16th Century Utility knife

A friend of mine, Aaron, made amazing knives and scabbards. I had the distinct joy of working with him on several projects and learning how to do some of the basic skills he knew. I found that I really like working with metals and making knives. So thumbing through different images on the web and books on the Mary Rose wreck I found a couple of knife shapes that worked for mid to late 16th century use. I started work on a those shapes over a year ago and finally decided to finish up some of the work.

Most every person in the 16th century would have had a utility knife that they owned and carried. This was the case through most of history up until our modern societal changes. A good knife can be used for a variety of tasks and it has been a goal to recreate some of these simple utilitarian style knives for sale and my own impressions.

I didn't take any during the build process shots on this one, but at the very least I can describe my process. I sourced a piece of steel to cut the knife blanks out of. My piece for this series of knives came from a piece of o1 tool steel, an Oil Hardening steel that holds an edge well an is durable. I then scaled out a pattern based on the drawings and images from my searches to a template. I then traced this template out on the steel and the blades were cut out using a bandsaw. From there the blade shapes were ground out and the basic profiles were shaped using grinding wheels and belt sanders. Once the basic shaping is done the blades need to be heat treated so they maintain their edge and strength. For this I the amazingly awesome OlliN Sword Designs were able to treat my pieces for a modest fee. Once the blades came back from heat treat, I set about the finish grinding, making any adjustments to the blade profile and setting an edge. Then comes scaling, that is putting on the handle. The knives for this set are scaled, so there are two blocks of wood that need to be shaped and sized to match the handle. The scales are fixed to the handle using pins and adhesives and then finish shaped.

The final product is a knife that I think is pretty darn nice, and from my own experience holds up very well to every day uses as well as reenactment. The first knife of this series is a simple utilitarian piece. The blade was one that I saw in a nautical scenario of which I can't find the picture anymore. Its got a nice stiff back to it, and the short handle fits very well in the hand. The wood is cocobolo, a central American wood, with beautiful coloring. The pictures don't really do the blonde streaking of the wood justice, but here we go! All these pictures are before the final polishing of the blade.

The whole piece:

A close up of both sides of the handle. Unfortunately my flash washed out some of the beautiful coloring on the wood. I treated the handle with some Danish Oil and will be working in beeswax this evening.


And the knife in hand for a sense of size.



I'm very please with how this turned out. Its a great little knife. It will be for sale, $65 and will include a leather sheath for carrying.