Hand forged Antler friction folder / Fire-welded wrought iron & 1084 carbon steel / Scottish Red Deer Antler / UK Legal Pocket Knife

Hand forged Antler friction folder / Fire-welded wrought iron & 1084 carbon steel / Scottish Red Deer Antler / UK Legal Pocket Knife

Blade Material: Laminated antique wrought iron & 1084 carbon steel
Handle Material:  Scottish Red Deer Antler
Blade Length:  70mm
Tang Style: Extended folding tang with scrolled thumb-tab
Blade Thickness: 3mm
Handle Length: 100mm
Total knife length: 170mm


This knife is a UK legal folding knife that is inspired by Anglo-Saxon and Viking age folding knives found at various archaeological sites around Europe. This particular blade is forged from antique wrought iron and 1084 carbon steel - this type of blade construction was common in Viking age knife blades. The thumb tab has been forged into a scrolled serpentine pattern, and slots into the spine of the handle when the knife is open.

The handle is made from a single piece of Scottish Red Deer Antler, carved out to fit the blade.

The knife is accompanied by a hand-sewn and wet-formed leather sheath that has a leather thong, enabling it to be used as a neck sheath. The leather has been sealed and waterproofed with a mixture of linseed oil and beeswax from our own apiaries.

...

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.