Two Primitive Blades

I've been making knives here and there again, mostly as gifts and a couple of barter pieces recently. It's a good, inexpensive hobby that takes up a good deal of time, at least the way I do it. I consider upping my equipment every now and then but never pull the trigger, because although slow, the way it is now works just fine. I don't believe fancier equipment would really up my quality any, but rather would just speed up the process.

Every knife that I currently make starts it's life as a piece of O1 steel stock. I've been making knives for about two years now from my garage shop here in Cartersville, Georgia, one at a time, by hand and with a small collection of tools. Nearly all of the knives I produce lean toward the tribal/primitive/paleo style because that is a design choice that has appealed to me for years. It's kind of a niche style, and people either love it or hate it (my wife is appalled every time I take a nice, shiny knife and make it look like it survived the Ice Age), but if you love it, we're on the same page. Although the look of the blade is primitive, they are functional, durable blades that are made using a carefully chosen variety of materials - both traditional and modern. Each knife varies a little from the general specs, but typically, the knives are just under 8" in length, 5/64" in thickness, and .75" in width. The handle is always slightly longer than the blade. As far as material specifics go, I work with O1 steel for the blades, since it's heat treat is fairly uncomplicated. For the handles, I use red oak, birch, leather, nickel, and resin soaked jute most often.

I don't particularly enjoy leather work, though I do a bit from time to time, so I have let that part of the work go. There are plenty of skilled leather workers whose ability far exceeds my own, and who enjoy doing it. It's a drudgery for me, and I do this work for fun and as a creative outlet, after all!

I finished a couple of blades this weekend, since there was some steel on hand already. Both have a convex shape with a tiny secondary bevel on them. For knives that aren't already spoken for, I'm going to give Etsy a shot as a way to keep track of listing and selling, so you can check them out there too.


Red oak handled O1 knife with jute wrap accent






Available Here

Full jute wrap O1 knife





Available Here