My first Otzi-style blade

V

VaughnT

Joined
Feb 7, 2010
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434
Forged from Admiral Steel's "1070/1080" alloy. I drew the tang out on a bar of 1"x1/8" stock and textured the blade with the peen of my 2lb hammer. I wasn't sure if it would look more like a leaf or a bit of knapped stone. I was going for the latter, but would have been happy with the former. Unfortunately, texturing one side kind of flattened out the opposing side, so the texture is more of a suggestion than anything else.

Still, very satisfied with how it turned out.

She was quenched in water because I haven't found anything else that will harden this alloy. I ordered 1084, but this is what Admiral sent me. Three normalization cycles and two tempering cycles by my super-calibrated eyeballs.

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2" blade, 4 3/8" OAL. Now I need to get an edge on it to see how the heat treat works. Got a dozen ideas for a handle....
 
Very cool! I always liked Oetzi's kit. Looks great so far. Looking forward to the finished version.
 
After a lot of chopping, I got the blade glued to the plum branch handle, and a put an edge on it. I'm still not happy with how the handle looks and will have to meditate on the situation for a few days/weeks before going further with it. Trying to keep it looking primitive and not going too far with a fancy handle/finish that conflicts visually with the blade.

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Thank you, Stacy. I tried to keep it as simple and true to form as possible. I felt that any high level of finish on the handle would conflict with the look that the blade brings to it, and that it would take away from the primitive "Otzi could have made this" vibe.

Aside from the steel and Gorilla Glue, I used all natural materials that Otzi would have had access to. The fiber wrap sits down in a shallow notch to prevent slippage and is coated with some hide glue to seal and protect it. The blade/handle junction is coated with pitch glue to hide the joint and make it look like the pitch glue is actually holding the blade in place. And the wood is "stained" by the judicious application of whatever grunge was on my hands as I put everything together.
 
Just saw your Otzi. I really like it, great job! I would love to have one like that for my kit. What is the overall size? Thanks. RP
 
machineage said:
Just saw your Otzi. I really like it, great job! I would love to have one like that for my kit. What is the overall size? Thanks. RP
Click to expand...

Thanks, MA. The blade is just over 2" and the whole thing comes in right around 6.5". I still need to get the edge sharpened to where I like, but I'm very happy with how she feels when making chips out of dried oak and such.
 
I'll have to look for a photo, but I used to make "knapped" steel blades and Otzi knives before he was found.. I would rough shape the blade, then use the corner of the contact wheel to put the "knapp marks in the blade. Then the blade was lightly buffed to smooth the high spots, HTed, and etched as dark as I could get it in FC. The etch also gave it a bit of a stone "grain". Done right it looked a lot like a dark flint blade.
I used antler tines or bear jawbones as the handle, black dyed resin to simulate pitch, and wrapped the joint with sinew. It was quite old looking.
 
Nice indeed-never thought of making one like that. Might hafta try one...in my copious free time... :/
 
To forge in texture on both side of copper plates I do, I use a top fuller in my anvil hardie that matches the radius on my cross pien. Then I straighten, flatten and shape as needed with a wooden schwacker.
 
Very nice! Glad to see an historical interpretation of a basic knife that isn't a Nessmuk or Kephart.
 
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