Helle Knives Skóg blade blank- and the modern relevance of archaeology

This is a fun little project I started in the magic troll 's living room.  Actually there are few things that I love more-we were sitting there, after having some lovely, simple food, with our snacks and cozies and a hot beverage. I mounted a knife blade from Helle Knives, she made her beautiful Naalbindning needles, while there was some sort of documentary on the TV. To me, this is not only the perfect wintertime pastime, but it conveys a lot of meaning to me.  I do think that this, or something very similar, was what our forebears did when the weather was grim, way back to the paleolithic. Well, without the telly, obviously. 😉 If you want to see her work, drop by Koboldkerker.blogspot.de, well worth the visit. 

Anyway, I really do love Helle Knives. The blades always come in razor sharp, and most of them get the task done admireably. We had those Skóg/Fjellmann blades lying around for ages. It is made from H3LS, a three layer laminate steel with a carbon steel as a cutting layer and arming steel sides from 18/8 stainless steel, which offers rust resistance from hell, but cannot be hardened.  It offers a bit of spring resistance, though, when forged.  Blades like that are made by Helle since time immemorial and have been proven to be really resilient. 

I mounted that little blade (80x2,7 mm) with a handle from reindeer antler and birchwood burl. At the first glance, it doesn't look any special, but it is  

A while ago, I made some trial pieces for a replica of the Trollstein knife, a knife unearthed by Norwegian archaeologists at Lendbreen glacier, near #Trollsteinen.  Look here for my thoughts: http://fimbulmyrk.blogspot.com/2024/04/thoughts-on-trollstein-knife.html

This is the original find.  The pictures are copyright by @vegardvike and museum of culturalhistory, Norway. On the pictures you can see that the knife has a rather interesting handle shape, with sort of some diamond cross section and sort of a bevel towards the edge line of the handle. And testing my sample pieces, I found this to be a real game-changer for a lot of applications, from food prepping, to skinning, and it really excels at wood carving.  

 On the picture below, you can see what I mean. 

I wanted to incorporate this idea in a more modern handle design.  Because, while the handle on the Trollstein knife is actually really efficient, it also makes the sheath design a bstd to get right.  Also, I do like a little more contour and purchase in the handle.  So I put those facets on a more modern design.  It is obviously not a replica, but really works awesome. It is about the principle of signalling your brain and body which way you hold the blade.  And what I want to say is, that I would not have known had I not tried to make a replica of the find.  

Archaeology gives us insight into the knowledge of the past. The principles that people applied historically still are relevant.  

In Germany, there is something going on that can only be called a culture war against all things of cultural heritage, science and craft. I do know it is even worse in the US.  At the Uni, there is currently a move of the administration, and behind that, possibly altright political forces, to close down entire ethically relevant faculties like Archaeology, literature and philosophy, but also actively defunding medicine, mathematics and physics.  

Think about the relevance for your actual life situations.  For Archaeology, it might not seem obvious, but the relevance actually is pretty commonplace. Call it "the knowledge of the ancestors" if you want.  

I am not actually asking "cui bono" yet, because I do not need to. Suffice to say that this handle design is really a rather enlightening experience.  

And it was first designed in the iron age. 

If you possibly can, try it out to get my meaning. 

All the best, and take care! 

Some thoughts on the Sica

Now this is the blade I featured some time ago, a not-so-authentic version of the Daco-/Gallo-/ Roman sica knife. Arguably not so authentic is the semi-integral bolster, but I simply love it. But then there are sicae and other knife shapes found from the Roman empire or from Celtic and Iberian finds, e.g. a Sica from Botorrita, with a short socket where the handle was fitted into, just like with some modern-day gouges, so the look might be excuseable even for reenactors;-). The reason why there are no semi-integrals found (at least not with these relatively simple knives) and even full-tang knives are relatively scarce (abundant only in Roman and Celtic countries, with the exception of iron age seaxes in Germanic culture, that presumeably had an Eastern provenience, another interesting topic), is that iron, and even more so, steel, was costly and was obtained at great pains. It tells a big story that in ancient Rome full-tang knives were quite common.

This one, however, does not at all claim to be a detailed reconstruction. It is made from an ancient chisel I found in the woods and shows a very weird spark analysis, might be Tungsten-alloyed steel such as HSS. The Sicae (or Kopis) knives I have made so far were not having that much an offset in the blade, and I thought to give it a try to test out the extreme. I have, for now, put a piece of antler on it to check out the balance while I contemplate what buttcap to fit. Balance point should be on the index finger.

Having played with it I must say that for everyday tasks such as cutting meat and slicing onions you have to think along a different train of thought. The blade gives you fierce cutting ability with a good purchase when you use it in a drawing motion, as you do with a sickle, so to say. The forward orientation of the tip gives you the possibility for a more pushing motion in a pressure cut. The shape of the blade really shines in two aspects: Woodcarving and slashing. The blade is ideal for delicate woodcarving in my book. I also tested the chopping prowess and again had to apply a different mindset. It will not work when you use the same motion as with a straight, say, drop-point knife. Is it less capable then? Not in the least, because when you use a straighter knife shape, you always have to adapt to the natural arcing motion of your wrist. With a Sica you have to keep in mind that this is not necessary. You can chop softer wood with a slashing motion by keeping your hand where it is and your wrist tight. Of course, it is no Khukhuri, but I was amazed.

The Sica in ancient Rome had a somewhat sinister reputation as the preferred weapon of back-alley cut-throats, and, having handled it, I can relate to that. It would also make a very effective fighting knife, if you knew how to handle it. The tip is always forward, and the sickle shape makes for amazing slashing capability. What fascinates me with this, is that the blade´s shape is most ancient and dates back to the earliest bronze age. And it actually follows a whiplash line, and I can´t tell it any other way, also feels "whippy". The "sweet spot" or "purchase spot" lies along the line of a Golden Ratio spiral, and, while there are always some liberties taken if you apply static geometry to a dynamic process, I strongly suspect that this has something to do with the "springy" feeling when  slashing. By the way, if you analyse the ideal curve of the application of force in some martial arts, you also get the impression of a similar dynamic (whiplash line e.g. in Qi-Gong). Of course, yeah, I admit it, I am a bit obsessed with that whiplash line thing, and might be I see spectres everywhere, but I can´t think of a better model for explaining it, and it works for me in martial arts and even mountainbiking, so, hey, I don´t get paid for this;-), so I can cook up any theory I´d like.

The culprit is, it was a great experience again to actually be able to do some work with a most ancient blade form. You can talk about endlessly about who has written what about it and when, but only if you rebuild it and use it will you be able to understand, and the enlightening effect feels that good I think I am getting addicted to it.;-)

When the knife is ready, I guess it deserves a "name" and a story, and I will see how it fares in the woods... watch this space!

En-Nep-inspired bushcraft knife in the making

....aaand yet another one design experiment. This one is inspired as well by Thai En-Nep designs as by the obsessive pondering about the whiplash line. I realized when drawing out the layout for the blade that you can draw a golden spiral towards the blade. A  recurve blade always has a kind of sweet spot where the most cutting force is cumulated, and you can portray this by a golden spiral ratio. This is not an earnest calculation ratio and of course you need no rocket scientist degree to draw a layout for a knife, but still I wondered. The handle is a bit longer than usual to give it more reach and slashing and chopping prowess when gripped farther back. When handling it I realized it is somewhat of a fast-forward and point-concentrated knife which would also make it a good Krav Magá companion, but the most power is indeed concentrated into the sweet spot. It is a bit awkward at first for small whittling tasks until you realize that you need another technique with it. Making fuzz sticks is a cinch, for all you need is a linear motion. With an arcing cut as with most straight designs you can easily cut a hazel stick one finger thick in one motion!

The blade is made from salvaged ancient leaf spring steel from an old carriage wreck, 150+ years old, 11,5x5 mm with a full tang. Scales are elk antler, brass tubing and mosaic pins. The blade has a selective temper and a high convex bevel. Estimated hardness is about 58 HRC.

It has to see some polishing and then it´s ready for the etch.