"Baby Doc" photo credit: Doc Coleman
I made this one last week for a friend’s birthday present. He’s the sort of fellow that would stump me as far as gift-giving goes, so I decided to forge him a small blade rather than shop for something less personal.
The knife is forged in one piece from a round file that I found in the discard pile at the shop.
Files are made from a variety of steels, but this one was a Nicholson, and that means that it is likely W-2 tool steel. W-2 is an excellent steel which can take and hold a sharp edge for a long time. That being the case, it would have been a sin not to recycle it into a blade, even a small one.
The sheath was fun to make as well. It is kangaroo hide over a vegetable tanned pig skin liner. The lacing is Nigerian goat rawhide (commonly used for drum heads) with an ornament carved from a slice of tagua nut.
Over all, a nice gift for a friend who might put it to use in his Renaissance Festival gear as an “eating knife”.
