How To Make A Knife As Taught By A Mountain Man
Want to learn how to make a knife the way they used to? Yes, we're going to make one out of a used hand saw. I leaned this from a real pro over 20 years ago.
I was taught how to make a knife by an old-timer someone referred me to who lived in the mountains of North Georgia. They explained that this kind of thing had been going on for generations and this old man was one of the best.
Some people I knew also told me mountain folks had their own way of doing things. One of those things was to never throw anything away. And I realized what they were talking about as I drove past some of the homes up there.
On the day I learned how to make a knife, the old man who was going to show me came out of his tool shed with only three items: an old hand saw blade, a cold chisel and a sledgehammer.
The look on my face must have prompted him to say, "Don't look shocked young man, this here's just where we're gonna start." Then he set everything down on top of a stump near the shed.
"If ya just watch me close now I'll show ya how to make a knife", he said with a little smile on his face as he rifled through his overall pockets. I watched curiously as he withdrew a little worn piece of soapstone and began to draw on the saw blade.
His old gnarled hands were a little shaky but otherwise very deft at drawing the outline of a knife on the saw blade. In under a minute he stood up and put his hands on his hips to examine his work.
"Close 'nough, I reckon", he mumbled as he gave me a wink. He then proceeded to pick up the chisel with his left hand and what must have been a six or eight pound hammer with his right.
He placed the chisel carefully on his soapstone line, choked up on the handle of the hammer and swung it to land on the chisel. "BAM"! The sound startled me it was so sharp and sudden.
When he moved the chisel along the soapstone line again to make his next cut, I examined the cut he had just made. If was a clean cut and exactly on the line of the drawing.
Ever since the old man came out of his shed with those primitive tools, I had been having my doubts about his ability to teach me how to make a knife I would even want to own. But after watching his deftness with the tools for a few minutes, I began to change my mind. In a relatively short time he produced what he called a "blank"and we were off to his tool shed for the next stage.
He had a very old grinder set on a table in his shed. I watched closely for about fifteen minutes as he carefully took off the rough places left by the chisel. When he was satisfied, he got out a piece of sandpaper and cleaned off all the surface rust left on it.
He drilled three holes in the handle area of the knife being formed with an old crank hand drill. Then he began to dig around in some boxes looking for something. Soon after he produced some of the thickest copper wire I had ever seen.
"Copper's real soft, ya know", he said. "Make good rivets 'cause ya can pound it down with a ball peen hammer".
For the next half-hour I watched intently as he silently worked. He not only made rivets, but used them to attach small pieces of walnut he called "slabs" to each side of the blade for a handle. The copper gleamed against the dark wood.
Still with no words, but working steadily, the old man spent the next ten minutes at the grinder again. He was putting the cutting edge on the knife. He worked carefully and would stop occasionally to check his progress. When he was done we went outside into the sunlight. He was smiling now.
He held the knife in the air above his head and moved it all around in the sunlight. The newly ground steel shined brightly. The he handed it to me handle first. "Do ya think you know how to make a knife after today", he asked as I took the knife.
He caught me off guard with the guard with the question. But I managed to say, "It might be a long time before I'm as good as you but I really do want to try it".
He looked pleased with my answer. He nodded his head and turned. As he walked away he waved without looking and said, "You're a nice young man. You can come back any time, hear me? Ya'll just stop by anytime."
I'll always remember that day. In the deep woods of the Georgia mountains I learned how to make a knife and at the same time found a new respect for the simpler ways of doing things.
I was taught how to make a knife by an old-timer someone referred me to who lived in the mountains of North Georgia. They explained that this kind of thing had been going on for generations and this old man was one of the best.
Some people I knew also told me mountain folks had their own way of doing things. One of those things was to never throw anything away. And I realized what they were talking about as I drove past some of the homes up there.
On the day I learned how to make a knife, the old man who was going to show me came out of his tool shed with only three items: an old hand saw blade, a cold chisel and a sledgehammer.
The look on my face must have prompted him to say, "Don't look shocked young man, this here's just where we're gonna start." Then he set everything down on top of a stump near the shed.
"If ya just watch me close now I'll show ya how to make a knife", he said with a little smile on his face as he rifled through his overall pockets. I watched curiously as he withdrew a little worn piece of soapstone and began to draw on the saw blade.
His old gnarled hands were a little shaky but otherwise very deft at drawing the outline of a knife on the saw blade. In under a minute he stood up and put his hands on his hips to examine his work.
"Close 'nough, I reckon", he mumbled as he gave me a wink. He then proceeded to pick up the chisel with his left hand and what must have been a six or eight pound hammer with his right.
He placed the chisel carefully on his soapstone line, choked up on the handle of the hammer and swung it to land on the chisel. "BAM"! The sound startled me it was so sharp and sudden.
When he moved the chisel along the soapstone line again to make his next cut, I examined the cut he had just made. If was a clean cut and exactly on the line of the drawing.
Ever since the old man came out of his shed with those primitive tools, I had been having my doubts about his ability to teach me how to make a knife I would even want to own. But after watching his deftness with the tools for a few minutes, I began to change my mind. In a relatively short time he produced what he called a "blank"and we were off to his tool shed for the next stage.
He had a very old grinder set on a table in his shed. I watched closely for about fifteen minutes as he carefully took off the rough places left by the chisel. When he was satisfied, he got out a piece of sandpaper and cleaned off all the surface rust left on it.
He drilled three holes in the handle area of the knife being formed with an old crank hand drill. Then he began to dig around in some boxes looking for something. Soon after he produced some of the thickest copper wire I had ever seen.
"Copper's real soft, ya know", he said. "Make good rivets 'cause ya can pound it down with a ball peen hammer".
For the next half-hour I watched intently as he silently worked. He not only made rivets, but used them to attach small pieces of walnut he called "slabs" to each side of the blade for a handle. The copper gleamed against the dark wood.
Still with no words, but working steadily, the old man spent the next ten minutes at the grinder again. He was putting the cutting edge on the knife. He worked carefully and would stop occasionally to check his progress. When he was done we went outside into the sunlight. He was smiling now.
He held the knife in the air above his head and moved it all around in the sunlight. The newly ground steel shined brightly. The he handed it to me handle first. "Do ya think you know how to make a knife after today", he asked as I took the knife.
He caught me off guard with the guard with the question. But I managed to say, "It might be a long time before I'm as good as you but I really do want to try it".
He looked pleased with my answer. He nodded his head and turned. As he walked away he waved without looking and said, "You're a nice young man. You can come back any time, hear me? Ya'll just stop by anytime."
I'll always remember that day. In the deep woods of the Georgia mountains I learned how to make a knife and at the same time found a new respect for the simpler ways of doing things.
About the Author:
Want to know how to make a knife from an old hand saw? It's interesting, fun and a great hobby! Go to http://www.how-to-make-a-knife.com to get the low-down on it! You'll find great instruction and insight on the craft. It can be profitable too!
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