Marshland House
Middle Drove
Wisbech
Cambridgeshire
PE14 8JT

Tel: 01945 430515

E-mail:

info@paul-binns-swords.co.uk

Below you will find examples of the types of domestic knives I make. They are made in a traditional way appropriate to the periods from whuck they originate.

Dark Age knives typically had whittle tangs with a wooden or antler handle like the seaxes I make. The blades were cheap iron with a steel edge welded on.

From the mid-medieval period these simple whittle tang knives with knock on handles fell out of use and were largely replaced by the scale tang knife. A scale tang knife has a two part handle riveted through a wide flat tang. The blades were still iron with a steel edge. Some of the higher quality knives of this type had shoulder plates riveted on.

In the early Tudor period bolstered knives appeared. These were made by welding a carbon steel blade onto an iron stub which was then drawn out into a tang, leaving a solid raised shoulder at the blade/tang junction known as the bolster. This method of making knives remained unchanged until the appearance of stainless steel.

Elizabethian Bolstered Knives   These knives have steel blades and solid iron handles. Prices from £ 45

Medieval Scale Tang Knives   These knives have hardwood scale handles riveted to the wide, flat tangs. The blades comprise of two layers of wrought iron with a carbon steel layer in the middle which makes the cutting edge. Prices from £60

Tudor Bolstered Cook's Knife   This knife is a large Tudor bolstered cook's knife with a carved bone handle. Prices from £70

Scale Tanged Cook's Knife   This knife is a scale tanged cook's knife with a carbon steel blade and a burr wood handle. Prices from £45

Tudor Bolstered Eating Knife This knife is a scale tanged bolstered eating knife. The scales are made of ebony and bone and are held in by bronze retaining plates. The weld junction between the steel blade and the iron bolster is call the "thumb print" and can clearly be seen in this example. Prices from £135