Knife-making course (2 days)

Forge your own knife in Grebenhain (Vogelsberg)

In Grebenhain (Vogelsberg), you will forge your own knife from a piece of carbon steel under expert guidance. In a small group of approx. 6–8 participants, you will learn what really matters when it comes to knife making.

You are free to choose the blade shape and design the knife according to your own wishes. Our well-trained course instructors will of course be on hand to offer advice and assistance.

In the course, we offer participants a comprehensive insight into all the necessary steps and how to use a wide variety of tools, such as angle grinders, belt sanders, drill presses, and many other hand tools. Together with you, we then carry out the heat treatment, hardening the blade to a hardness of approx. 60–61 HRC Rockwell.

During the course, we want to give you extensive insights into the world of knife making and inspire and motivate you to make your own knives at home.

Day 1

We start the course at 9:00 a.m. at the knife forge at Grebenhainer Str. 3, 36355 Grebenhain.

After a brief safety briefing, we will design your dream knife together. Whether you want a chef's knife, meat knife, snack knife for your lederhosen, santoku, hunting knife, or outdoor knife, we will help you create the perfect knife design.

Shortly thereafter, we will get started: using an angle grinder, belt sander, and file, we will shape your blade. Once the blade blank has been shaped, we will work with you to apply the rough blade grind and then drill the holes for the handle scales.

After a delicious lunch, we will complete all the work, harden the blades, and temper them to 60–61 HRC Rockwell. While the blades are in the tempering oven, we will discuss knife care and knife sharpening and answer any questions you may have.

You will then select a suitable handle material for your knife. This will be sawn in half in preparation and then ground flat. This concludes day 1 of the knife-making course.

Day 2

We start again at 9:00 a.m., now with the focus on finishing the knife. Before the start of the second day of the course, our instructor has already applied the blade finish to the blade so that we can start preparing the handle scales right away.

Drill holes, saw into shape, and finish grinding the end faces so that the handle can be glued to the blade.

Once the handle has been glued on, and after a brief explanation, you can start using the belt sander to roughly shape the knife handle and adapt it to your own hand. The final shape is then finished by hand, all scratches caused by sanding are removed, and the handle is then polished or oiled.

Finally, we sharpen your knife to razor sharpness and hope that you will enjoy your homemade knife for many years to come.

Included in the price

• 1 hand-forged knife (kitchen knife: max. blade length 18 cm + handle / max. blade height 4.5 cm; other knives: max. blade length 12 cm + handle / max. blade height 4.0 cm).
• Blade steel.
• Normal handle wood (various other materials available at extra cost).
• Consumables, use of workshop.
• 2× lunch.
• Instruction by our course instructors.

Please bring

• Cotton work clothes (jeans, sweater, jacket).
• Sturdy leather shoes (boots if possible).
• Safety goggles, leather gloves, dust mask (FFP3).
• Ear protection, safety goggles to protect against flying sparks, work gloves (Due to safety regulations, these must comply with DIN EN 388, DIN EN 407, and DIN EN 12477 A).

Protective equipment such as safety goggles, cut-resistant gloves, or dust masks (FFP3) can also be purchased on site.

Important information

• Starts promptly at 9 a.m. / ends around 5 p.m., possibly later.
• Minimum age 18 years.
• You should enjoy and be patient with manual work.
• Recommended hotel: Deutsches Haus in Grebenhain.
• At the start of the course, a safety instruction form must be signed, which excludes any liability on the part of the organizer for property damage or personal injury during the course.

Terms and conditions

The full amount must be paid promptly after booking; only then will your place be firmly reserved. If we do not receive payment within 4 weeks of booking, the booking will be automatically canceled and you will be informed of this by email.

If you cancel a booked and paid event, we will charge the following fees (the booking date on the order confirmation applies):

• From 6 weeks before the start of the course – none.
• From 4 weeks before the start of the course – 15% of the course fee.
• From 3 weeks before the start of the course – 30% of the course fee.
• From 2 weeks before the start of the course – 50% of the course fee.
• From 1 week before the start of the course – 100% of the course fee.