How The Most Bad-Ass Man On The River Forges His Knives [PHOTOS]

By Wyatt November 19, 2012 10:30 am Posted in Lifestyle, Pics, Travel & Money Wyatt g+ page

Men go on river trips for one reason and one reason only: to act like men. We do that by drinking beers, growing beards, and building campfires to cook premade hotdogs we bought at the store. If you’re looking to go above and beyond on your next trip, though, you might want to take a note from DeviantArt member Jarkko1. He successfully forged a knife from scratch in three days–all outdoors. It’s a great way to make sure that no one takes that last hot dog.

Below you’ll find the various pictures and as much description as Jarkk01 felt like sharing. Steps 15-18 could use a little more information, so we’ve found that for you too. Thanks, internet!

15- Steel has to be folded many times in order to remove impurities and also to distribute the carbon evenly through the iron. The number of times the metal is folded can depend on several factors including the amount of carbon and/or impurities you want to work out of the steel, any alloying metals that you want to forge-weld into the metal (nickel/chromium/molybdenum), and producing a consistent grain structure in the steel.

16- the knife has taken on the general shape and the folding stage is completed. At this point the steel may be run through a hardening process and oil quench to lock in the grain structure.

17-18. The blade has been filed, ground, and optionally given an acid wash to give it it’s final shape and color.

FULLSCREEN