Once upon a time, in Novgorod...

[jojo]

...some people made knives that appear to be linked with woodwork.

The medieval toolchest: woodcarving knives


I have been busy with chip-carving a sella curulis lately and this is done with one tool. the (wood) carving knife. We know this tool was used in medieval times (and even up till now) based on the furniture and other wooden utensils that are left from this period. There is not much archeological evidence or illustrations (e.g. in miniatures) of medieval knives that can be directly correlated to woodcarving. Knives that are found can be used for many reasons and many trades.

In Novgorod, Russia, however, some medieval knives of the 12th and 13th century could be linked to woodcarving and whittling of carpenters and coopers. They had a curved blade and a down-turned tip lower than the axis of the handle carving.

I have now made, and started to use those knives, following the drawing on the blog indicated above.

I am hoping to learn a bit more about their use and how well they handle wood. So far, I am impressed by them, I think i'll refine the blades a bit, on these knives, the blades have a convex profile, and i think I'll make another blade with a flatter V profile.. I am going to make one with a slightly thicker 3mm blade because I feel it might make a good bushcraft knife.