum’s restoration of ancient weapons is just that, rust prevention and rust
removal from tools and weapons neglected for extremely long periods.
When steel or iron is bright its surface must be repeatedly rubbed down with
creek sand or coated with pitch, painted or constantly oiled to keep the rust at bay.
Rust is the enemy. Paint has been used since the beginning to protect wood and
metal. I learned at the Tower of London that full-suit armor was usually painted
on the inside surface to prevent rusting caused by the presence of constant body
moisture. Most craftsmen, cabinetmakers, shipwrights or blacksmiths, through
the ages, brewed their own paint, and each recipe or even each batch was different.
Commercial paints for metal or other surface coverings, finishing techniques,
protective chemicals and polishing equipment were only marginally effective or
weren’t universally utilized until the latter end of the nineteenth century.
The simplest of a wire brush didn’t come along commercially until late in the 19th
century (John Osborn, 1887). Over the centuries many a knife and smith-made tool
were completed with only the working edge having a shine from the apprentice’s
file or stone. The remainder of the edge or blade remained black as the day it came
from the forge. But otherwise, that black oxidation on the steel from the coal fire and/
or an oil quenching (explained in Chapter VI) stayed with the blade a long time.
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