[etai]

Hi all,

I'm becoming interesting in knife making as a hobby. I know absolutely nothing about it and this post is more or less the complete beginning of my journey. The only thing I have done so far is watch videos of others making knives.

My question is about two methods I have noticed that are used to create the blade.

The first and apparently most common that I have seen is that people will begin with a thin rectangular bar of metal, literally draw the shape of a blade on it with a marker, and then cut around it and grind it down with power tools.

The second is people will use a fire to heat some metal and beat on it with a hammer and anvil until it is the shape that they want.

Now I don't mean any disrespect to anyone but the first method is not at all what I was expecting when I started researching this. I suppose with mass fabrication of materials it is an accessible option, but to me it seems cheesy almost. I'm sure it still requires skill but there's something about the idea of cutting the shape of a knife out of a pre-made bar like it's playdough that seems off to me.

Are these the two main ways of forming a blade? Is it true that the first is much more common? Do each of these processes have a name?