Students will forge material for two laminated knife blades using wrought iron and steel with a method described by Håvard Bergland in his book, The Art of Traditional Blacksmithing, Page 112 – The Chisel Method.
The center of a bar of salvaged wrought iron will be chiseled open, and high carbon steel will be forge-welded into the cleft. When cut in half, the bar will yield two blanks with steel exposed on one edge and one end for the blade, and wrought iron at the other end for the through tang.
Students may file or grind their blades before heat treating and final grinding. Pickling will expose the grain in the wrought iron.
Please Note: If you would like to take this knife blade and add a handle to finish the full knife, you will be able to do so in the July 28-30 class Introduction to Knifemaking: Bruk Kniv. This knifemaking class will be open to all levels and Jon will be able to help students with the finer details of knifemaking, whether they bring their own blades made in this knife blade class or purchase one from Jon Roisen.
This class will be taught by Tom Latané who started forging reproduction colonial and early American ironwork in Maryland in the early 1970s. After moving to the Midwest in 1981, he was introduced to the creative whimsy of Norwegian folk iron. Tom and his wife, Catherine, have a shop in Pepin, Wisconsin, where Tom repairs antiques and creates original pieces using a traditional design vocabulary and historic hand techniques. Tom has demonstrated for blacksmith groups and has taught at folk schools around the country. Some of Tom’s ironwork can be seen in Vesterheim’s Westby-Torgerson Education Center. He has several videos available on Vesterheim’s YouTube channel.
Scholarships including local standby option are available. Find information here.
