Bronze age living history in the Netherlands

Knife 8

Original

Found: Germany
Age: late bronze age

Mould

For this knive I used a soapstone mould. From this type of knife, several sandstone moulds have been found. These are from sandstone though.

Casting result

These are some of the cast blades. Most miss some of the tip, but they can be turned into good blades with a bit of grinding.

Finishing

This is one of the best cast blades, after some finishing. The flashing has been ground off, and the blade has been hammered out between several annealings. This brings the blade closer to the required shape. It also thins the blade down, so it will be sharper.

Completed knife

The blade has been ground sharp on sandstone and polished first using a dried block of clay & sand, and then a block of just clay. The hilt is made from red deer antler. An identical knife is found with the same hilt, also with the thickest part at the blade side, and ground down to reduce the thickness there. This I did by first cutting it with a knife, and then grounding it down further (wet) on sandstone. The latter worked a lot better then cutting the antler, as the antler is very tough. The hilt was then put in boiling water for some time, after which the blade was pressed into the soft core of the hilt.


The blade has been ground sharp on sandstone and polished first using a dried block of clay & sand, and then a block of just clay. The hilt is made from red deer antler. An identical knife is found with the same hilt, also with the thickest part at the blade side, and ground down to reduce the thickness there. This I did by first cutting it with a knife, and then grounding it down further (wet) on sandstone. The latter worked a lot better then cutting the antler, as the antler is very tough. The hilt was then put in boiling water for some time, after which the blade was pressed into the soft core of the hilt.