WE LEARN ABOUT KNIFE-MAKING

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 11, 13 January 1940, Page 5 (Supplement)

WE LEARN ABOUT KNIFE-MAKING

Wlioneygr tin; question js asked in class: "What is the home of British cutlery V we all know the answer is "Sheffield." l?or the last four centuries it liiio been the great; centre of tlie manufacture of cutlery, a term which in Us wider iriejins all instruments with a tutting edge, it is now limited to knives, scissors and razors. Crucible steel, made from the purest )iur iron, is i||e inaterial employed for high-class knife and razor blacjes, It lias a very line grain and is capable of being so tempered as to be at oiice eiastje an<l yory. durable. A table knife is usually oomposed pf a steel blade welded t'o an iron slioiilder, which at its lower end is drawn ou-t into a tang, or shenk, for insertion into the handle. The fiifit stage in lfoifp making is the forging of t|ie blade, slipukler and tang. The cutler's form is some? thjng likp that of the blacksmith on a much smaller scale; indeed, at tliis stage of tile work the \yorknien foljpW OUt the same ■ system, One takes a piece of flat steel bar about live-eighths of an inch Wide and three inches long and heats it to redness.

IJiS mate seizes it by an end in a pair of pincers and lays it on the anvil, where they deal it blows alternately, . gradually * thinning it out from tlie bftse to the point, and from the back to the cuttjng edge. Not a strojee iji wasted and in a fe\y moments the bar lias been converted into a rough blade, Then back to the fire it goes, to be reheated for welding on tlie shoulder, after which it is agaiji reheated and beaten to the required Shape. If the tang is to be longer thai} usual, a piece of wive is Welded to it.' The maker's name is now stamped on tiie blade and the latter is well hammered till the edge is almost, sharp enough to cut without farther treatment, The hardening which follows is effected by heating the steel and plunging it into cold water. Then the blade is heated again and allowed to cool till it lias a certain colour before being dipped again. This gives it the correct temper for grinding, Knives are ground to-day in tically the same manner as they were ground in Chaucer's day. The grinder sits astride a large wooden

v block or 'flibrse," as lie terms it, and , vvitV apV?6 of wood presses the , blade agaiiisfc a large 3 revolving in front of him. .His i* g a somewhat flirty task, as the fragq ments of damp stone w]nch fly \x coat every tiling in "the Jine of The blade now passes to tlie cutlers shop, where the shoulder is ground e smooth and finished off on an emery Q _ wheel, The blade is given a c]ean •rlge and poljslied and-the metal part of the knife is attached to \ or handle, which has bp en pierced wi^] l deep longjtudinal hole to rev ceive it, arid ifye knife is complete. r The blades of pocket Jaiives are ? forged; in'one piece, the shoulder of the ta|>le knife being replaced by a flat continuation of t|ie blade, pierced s for the hinge rivefc. "Keen as a razor" ig a proyerb. A r j good pocket knife may have a very * sharp edge, but it cannot yie with r that of a well-stropped. razorC The s whole secret of a "razor's cutting power lies in grinding the blade very - hollow, so that -the-'edge, half may y be very thin and capable of being e sharpened at an acuter angle than a is possible with, a wedge-shaped blade.