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FN Sharp! Awesome Handmade Knives and Custom Hunting
Sunday, September 12th, 2010In the olden days a knife was more than a status symbol or a movie prop to hang on your wall or throw in a glass case to impress your neighbors. A handmade knife was an essential tool for everyday. Men, women and even children of all social spheres could be expected to have a knife on hand for hunting, carving, eating, or many everyday tasks.
It’s my belief that many of the so-called hunting knives and kitchen knives on the market today are worthless in terms of holding a real edge and keeping it. We have moved away from the traditional methods employed in knife making with modern manufacturing means that are churning out cheap blades by the millions. To the uninformed consumer the process of buying a “new knife” every other season may be the best example of this planned or unplanned obsolescence that keeps folks running back to the sporting goods department to replace a hunting knife that just “won’t hold hold an edge anymore.”
The Solution is a Handmade Knife
The solution is to actually put down some real money for a handmade knife, forged in the old world style of hammer, anvil, and coal fire. Why would you want to pay an extra hundred or more just to have some soot covered blacksmith actually hammer out a knife for you? I’ll tell you why..
When you heat steel in a coal forge to a temperature of 1900° Fahrenheit and shape the knife by striking it with a hammer against an anvil it increases the toughness and refines the grain structure. In other words, by actually hammering the steel of a knife the grain structure of the steel is fractured and compacted, forming smaller carbides that improve the edge-holding ability of the blade.
A Handmade Hunting Knife Will Last for Generations
Despite the fact that’s it’s now the 21st century you can still find many bladesmiths out there that still practice traditional knife making methods in their modern workshops. Finding a good one can get you a knife made in the old world style of people who depended on their knives everyday. Many of these smiths can get you the knife of your dreams; a knife that will still function well and hold an edge when you’re ready to pass it down to your son or daughter. Not only that but often times bladesmiths can add customizations for you in terms of length, weight, handle material and much more.
A Handmade Knife – They Still Make ‘em Like they Used To..
There is currently a revival among those who use knives for practical utility and even among collectors who want something that looks beautiful but can be put to efficient use in the field. It is the realization that despite a greater variety of stainless steels and modern manufacturing methods, the real value of a truly dependable knife is in it’s making. There’s definitely something to be said for the bladesmithing methods employed by our ancestors when you consider the essential tool the handmade knife once was to them.
