As I said in my previous thread the Hunter Gatherer course assessment (http://www.wilderness-survival.co.uk/the-hunter-gatherer/) required evidence of green woodworking. Like any self respecting would be bushcrafter I’ve made the obligatory spoon or three in the past but I no longer possessed any even half decent ones. The poor ones had become fuel and the OK ones (I wouldn’t say any were particularly good) had been given away. Therefore I didn’t have any craft items to show except a none too brilliant noggin which was hardly likely to impress anyone.
Now I could have got my spoon knife out and made some spoons and maybe a kuksa just for the assessment but since the course requires the use of stone tools I thought I’d do some green woodworking with flint tools I’d made myself. Only a few of the flint items used are fabricated tools I’ve made myself and none were essential. The majority of the work was done with simple flint flakes which even someone as inept at flintknapping as me can create.
The knife handle was made from a split piece of wood because the knife blade was just a suitable flake with the bulb of percussion still there. To shape the notch to fit the bulb was easier when I could easily access both sides of the notch.
First I cut my hazel sapling using a flint adze I'd made previously:
As you can see it's hardly the tidiest way of cutting wood but it's effective. Suffice to say I tidied up with my Laplander afterwards.
Next, using the adze again I rough cut the sapling to more usable lengths. The adze was used to speed up the process; otherwise I could have done it by making a rose cut using a simple flake:
Removing the bark is next and for this a flake is all you need. Just make sure the angle you use isn't too sharp or you'll gouge the wood:
I then tidied the ends. Again a sharp flake is all you need. One thing to remember is that unlike trimming the ends with a metal knife cutting towards you is preferable when you use flint. Cutting towards you gives more control - just remember flint is sharp and can cut you badly:
Using a stone saw I cut grooves around the handle for the cordage that will bind the two halves of the completed knife handle together. The saw is just a flake with a few notches flaked into it. I hafted it because then it was less tiring to use when I was going to do a lot of sawing. I didn't cut the grooves as deep as they would finally be in case I ruined the handle at the following step:
Then I split the handle in two using a wooden baton and a sharp flake as a wedge:
Since the handle split properly I cut the grooves as deep and wide as I wanted them. The grooves had a few feathery splinters in them after this so to remove them I rubbed some cordage back and forth along the groove with some vigour;
Then I finished shaping both ends of the the handle then cut the notch to more readily fit the blade:
Finally here's the completed knife. I haven't properly tied the cordage (which could either be tied only in the grooves or along the whole length of the handle) but you'll get the idea. To improve the knife I would cut out the wood between the grooves so the cordage could lie within it when wrapped around the handle:
When the wood has seasoned I usually sand down the handle with a piece of sandstone:
Not the greatest knife in the world but surprisingly usable so long as the cordage is tied sufficiently tightly. It'll need re-tightening every so often especially as the wood dries but it's only a matter of moments to do so. Similarly it doesn't take much time to take out the old blade and fit a new one.
Now I could have got my spoon knife out and made some spoons and maybe a kuksa just for the assessment but since the course requires the use of stone tools I thought I’d do some green woodworking with flint tools I’d made myself. Only a few of the flint items used are fabricated tools I’ve made myself and none were essential. The majority of the work was done with simple flint flakes which even someone as inept at flintknapping as me can create.
The knife handle was made from a split piece of wood because the knife blade was just a suitable flake with the bulb of percussion still there. To shape the notch to fit the bulb was easier when I could easily access both sides of the notch.
First I cut my hazel sapling using a flint adze I'd made previously:
As you can see it's hardly the tidiest way of cutting wood but it's effective. Suffice to say I tidied up with my Laplander afterwards.
Next, using the adze again I rough cut the sapling to more usable lengths. The adze was used to speed up the process; otherwise I could have done it by making a rose cut using a simple flake:
Removing the bark is next and for this a flake is all you need. Just make sure the angle you use isn't too sharp or you'll gouge the wood:
I then tidied the ends. Again a sharp flake is all you need. One thing to remember is that unlike trimming the ends with a metal knife cutting towards you is preferable when you use flint. Cutting towards you gives more control - just remember flint is sharp and can cut you badly:
Using a stone saw I cut grooves around the handle for the cordage that will bind the two halves of the completed knife handle together. The saw is just a flake with a few notches flaked into it. I hafted it because then it was less tiring to use when I was going to do a lot of sawing. I didn't cut the grooves as deep as they would finally be in case I ruined the handle at the following step:
Then I split the handle in two using a wooden baton and a sharp flake as a wedge:
Since the handle split properly I cut the grooves as deep and wide as I wanted them. The grooves had a few feathery splinters in them after this so to remove them I rubbed some cordage back and forth along the groove with some vigour;
Then I finished shaping both ends of the the handle then cut the notch to more readily fit the blade:
Finally here's the completed knife. I haven't properly tied the cordage (which could either be tied only in the grooves or along the whole length of the handle) but you'll get the idea. To improve the knife I would cut out the wood between the grooves so the cordage could lie within it when wrapped around the handle:
When the wood has seasoned I usually sand down the handle with a piece of sandstone:
Not the greatest knife in the world but surprisingly usable so long as the cordage is tied sufficiently tightly. It'll need re-tightening every so often especially as the wood dries but it's only a matter of moments to do so. Similarly it doesn't take much time to take out the old blade and fit a new one.
Last edited:
]
