Blacksmithing
and Cutlery
by Gérard HEUTTE Home
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Forge a blade
Here is step by step, the making process for a knife blade. I detail here only the blade. For the handle, some other pages indicate how to make a tang or a blade of piedmontese...
General Advices
For forging a blade, keep in mind the following points:
> Forging is an activity requiring a certain attention. Consequently, avoid the distractions to do good work. Chat with anybody while the blade is heating in the fire, and the risk "to burn" steel is strongly increased!
> Attention at the temperature of work. Too much hot; the grain grows bigger. Too much cold; Not very effective and furthermore cracks can be created, increasing the risk of breaking the blade during hardening...
> It is necessary to take care to give the same number of hammer hits on each side of the blade, to avoid the deformations during normalization or during hardening.
Flat part
The first step is to get suitable flat part of size:
> In width, the same dimension as the maximum width of the future blade, plus a small margin (about 2mm).
> In thickness, the same dimension as the maximum thickness of the future blade, plus a small margin (about 1mm). Generally, the maximum section is at the level of the ricasso.
Point
Now the point should be bevelled. It is possible to cut the higher corner of the future blade, as indicated by the dotted line on the figure below on the left. Then move the point created upwards. Take care, at the time of this operation, to preserve the thickness of the flat part.
This way of proceeding makes possible to preserve a good "fibre structure" of steel.


The blue dotted line represents the limit blade/ricasso. To avoid errors, you must be able to locate it on the blade. For that make a small mark with the file, others possibilities will have problems to support the heat of the fire.
Preform
Before "coming out the edge", it is necessary to preform the blade. The edge creation is made by planing down one side of the flat part. Because of the creep of the matter, this operation causes a dilation of the matter which makes possible (inter alia) to increase the width of the blade. Thus you must start by decreasing the width of the blade. In the same time, take the opportunity to give a better shape to the point of the blade.
Attention between the width and thickness reduction, the blade will lengthen (hence the utility of a bench mark on the blade). Count on a lengthening from 20% to 30% according to variations of dimensions!
Curvature
For "coming out the edge", it is necessary to deform the blade. The creation of the edge is made by planing down one side of the flat part. Because of the creep of the matter, this operation causes also a dilation of the matter, but only in one dimension of the blade. The blade then tends to be curved upwards. The curvature of the blade before that, makes possible to anticipate this phenomenon by giving before an opposite curvature!
Edge
The most delicate stage is "coming out the edge". It is necessary to decrease the thickness of the blade to refine the point and to create the edge. Gradually decrease the thickness between the back of the blade to arrive at the edge where you will keep between 0.5 and 1mm of matter.
Final
Here is what the blade looks like at the end of the forging. The gray zone near the ricasso is a delicate zone: It makes the transition between the rectangular profile from the ricasso and the bevels of the edge.

There is just to detach the blade. The continuation of work will be done now on the part corresponding to the handle, by holding the blade "by the point" with a tong.
See for that the different "tutorials".