ntroduction

he history of knives goes all the way back to the beginning of the human race. The first simple tool, made more than two million years ago, was a sharp edge on the side of a piece of flint. Clearly recognizable stone knives date from the Paleolithic period from 500,000 to 10,000 BC. This period is referred to as the Stone Age: paleo is Greek for 'old' and lithos means 'stone.' Stones with very sharp

edges were used for hacking, cutting and scraping animal hides. Some excavated stone tools still have clear traces of chipped-off stone splinters. In the late Paleolithic (about 40,000 to 10,000 BC) the sha ping of tools became more sophisticated. Stone and bone needles stem from this period, as well as speci ally shaped stone spear points and spears. In order to cut as thinly as possible, stone blades were shaped on both sides. In the late Stone Age, fire was used to heat the pieces of flint to make them easier to work. People were still nomadic at this stage, living from the animals they hunted, the fish they caught and grass seeds, fruits, plants and roots they collected. In the Mesolithic, or the middle period of the Stone Age, from 10,000 to 4,000 BC, the Great Ice Age came to an end. Excavations show that, during

Examples of early stone knives,

.en no more than sharp stone splinters

- wing: Victorinox)

Stone knives from the middle period of the Stone Age (drawing: Victorinox)

AKSVONOV www. rusartknife. urbannet. rulgallery. html

ter in the 'Calibre' roo! factory. There he started stu dying engraving techniques and learned to make tools to work with wood and metal. His interest in weapons forging started when he was asked to make sabers for a film. As there was hardly any modern information available on the subject, he frequented the Museum of History, the Kremlin Weapons Museum and the Soviet Milita ry Museum, and started collecting cards and books about weapons. Based on these, he made alumi num blades for sabers, swords and daggers, and wooden handles. For decoration, he studied the jewelry trade and learned to work with leather and engrave special materials In such as mammoth ivory. 1987 Aksyonov met the famous Rus sian weapons forger Borisovich who introduced him
to

the world of knife ma

kers and he went to work pro fessionally. He got involved

Portrait of Andrey Vasil'evich Aksyonov with his master sign on the right and the logo of the Russian Knifemakers' Guild below.

with a group of Russian knife makers who were trying ro rediscover the nearly forgotten technique of of Damascus and his insight into weapons as a

Andrey Vasil' evich Aksyonov was born on 9 Novem ber 1954 in Moscow. He had been interested in Rus sian history since his early youth. In school, he studi ed art and practiced woodcarving, sculpture and graphic arts and made some very beautiful wooden swords for himself and his friends. Later, he became fascinated by iron and steel. At six teen he started working as an apprentice machine fir-

part of the Russian culture grew. Today, there are plans to reo pen the 16th century wea pons manufacturing school in Moscow as a subdivision of the Kremlin's Weapons Museum.
The sheath of the Rimskiy dagger in detail

ZABELINA

in 1999, at Blades 2000 in the Weapons Museum of the Kremlin, and various exhibitions in Tula. She is a member of the Russian Knifemakers' Guild and of Arsenal, the association for weapons historians. After eight years of knife making, she realizes that she is still only on the threshold. Working Damasteel requires experience, insight and feeling which have to be developed through the years. Forging combines four factors: the metal, the shaping ability of the steel, the atmos phere and the mood of the smith. The last factor is probably the most important. The knives shown here were photographed by Sergey Bara nov and Valentin Overchenko.

DROP
www.

ZABELINA rusartknife. urbannet. rulgallery. html

Drop was designed and made in 2002. The blade of Turkish Damasteel, she forged herself from six rods of steel from types SH H U10

(WX), 65 G (65 1), (Y1 0) and nickel. The cutting edge was

forged onto the blade without adding nickel. The handle plates are of ebony, Caucasian walnut and mammoth ivory. The blade is 3.7 inches long and the steel is 0.177 inches thick. The length of the knife is 7.1 inches.

GLOBE
Natalia Aleksandrovna Zabelina with her master sign, above, and the logo of the Russian Knifemakers' Guild, below

Globe is based on a design from Valery Koptev in 1998. The blade was made of Damasteel, which Natalia forged from steel types 65G

(651), U10 (Y1 0)

Monster

Natalia Aleksandrovna Zabelina was born in T ula in 1978. She starded making knives in 1995 after she met famous knife maker, Valery Dmirrievich Koptev, who suggested that she could come and work with him. She

and nickel. The handle was made of Damasteel as well, with 3G handle was achieved by adding steel type SH H

(13) steel and nickel. The blue in the (WX).

The steel was etched in sulfuric acid and then blued. The roundings (the Globes) in the blade and the handle are detachable. The blade is 3.9 inches long and the total length of this fantasy knife is 7.5 inches.

MONSTER
The Damascus Drop knife

The handle of this fantasy knife is made of mammoth ivory from the fields of Yakutia. The carving was done by Kostenko and the engraving on the bolster by Semyonov Oleg. The 7.8 inch Damasteel blade was forged by Natalia her self. The total length is 13.7 inches. The knife has a more aggressive character than the Drop - the forging work is hard and pointy, clearly intended to protect the carrier. Natalia considers Monster her most suc cessful piece of work.
The Globe knife

decided this trade was her calling when her first inde pendent attempt at forging Damasteel was successful. Natalia does not have a conventional approach to materials and treats steel as if it were a living being, talking or singing to it; sometimes she swears at it. The State Historic Museum in Moscow was her debut. Within a short few years, her work was noticed by specialists and now she exhibits at one or more shows per year, including shows by the Russian Culture fund

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