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Fran Varnum has worked to perfect the art and craft of knife-making for many years. He is currently working to create an online Web catalog of knife-makers and their products and can be reached by email at franvar@shentel.net.
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Article reprinted with permission from the author.
"The Art and Craft of Knife-Making" © Fran B. Varnum, 1996. All rights reserved.
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Knife-making is not a new craft in America. Throughout our history men have pursued this craft but their numbers were small, a mere handful, compared to the growing numbers of knife-makers today. Only twenty years ago this "handful" of knife-makers in the United States were unable to supply the demand from collectors alone. Today there are more than enough to supply this demand and the need to expand the market to the general public is recognized. This should not be difficult since beautifully hand-crafted knives of unprecedented quality are available from many knife-makers for under $300. These are "users" knives which are utilitarian in nature. "Collectors" knives are more expensive and are frequently priced in the thousands of dollars. These knives are not only high quality and beautifully crafted, but are made by well-known artists in the field of knife-making.
The making of a knife is a difficult, time-consuming, and sometimes dangerous undertaking. Nevertheless, there are several hundred knife-makers at work in the United States today. For many, it's a full-time occupation, while for others it's a part-time venture. In either case, all of these craftsmen strive to make the finest knives possible. Millions of man-hours have been spent collectively experimenting to improve methods and materials, and successful results have been shared unselfishly. The result is that the knives being made by American craftsmen today are the finest the world has ever seen. Today's handmade knives are believed to have lifetimes in excess of 1,000 years! Designing and creating knives is an art form. Handmade knives are meant to be something special -- special to make, special to own.
There are basically two ways to make a knife, the most common being the "stock removal" method. This consists of grinding the knife out of a steel bar. A less common technique is one in which the blade is forged into shape. In the stock removal method, grinding is accomplished by hand manipulation of the steel against an abrasive belt running at high speed around a rubber wheel. The mirror finish is obtained by regrinding with a sequence of finer grit belts and, finally, several stages of buffing. The fully-shaped but only rough-ground blades are sent out for professional heat treatment before the final grinding is completed. Sophistocated heat-treating methods are needed to obtain the optimum physical characteristics required for a knife blade. These characteristics are impressive when the finest modern steels are employed. A wide range of handle materials are used which include both natural materials such as exotic woods, bone, ivory, and synthetic materials -- usually micarta. The synthetic materials may lack, for some, the warmth of wood or bone, but are far more durable and stable. The knife-maker strives for near perfection in "fit-up and finish" of the handle. The guard is fit into a slot in the steel and additionally pinned through the blade. It is silver-soldered to the blade to form a strong, water-proof joint. Epoxy is used together with threaded bolts to fix the handle to the steel "tang". The epoxy insures a water-proof joint. The tang is often tapered for a pleasing effect.
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