ntroduction
T
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
Examples of early stone knives,
.en no more than sharp stone splinters
- wing: Victorinox)
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
Stone knives from the
middle period of the
Stone Age
(drawing: Victorinox)
5
 AKSVONOV ter in the 'Calibre' roo! factory. There he started stu­
www. rusartknife. urbannet. rulgallery. html
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 such as
mammoth ivory.
In 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
with a group of Russian knife
Portrait of Andrey Vasil'evich Aksyonov with his master sign on the
makers who were trying ro
right and the logo of the Russian Knifemakers' Guild below. rediscover the nearly forgotten
technique of of Damascus and
his insight into weapons as a
Andrey Vasil' evich Aksyonov was born on 9 Novem­ part of the Russian culture
ber 1954 in Moscow. He had been interested in Rus­ grew.
sian history since his early youth. In school, he studi­ Today, there are plans to reo­
ed art and practiced woodcarving, sculpture and pen the 16th century wea­
graphic arts and made some very beautiful wooden pons manufacturing school
swords for himself and his friends. in Moscow as a subdivision
Later, he became fascinated by iron and steel. At six­ of the Kremlin's Weapons
teen he started working as an apprentice machine fir- Museum.

The sheath of the

Rimskiy dagger in detail

9

ZABELINA
rusartknife. urbannet. rulgallery. html
www.
Natalia Aleksandrovna Zabelina with her master sign, above,
and the logo of the Russian Knifemakers' Guild, below
Natalia Aleksandrovna Zabelina was born in Tula 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
The Damascus Drop 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
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
Drop was designed and made in 2002. The blade
of Turkish Damasteel, she forged herself from six
(WX), 65 G (65 1),
rods of steel from types SH H
U10 (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
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
and nickel. The handle was made of Damasteel as
well, with 3G (13) steel and nickel. The blue in the
handle was achieved by adding steel type SH H (WX).
The steel was etched in sulfuric acid and then blued.
The roundings (the Globes) in the blade and the han-
dle are detachable. The blade is 3.9 inches long and
the total length of this fantasy knife is 7.5
inches.
MONSTER
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
443