Hand-forged Ancient English Yew & Wrought Iron Slipjoint Folding Knife

Hand forged Slipjoint Folding Knife / Ancient English Yew and Wrought Iron / UK Legal Pocketknife / Unique

Blade Material: 1095 carbon steel and historical wrought iron
Handle Material: Ancient English Yew and wrought iron bolsters
Mechanism: Slipjoint - non-locking backspring
Blade Length:  68mm
Blade Thickness at spine: 2.5mm
Handle Length: 110mm
Total knife length: 188mm

This knife is a hand-forged UK legal slipjoint knife. I wanted to combine the traditional style of Sheffield pocket knives with some of the aspects of historical Viking folding knives. This knife has a laminated blade forged from 400 year old wrought iron with a fire-welded 1095 carbon steel core. This was a common construction method (Tylecote Type 1) for Viking age and early medieval knives, creating a knife with a tough and flexible iron spine and hardened steel cutting edge.

The full-flat grind makes this blade easy to keep razor sharp and ideal for whittling and woodworking, and the wrought iron cladding gives the blade extra toughness and strength. The blade has been etched to reveal the layers in the wrought iron and the contrast with the steel edge.

The handle is handmade from steel liners, etched wrought iron bolsters with hidden pins and Ancient English Yew scales. The pins are all made from stainless steel and hand-riveted to assemble the knife. The yew was locally sourced from Derbyshire, England.

The knife is accompanied by a hand-sewn leather pocket slip that has a brass eyelet allowing you to attach the knife to a lanyard for belt or neck carry. Both the wood handle and the leather have been sealed and waterproofed with a mixture of linseed oil and beeswax from our own apiaries.

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All my knives are forged by hand using traditional bladesmithing methods at Willslock Forge in Staffordshire, England. Each knife has been forged from high carbon steel. I usually use either 1080, 01 or 1095, and sometimes antique historical steels such as crucible steel or shear steel.

I usually forge as close to finish as possible, creating the knife shape and setting the bevels on the anvil. For all of my historical work, my aim is to make my knives with minimal use of power tools, and I take a lot of inspiration from historical knifemaking and smithing techniques.

The handles are all carved by hand and made from locally sourced wood, bone and antler - I avoid using any plastics, resins or synthetic materials.  Wherever I can, I try to repurpose salvaged and upcycled materials in order to create beautiful new knives and tools.  I usually leave a brut de forge, or forge finish, on most of my blades because I like that the hammer marks tell the story of the knife's creation on the anvil, and the forge finish differentiates the knife from all the mass-produced, factory made knives out there.