BLADE Magazine

Looks like man’s oldest tool just got older.

According to the journal Science, prehistoric humans were using a “highly skilled method” of making knives 75,000 years ago, about 55,000 years earlier than previously thought.

It had been assumed that the technique of “pressure-flaking”—otherwise known in the knife industry as “knapping” and practiced by Errett Callahan, Eric Bergland and others—was invented by Europeans 20,000 years ago. Basically, knapping consists of exerting pressure against the stone knife with another tool to create a sharp edge.

However, University of Colorado researchers found the same technique used in sharpening the “stone weapons” discovered in Blombos Cave in South Africa and knapped some 55,000 years earlier.

The researchers arrived at their conclusion by knapping some knives of their own and comparing the results to the stone points found in the Blombos Cave. The similarities between the results of the researchers’ knapped knives and many of the stone points from the cave led them to conclude the technique was used much earlier in the Middle Stone Age.

Information on exactly how the stone points were dated was unavailable at press time.

For more information visit http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article863181.ece

Master Smith Jim Crowell has just posted ” Creating a Temper Line or Hamon” on the ABS Forum Click here to read this step by step article.

Each week, we’ll pick one member of Knife Showcase to be the Knifemaker/Knife Company of the Week. These members will be featured around the site. We encourage everyone to connect with these members.
To start things off, Emerson Knives is the Knife Showcase Knifemaker of the Week for Oct. 18. Although Emerson Knives is most known for its line of tactical blades, knife enthusiasts may be surprised by all the other products and services the company offers.

Click here to connect with Emerson Knives on its Knife Showcase page.

The latest BLADE®—the January 2011 issue—is on most newsstands as of today, and the knives and swords therein are among the best the industry has to offer.

In chronological order, the custom and factory makers with knives covered editorially in the issue include:

Joe Olson’s “It’s Only Rock And Roll” folder on the cover; Darrel Ralph; CAS Hanwei; Albion; Spyderco; Ontario; Dakota; and knifemaking equipment and supplies from Tormach, Wood Lab, Halpern Titanium, Knives Plus, Kayne and Son, Hawkins Knifemaking Supplies, Midwest Knifemakers Supply, Giraffe Bone, Burr King, Jantz, Bohler Uddeholm, Knife & Gun Finishing Supplies and Sheffield Knifemakers Supply.

Also: Dee Hedges; Benchmade; Meyerco; Gerber; Pro-Tech; Jeff Harkins; Terry Vandeventer; John White; Jim Batson; Harry Mathews; Jerry Fisk; Warren Thomas; Johnny Stout; Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Rudy Ruana; A.G. Russell Knives; a John LeBlanc belt grinder; EdgeCraft sharpener; Tom Ploppert; Les Voorhies; Leatherman Tool; Busse Combat Knife Co.; Mick Penfold; Wild Boar Blades; John Cohea sheathmaking DVD; and Surface Strike Management.

Also: Bill Ruple; David Sloan; Sean O’Hare; Jason Brous; David Brodziak; Tai Goo; Brian Tighe; Tom Overeynder; Todd Begg; Mike Williams; Yoshio Sakauchi; Kunihiko Tamatsu; RJ Martin; Steven Rapp; Columbia River Knife & Tool; Kershaw; Boker Plus; Jody Samson; Joe Szilaski; and Jack Levin.

There are also special reports, including a farewell tribute to Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Bob Loveless, the rebirth of Old World swordplay, sweet deals on knifemaking supplies, cool factory autos, custom S-guard bowies, factory frame-lock folders, the legacy of Jody Samson, the first 25 years of BLADE now available on DVD, yet another knife used in the movie “The Expendables” and much more.