This Samuel Bell-inspired dirk (left)was forged by Jim Batson duringhis “Introduction to Bladesmithing”class. The custom knife (right) wascreated through the stock-removalprocess by Tommy McNabb, instruc -tor of the “Basic Knife Making” class.

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Written by Michael O. Humphries Photographed by Melissa McGaw

Those who appreciate the charm and beauty of a custom-made knife can learn to make theirown through a com mu nity college program inthe heart of North Carolina.

T he conveniences of mass-produced items surround usin our everyday lives. Despite the advantages of theseproducts —such as low cost and voluminous supply —

many of us still appreciate custom-made objects. By purchasingsomething that was made by hand, you can own something thatis by its nature different from all the others around, lending anair of personalization and individuality.

However, although these can be unique and individualized toone person, they are often shaped by the hands of another. Whatif you were to take it one more step, to create and shape the pro -duct with your own hands?

One of the most popular custom-made and personalized pro -ducts, particularly for those who appreciate the outdoors, is thefixed-blade knife. Simple and straightforward, this useful imple -ment can be as simple or as ornate as the owner desires. And,although it might seem to be beyond the reach of the beginner,there is a place right here in North Carolina where you can learnthe basics of creating your own hand-made knives.

modern approach that employs contempor-ary grinding equipment and can be usedwith materials such as stainless steel. Withthis process, you begin with a section ofsteel and cut away what is not wanted untilthe desired shape is achieved.

McNabb’s background in knifemakingspans nearly three decades, starting in 1979when he began studying blacksmithing. Heeventually learned how to produce Damascussteel and was taught by knifemaker TravisDaniel how to grind knives. McNabb, whoowns Carolina Custom Knives in Bethania,has developed an enviable reputation in theknifemaking world. In fact, it was his con-nections to the industry, and specifically theN.C. Custom Knifemakers Guild, that playeda role in getting the classes started at Mont-gomery Community College.

“I gathered some friends and fellow knife-makers together in 1992 to form a new group,”said McNabb, who was the guild’s first presi-dent. “I had always been willing to share myknowledge with others through workshops.”Because he had worked with the college onsome past projects, McNabb asked if the newguild could hold its meetings there. BruceTurner, then director of the college’s contin-uing education program, asked if he wouldbe interested in teaching a knifemaking class.McNabb agreed, and the classes grew quicklyin popularity. Soon, he was able to bring inadditional instructors, including Batson, toteach other classes and disciplines. “Theschool was extremely open to working withknifemakers,” McNabb said. “They were com-pletely willing to tailor classes to fit our needs.”

Baptism by FireThe two classes that I selected, per McNabb’sadvice, represented a good overview of theprimary methods of custom knifemaking.Although the fee for the classes is modest,one must also take into account the toolsrequired for each class. The short list of whatis needed consists mostly of a selection offiles, hammers and sandpaper in addition toa shop apron and few other odds and ends.

The first class I attended was Batson’s“Introduction to Bladesmithing.” Althoughthe school’s air-conditioned classroom wascomfortable and modern, there was a med-ieval feel to the room once the gas forgeswere heated up. Adding to this atmospherewere the multiple anvils located in the

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Close at HomeMontgomery Community College, a smallinstitution located in Troy, offers a selectionof knifemaking classes that are part of theschool’s Continuing Education & Commu-nity Services program. Created in affiliationwith the National Rifle Association (NRA),the school’s short-term knifemaking classesoffer students the opportunity to learn thebasics of knifemaking in the span of less thana week and at a cost of a few hundred dollars.

How did such a unique program comeabout? “There are a lot of people aroundhere who hunt and fish,” explained MicheleHaywood, public information officer forMontgomery Community College. “We areright here next to the Uwharrie NationalForest, and outdoor traditions are just partof the culture of the area.”

In fact, the school has a long tradition ofproviding outdoors skills to its students. Afteropening its doors in 1967, the college startedits extremely popular two-year gunsmithingdegree program in 1978, solidifying theschool’s reputation for offering a unique setof classes and programs. “Although we arethe third-smallest community college in thestate, our offerings have made us stand out,”Haywood pointed out. “In fact, when thegunsmithing program first started, it wasone of only five gunsmithing schools in thenation.” And this program was no lightweight,offering 2,100 hours of hands-on instruc-tion to students.

It was on this solid foundation that theschool decided to expand its offerings andbegan providing NRA short-term schools,including knifemaking, gunsmithing andlaw enforcement armorer classes in 1995.“This was a good move for the school, as itallowed the college to build on the popularityof the gunsmithing program,” Haywood said.These short-term classes give students theopportunity to study focused topics in a shorttime frame, expanding their skill base. Theyalso allow the school to bring in nationallyrecognized experts to teach the programs.

The BasicsTo find out what options are available foraspiring knifemakers at Montgomery Com-munity College, I observed some of theschool’s classes in the summer of 2007.Although there are several classes fromwhich to choose, two of them were ideal fora beginner—“Introduction to Bladesmithing”taught by Jim Batson, and “Basic KnifeMaking” taught by Tommy McNabb. Theseclasses were selected because they offered arelatively quick and inexpensive way for astudent to learn the basics of the two primarymethods of custom knifemaking, taught by instructors renowned in their fields.Batson’s class focused on forging a blade,and McNabb’s taught the process of stockremoval in knifemaking.

Forging, a process steeped in two mil-lennia of tradition, revolves around the pro-cess of heating carbon steel to the point ofpliability and then hammering it into theshape of a blade. This form of knifemakingtakes a traditional approach and employsbasic source materials such as carbon steel.Stock removal, on the other hand, is a more

Montgomery Community Col-lege in Troy offers beginners achance to learn to make knivesthemselves. Batson’s class (rightand opposite page) teaches stu-dents how to properly heat andhammer-forge a blade from asimple carbon steel rod.

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Getting StartedDid this article inspire the hidden knifemaker in you? If so, then here is a short list of whomto contact to learn more about the classes and buy the necessary gear.Brownells: 800-741-0015, www.brownells.comMontgomery Community College: (910) 576-6222, www.montgomery.cc.nc.us

Or, if you are considering buying a custom knife or simply want to learn more about thosewho know their way around a knifemaker’s shop, then the following are good places to start.Carolina Custom Knives: (336) 924 -6053, www.carolinaknives.comN.C. Custom Knifemakers Guild: www.ncknifeguild.org

machine was an alternative to grinding theblade by hand. He said that this approachwould work, but it would be unnecessarilytime-consuming to create all the jigs for themachinery. “It is just easier to do it by handwith the grinders,” he told me. “Although itdoes require for you to develop a feel forhow the steel responds to the grinders, itgives you a great deal more flexibility.”

Over the course of four days, McNabbguided the class through the process, includ-ing shaping, heat-treating and polishing. Asthe class would grind the shape of the bladethrough each step, they would then move on toa smoother grit on the belt grinders, smooth-ing out the finish each time. McNabb madesure to point out that each step of this processwas important, and that each smoother gradeof sandpaper would remove the grindingmarks of the previous process. Throughoutthis, he constantly made sure that we keptthe original shape of the ground blade, justpolishing and smoothing, minimizingreshaping to only when it was necessary.

One important way that his class differedfrom that of Batson’s was that McNabb taughtus to finish a completed knife, handle and all.Once we selected our handle materials, hetaught us how to fit them and the requisitepins and bolsters, using epoxy to attach themsolidly. Once the oversized chunks of handlematerial were affixed to the tang of the blade,we were allowed to begin shaping them on thebelt grinders to the profile of the knife’s tangarea. Unlike the steel, the natural materialsused for handles (bone, wood, etc.) wouldgrind away quickly under pressure from thegrinders. With a much lighter touch, we soonshaped the handles to the blade and thenmoved on to the final polishing of the bladeand handles. Once all was said and done, wehad created a knife on our own—with theinstructor guiding us the whole way.

In less than two weeks, I was able tolearn the two primary methods of customknifemaking, all at the hands of instructorsrespected in their fields. It was an eye-openingand enjoyable experience, one that I suspectwill create a lifelong interest in making hand-made knives. Anyone here in the state (or else-where, for that matter) who has an interest inlearning these processes should definitelytake advantage of these intriguing programs.

Michael O. Humphries is managing editor ofWildlife in North Carolina.

McNabb’s class focuses on thestock-removal process of knife-making, in which a blade is cutand shaped from a flat of steel.The process involves cuttingout the shape of the blade witha band saw, shaping it with beltgrinders (above) and thenpolishing it.

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classroom, where students would hammerout the shapes of their blades.

“Don Fogg, one of the other instructors,made the statement that we bladesmiths haveour feet in 2,000-year-old clay,” Batson toldthe class. He went on to explain that we wouldmake a re-creation of a Samuel Bell dirk bylearning how to employ an ancient art formthat has recently been revived.

Done the old-fashioned way, the processof forging a blade starts with a piece of carbonsteel that is heated in the forge to the point ofpliability. Once achieved, the steel is thenplaced against an anvil and hammered intothe rough shape of a blade. Batson explainedto us that “feel” is very important in this pro-cess, explaining that it is more art than sci-ence. “The steel will resist you,” he told us,going on to explain that you can interpret thevibrations of the impact of your hammer toread what is happening with the steel. Aftera bit of hammering, the steel must be placedback into the forge to again make it softenough to shape. As Batson showed us howthis works, he repeated the process overand over until the general outline of a bladebegan to appear.

Once the class became familiar with thebasics, Batson let everyone begin. As the stu-dents began to heat and shape the blades, theytried to emulate the instructor ’s feel for thesteel. Batson observed the process and gavea helping hand when students were havingtrouble or getting frustrated. “Forging is athinking man’s sport,” he loudly proclaimedover the din of clanging hammers. “Everystrike on the blade causes a change to thesteel that you must read and react to.”

Throughout this process, Batson tried torelay to the class the finer points of forging—knowledge that he had gained through decadesof experience. “It is always good to work in adark shop,” he told us. “It lets you better judgethe heat on the blade by the color of the steel.”And, although it seems pretty obvious after thefact, he had to remind the class that the thin-ner point of the blade heats more quickly thatthe thicker sections of the body of the blade,so the students should pass the tip completelythrough the forge, with only the central sec-tion of the blade receiving the bulk of the heat.

McNabb, who was there helping Batsonconduct the forging class, explained to methat this process shares some traits with his

stock removal class, with the skills learnedfrom the two classes complementing eachother. “Forging and stock removal both havesome things in common,” he said. “Althoughforgers hammer the heated blade into theshape they want, they often still go to thegrinders. Ultimately, this is same thing thatknifemakers using the stock removal pro-cess do. In fact, many of the forging studentsgo on to take my stock removal class.”

Over the span of a few days, the studentsforged, shaped and heat-treated their blades,taking in decades of Batson’s knowledge inan extremely short time. And, as Batsonpointed out, the results of their efforts werequite impressive. Because of the short three-day duration of the class, Batson did notinclude applying a handle to the blade, insteadfocusing on shaping the blade itself.

Shaping PerceptionsScheduled a few weeks later, McNabb’s classfelt completely different. Whereas the forgingclass conveyed an ancient, traditionalist feel,the stock removal class seemed much moremodern. In fact, McNabb told me that thestock removal process usually appeals tomachinists familiar with modern machinery.

Batson shed some light on the appeal andadvantages of the stock removal process during his forging class. “Modern grindingequipment is what makes the stock removalmethod possible,” he said. “It also allowsyou to work with more modern materials,such as stainless steels, which are not aseasily forged as the types of carbon steelsemployed in my class.” The steel chosen forthis particular project was ATS-34, one whichhe uses a great deal because of its rust resis-tance and ability to hold an edge.

Once the blade shape was determinedand scribed onto a chunk of steel, the roughshape was cut out on a band saw and thenthe grinding began. Employing belt grinders,McNabb showed the basics of how to shapethe blade. He demonstrated how to createproper angles by holding the blade at thecorrect angle, rigidly, and then leaning intothe grinder with it.

“You can feel when the proper angle ofyour grind has been achieved, and you canfeel the blade settle against the grinder once you lay it against it,” he told me. As I contemplated the appeal of this process tomachinists, I asked him if using a milling

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