What you’ll build
This course walks you through building a stock-removal, hollow-ground fixed-blade hunting knife from raw steel to a finished, sheathed knife. You’ll shape and grind the blade, fit a tapered tang into the handle, set bolsters, and finish the piece with your own hand-stitched or riveted leather sheath.
This is the course we recommend as a starting point if you’ve never built a knife before — it covers the core skills (steel selection, grinding, heat treatment basics, handle fitting, finishing) that carry through into every other build, including the Folding Knife Course.
What the two days look like
Design & steel
Choose your blade profile and steel, mark out the pattern, and begin cutting the blank to shape.
Grinding the bevels
Hollow-grind the blade bevels on the belt grinder, working from coarse to fine to establish the edge geometry.
Heat treatment
Harden and temper the blade so it holds an edge and stands up to real use.
Handle, tang & bolsters
Fit the tapered tang, set the bolsters, and shape and finish the handle scales.
Sheath & final finish
Make a leather sheath for your knife and apply the final polish or satin finish to the blade.
Who this suits
- First-time knifemakers — no prior experience required.
- Anyone wanting a genuine, usable hunting knife they built themselves.
- A good foundation course before attempting the Folding Knife Course.