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 "Forging or Stock Removal?"
by Terry PrimosPHOTO: Charles Ochs Forges a Damascus Billet
From time to time I am asked "What is a bladesmith?", or "What is the difference between a bladesmith and a knifemaker?" Well, a bladesmith is a knifemaker. The confusion comes from not understanding the difference in methods of producing a knife. There are two basic ways to create a handmade knife from a piece of steel. They are:
Stock Removal - With this method the maker starts with a piece of steel, often precision ground. A blade pattern is transferred to the piece of steel. This is often done by spraying the steel with layout fluid, placing a template in the shape of the blade on the piece of steel, and scribing a line around the template. The blade is then cut or ground to the layout lines. If cut, the blade shape is then refined on a grinder. The process of creating the outlined shape of the blade is referred to as profiling. Once profiled the blade bevels are ground (or sometimes filed). When a knifemaker uses this method we often refer to him/her as a stock remover, or say that he/she uses the stock removal method.
Forging - With this method the maker takes a piece of steel, heats it in a forge to a point in which the steel becomes malleable. The hot steel is placed on an anvil and shaped with a hammer. The goal with this method is to achieve 90 percent completion of the blade at the anvil. This means that the profiling and creation of the blade bevels are done with the hammer. When the maker has the skill to do this, a grinder is used primarily to refine and cleanup the blade. One who forges blades is referred to as a bladesmith or sometimes just a smith. I'm sure you can figure out why we don't refer to ourselves a forgers.
This is an over simplification of how knives are made, but the intention here is just to get the idea across. I once heard an explanation that simplifies the processes even further. A stock remover takes a piece of steel and grinds off everything that doesn't look like a knife. A bladesmith heats up a piece of steel and taps it with a hammer until it looks like a knife.
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