MAKING POCKETKNIVES IN SHEFFIELD, 1840

  by Bernard Levine, (c)1992
    "Knife Lore" #53 [part], National Knife Magazine, December 1992


  Frank Puncer of Arizona sent in a 1952 reprint of an 
article originally published in the Sheffield Mechanics' 
Exhibition Magazine, September 12, 1840, which describes the 
sequence of processes involved in making a pocketknife blade 
in Sheffield at that time. This was generations before power 
hammers were accepted for use in the English cutlery 
industry, although French cutlers had begun using water-
driven tilt hammers for blade forging back in the previous 
century. 


Making Knives

  "By repeated heatings and hammerings, the steel is drawn 
into narrow strings of from one to two yards in length, and 
in that state sent to the blade-maker. 

  "The blade-maker's first operation is to heat the end of 
one of the strings of steel red hot and to mould or fashion 
the blade rudely on the anvil with his hammer. He then places 
it on the bag[?]-iron attached to the anvil, to which is 
affixed a gauge; and with a stroke of the hammer cuts it off; 
and so on till he has moulded the number [of blades] 
required. 

  "He next takes the point of the blade in his tongs, heats 
the other end, and forms the tang or square end of the blade 
that serves for the joint. The next process is the smithing, 
which requires the blade to be heated again, when the maker 
gives it the proper shape with back and edge; and strikes the 
nail mark with a punch, set in the grove[?] of his anvil; 
these processes complete the forging of the blade. 

  "It is now passed into other hands, to be filed and fitted 
to a pattern-blade, in order to ensure of its being of a 
proper size and form; after which it is sent to the grinding-
wheel, to have the shale [scale] or oxide ground off, which 
clears the tang ready for the maker's name etc. to be struck; 
and this is sometimes done while the blade is cold [and still 
soft], at other times when heated to a warm red. 

  "After the marking, the blade is hardened by heating it 
red, and immersing it in water. In this state it is too hard 
for use, and requires tempering. The blade is now rubbed 
bright on one side with sand-stone, in order that the 
progress of the tempering might be seen. It is then placed 
with the back downward on a plate of sheet-iron, which is put 
on the fire, and the workman very attentively watches the 
changes of colour in the blade, till they attain to a straw 
colour approaching a brown, which is the test of the proper 
degree of temper; he then slacks [slakes] it to arrest 
further change. 

  "It is again sent to the grinder, to be slightly ground or 
scorched, as it is technically called; and after that, goes 
to the setter-in, or knife maker, who fits it by a fitting 
tang for insertion into the haft. He next dresses, or in 
other words, smooth files and burnishes the edges of the 
tang, and afterwards glazes, by a wheel dressed with emery, 
the flat sides, to clear away the fash raised by dressing. 

  "A round-ended [i.e. round tang] knife is sent to the wheel 
again, to have the tang polished, which process is as 
follows: it is glazed on a wheel dressed with emery cake, 
which is composed of bees'-wax, suet, and flower emery; with 
this glazer, the polisher erases all the scratches, and gets 
the tang to a fine bottom. 

  "For the second glazing he rubs a little bees'-wax and soft 
charcoal on the face of his wheel, and holds a pebble on for 
a short time, which brings it to the proper face for 
polishing or giving the last glaze; sometimes it is further 
polished on another wheel, covered with leather and dressed 
with crocus (a preparation of the oxide of iron), which gives 
a rich lustre to the steel. 

  "The blade is again returned to the setter-in, who inserts 
it into the haft, which he finishes. The haft is then wrapped 
in paper, to keep it clean; and the knife sent to the wheel 
to have the blade finished, which is ground on a stone to a 
thin edge, so as to ply the finger nail when laid to it; it 
is next taken to be lapped. 

  "The lap is a wheel faced with lead, and dressed with 
flower emery and sweet oil. This process takes out all the 
marks left by the grindstone, and produces a smooth surface; 
it is fined still further after a piece of flint has been 
held in contact with the face of the lap, while running. 

  "It is now ready for the last polishing, which is similar 
to that described above,--the wheel is dressed with crocus, 
and the polisher occasionally dips a piece of wool hat in 
crocus, and holds it to the wheel; this gives a finishing 
lustre to the blade. The knife is then returned to the 
setter-in, or some competent person, to be whetted, which 
operation completes the pen knife blade, and is generally 
performed on a Turkey hone."  

*

  In fact this description only covers the making and fitting 
of pen blades. Were it to include other styles of blades, not 
to mention springs, liners, bolsters, and handle covers of 
all sorts, such as silver, ivory, tortoise-shell, pearl, 
stag, wood, and horn, it would have to go on for many more 
pages. 

  In Levine's Guide to Knives , in my discussion of "reworks" 
on page 29, I state, "As far as I know, not even the most 
competent of today's repairmen have either the skill or the 
equipment to do a good crocus or glaze polish."  In case you 
ever wondered just exactly what I meant by that statement, 
now you know. Don't forget the sweet oil, the suet, the 
beeswax, the charcoal, the emery flour, the pebble, the 
flint, and the piece of wool hat. 

* 


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