george wilson
09-05-2010, 12:19 PM
I can't recall if this knife has been posted before. We were asked to make many different tools in the toolmaker's shop. I always enjoyed making surgical instruments for the Apothecary Shop. It gave us the opportunity to make something extra nice. Surgical tools were among the pinnacle of fine craftsmanship in the 18th.C.(and other times as well).
This knife,and others were very highly polished so that blood would not etch into their surfaces if they were soon wiped clean. The blood couldn't get a "grip" so easily on polished steel.
I made the blade,and Jon,my journeyman,made the ebony handle. Jon came from the Gunsmith shop to join me. Though a very skilled craftsman himself,he had never used a wood lathe before. Jon didn't take long to pick it up,though. He is one of a handful in the country who can weld up a rifle barrel from a flat bar of genuine wrought iron,and bore and rifle it using only the primitive tools available in the 18th.C..
This blade was a challenge to me because it is very hollow in shape,and is hollow ground,too.It could only be freehand ground in our shop,or,indeed in the past,too. I was concerned because we only have a flat grinding belt to present the blade to. I was fairly sure that the original knives of this type would have been ground on a somewhat convex grinding wheel. It would have fitted the shape better.
While I had made a number of straight knives,I knew that this one would take a very steady hand to not generate an "up and down" surface,since only the very edges of the belt would be actually doing the grinding,if you see what I mean.
Somehow,I did manage to pull it off and grind the blade with what we had. This was done completely by hand,so sort of fits into the Neanderthal section,though it misses out on being a woodworking tool! It DID lead to the use of wood,though(for a leg)!!The blade is extremely thin as the cutting edge is approached. It is like a straight razor in its thinness,making it even more challenging to grind. It really is surprising how good you can get at freehand grinding if you work at it. I encourage all you who use sharpening jigs to get weened off of them.
The blade was highly polished by hand. A key telltale in fine craftsmanship is to not buff something to death,and round off the corners. Edges must be hard and crisp. The only way to do this is to polish by hand,with abrasive covered sticks,etc..
I sharpened the knife enough so it would cut,but did not get it so sharp that the apothecaries would easily cut themselves just by touching the blade. Sometimes they will cut on fruits or vegetables to demonstrate surgical techniques.
This knife is a fairly early 18th.C. style. Later ones became less curved,and eventually,straight. Notice the "upside down" handle. It is correct,and gives clues to how the knife was held in use.
This knife,and others were very highly polished so that blood would not etch into their surfaces if they were soon wiped clean. The blood couldn't get a "grip" so easily on polished steel.
I made the blade,and Jon,my journeyman,made the ebony handle. Jon came from the Gunsmith shop to join me. Though a very skilled craftsman himself,he had never used a wood lathe before. Jon didn't take long to pick it up,though. He is one of a handful in the country who can weld up a rifle barrel from a flat bar of genuine wrought iron,and bore and rifle it using only the primitive tools available in the 18th.C..
This blade was a challenge to me because it is very hollow in shape,and is hollow ground,too.It could only be freehand ground in our shop,or,indeed in the past,too. I was concerned because we only have a flat grinding belt to present the blade to. I was fairly sure that the original knives of this type would have been ground on a somewhat convex grinding wheel. It would have fitted the shape better.
While I had made a number of straight knives,I knew that this one would take a very steady hand to not generate an "up and down" surface,since only the very edges of the belt would be actually doing the grinding,if you see what I mean.
Somehow,I did manage to pull it off and grind the blade with what we had. This was done completely by hand,so sort of fits into the Neanderthal section,though it misses out on being a woodworking tool! It DID lead to the use of wood,though(for a leg)!!The blade is extremely thin as the cutting edge is approached. It is like a straight razor in its thinness,making it even more challenging to grind. It really is surprising how good you can get at freehand grinding if you work at it. I encourage all you who use sharpening jigs to get weened off of them.
The blade was highly polished by hand. A key telltale in fine craftsmanship is to not buff something to death,and round off the corners. Edges must be hard and crisp. The only way to do this is to polish by hand,with abrasive covered sticks,etc..
I sharpened the knife enough so it would cut,but did not get it so sharp that the apothecaries would easily cut themselves just by touching the blade. Sometimes they will cut on fruits or vegetables to demonstrate surgical techniques.
This knife is a fairly early 18th.C. style. Later ones became less curved,and eventually,straight. Notice the "upside down" handle. It is correct,and gives clues to how the knife was held in use.