I thought some people might be interested in these.
History:
These unique knives known as the "Gharb Blade" ( Sikkina Tal-Gharb in Maltese ) are named after a small village Gharb situated in Malta's small sister island of Gozo. This small village became famous for the manufacture of these knives because they where considered to be the best & sharpest knives in the Islands and are still considered so today.
These knives where traditionally made by craftsmen for many generations and the method was passed on from father to son.
Unfortunately throughout the years this traditional method has been lost to all but a one craftsman in Gharb who is still forging these knives the way his ancestors did.
The Knife:
The knife is a fixed blade approximately 250mm long in total, approx. 125mm blade and approx. 125mm handle. The blade is about 25mm wide and about 1-1.5mm thick. Since each knife is individually forged the sizes may vary a few millimeters. The handle is round and slightly tapered and is hand turned out of Mahagony wood. The blade goes all the way through a hole in the handle and is secured by a copper ring on the blade side of the handle and is bent into the wood at the other side of the handle.
I do not know which kind of steel is used for the blade but it is slightly flexible, very sharp and stays sharp for very long. Unfortunately it also rusts.
I cannot be sure about this but i was told that the blade is forged out of steel file steel.
I must warn you that these knives are not pretty looking, in fact they look quite primitive, like they where made a hundred years ago.
They are not intended to look pretty in a collection (although you can) but they are meant to be used like they where used for many generations.
Here are a couple of pictures:
If there is interest in these pieces of Maltese knife making history I will contact the craftsman that makes them to check if he is willing to make some for me, how long it would take and how much it would cost.
EDIT: oops Forgot i had to post a price, anyhow i called him and asked him for the price of 10pcs. calculated shipping and the final price is $60 including registered airmail to anywhere in the world.
If more than 10 are interested the price will start dropping.
If interested please post on this thread.
Thanks
History:
These unique knives known as the "Gharb Blade" ( Sikkina Tal-Gharb in Maltese ) are named after a small village Gharb situated in Malta's small sister island of Gozo. This small village became famous for the manufacture of these knives because they where considered to be the best & sharpest knives in the Islands and are still considered so today.
These knives where traditionally made by craftsmen for many generations and the method was passed on from father to son.
Unfortunately throughout the years this traditional method has been lost to all but a one craftsman in Gharb who is still forging these knives the way his ancestors did.
The Knife:
The knife is a fixed blade approximately 250mm long in total, approx. 125mm blade and approx. 125mm handle. The blade is about 25mm wide and about 1-1.5mm thick. Since each knife is individually forged the sizes may vary a few millimeters. The handle is round and slightly tapered and is hand turned out of Mahagony wood. The blade goes all the way through a hole in the handle and is secured by a copper ring on the blade side of the handle and is bent into the wood at the other side of the handle.
I do not know which kind of steel is used for the blade but it is slightly flexible, very sharp and stays sharp for very long. Unfortunately it also rusts.
I cannot be sure about this but i was told that the blade is forged out of steel file steel.
I must warn you that these knives are not pretty looking, in fact they look quite primitive, like they where made a hundred years ago.
They are not intended to look pretty in a collection (although you can) but they are meant to be used like they where used for many generations.
Here are a couple of pictures:
If there is interest in these pieces of Maltese knife making history I will contact the craftsman that makes them to check if he is willing to make some for me, how long it would take and how much it would cost.
EDIT: oops Forgot i had to post a price, anyhow i called him and asked him for the price of 10pcs. calculated shipping and the final price is $60 including registered airmail to anywhere in the world.
If more than 10 are interested the price will start dropping.
If interested please post on this thread.
Thanks
Last edited:
for $$.
