The larger one I made from a file that was my late father's, the handle is from some maple that was in his pile of wood scraps. I softened the steel in my oven at 550 F and then shaped it on a belt sander. The handle would not stain dark enough so I dyed it.
The finger guard is from a five-cent piece, I annealed it with a torch and then tapped on the edges until it was an oval, it actually thickened during this process. If I had simply hammered it out to make the right shape it would have become too thin.
I darkened the blade with diet Mountain Dew.
The smaller knife is a paring knife that I bought for 5 cents at a garage sale. It takes and holds a nice edge. I removed the 20th century stamped steel bolster and cast one from 95-5 solder, following Wick's advice on the material. The wavy border where the metal meets the wood is unintentional, but my daughter likes it. It does look sort of gothic.
