Buddy Up: Craft a Custom Knife

Skill Level: Beginner — no prior experience is required. This workshop is designed to introduce you to the core concepts of knife making – profiling, beveling, polishing, handle-making and sharpening.

Tools and techniques: You will use various hand tools to shape your knife, including hacksaws, files, and sanding blocks. You’ll also use belt sanders and rotary tools to make your knife.

Have you ever thought about what kind of person handcrafts their own kitchen knives? It may sound like the stuff of legends, but in just two 4 hour sessions, that person could be YOU. 

In this workshop, you will make a classic French Chef, a vegetable slicer, a cleaver or a utility/hunting knife (you choose!), using the reductive (stock-removal) technique.

You start with a raw, rectangular piece of annealed tool steel, then cut, shape and polish it into a bonafide kitchen blade. As the knife creator, you can customize and scale your design so your knife perfectly fits your hand. 

After the first session, your young knife will remain at Craftsman Ave for hardening and tempering before you return for the second session.

In the second session (held the same day/time of the following week), you’ll create a custom brass-pinned hardwood handle for your knife and polish your blade to look exactly how you want it to (Shiny? Rugged? You decide!) 

Finally, you’ll sharpen your blade to a razor’s edge using our custom sharpening jigs. Be as dramatic as you want!

You and a friend will make one knife together.