Page 247 - The Lost Ways

Final tapering of the blade was left for grinding. At this point, all the blacksmith was trying
to do was to make the knife blank. The edge was usually left about 3/32" to 1/8" thick. A
lot of grinding would be necessary to make it into a finished knife.

Forging the Tang

With the blade formed, the blacksmith would turn to shaping the tang for the handle. All

knives made during this time period were full-tang knives. The idea of partial tang is an
invention of industrialization, as a means of reducing costs. It was important to shape the
blade first, as the handle would be made to balance the blade. Any extra material would
be cut off the handle end rather than the blade end.

Most knives had fairly simple handles compared to today’s knives. The idea of relieving
the handle to create finger grips is relatively new in knife-making history. Old knives had
handles that were most often straight with a rounded end. Some might have handles that
bowed out in the center or had a wider butt to help maintain the grip.

As the knife blade had been drawn in forging, it would probably be wider than the
unforged blank of the handle.

However, for a very wide knife, the blacksmith might reduce the depth of the blade in

essentially the same way that the point of the knife was formed, alternating hammering
the edges and sides to draw out the steel to the desired shape. For fighting knives or
sheath knives (which might also end up being used for fighting), the tang of the handle
was forged to leave a step between the blade and handle for a hilt to butt up against.

Finally, once the blade and handle are fully formed, the end of the handle is cut off to the
right length for the knife’s design and the end rounded.

Grinding the Blade

At this point, the knife maker just has a knife blank. The blade and tang are formed, but

the blade is not sharp. The next stage in the process is the grinding of the blade. In the
1800s, this was done on a foot-powered grinding wheel; in the Middle Ages, they had to
grind the blade on a rock to put an edge on it. Considering that the edge was roughly 1/8"
thick at the start of grinding, the process of grinding was a long one that required a lot of
patience.

The first step of grinding the blade is always to smooth out any inconsistencies in the
blank’s profile, both for the blade and the tang. The hammering of the blade can produce

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