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Modern Knifemaking for Beginners
Step-by-step instruction for forging your own knife from expert bladesmiths, including making your own handle, sheath, and sharpening
Brief Description
Create yourself the perfect knife with step-by-step guidance from survivalist and Naked and Afraid star Laura Zerra. From her vast experience in the wild, Zerra has learned about what works and what doesn't, what steel will hold an edge, and what nuances in blade design will...
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Modern Knifemaking for Beginners
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See moreCelebrated survivalist Laura Zerra provides you with step-by-step instructions on making your own knives in this affordable and concise version of her first book, A Modern Guide to Knifemaking.
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Description
Create yourself the perfect knife with step-by-step guidance from survivalist and Naked and Afraid star Laura Zerra.
From her vast experience in the wild, Zerra has learned about what works and what doesn't, what steel will hold an edge, and what nuances in blade design will make or break a knife. In this concise and affordable edition of A Modern Guide to Knifemaking, she shares essential knifemaking tips and tricks, including detailed instructions for both forging and stock removal.
From design to sharpening, Modern Knifemaking for Beginners covers every step in the knifemaking process, all with beginners in mind:
Knife Design - Consider what you want your knife to accomplish, develop a design, and make a prototype.
Choosing and Sourcing Materials - Learn how to choose and buy steel for your knife.
Forging Techniques - Build your own forge, then learn forging basics.
Developing a Blade Shape - Forge the shape of your knife and make the blade tip.
Cutting and Finishing the Blade - Cut the blade profile, grind in bevels to make the edge of the knife, heat treat and temper your blade, and grind and polish it.
Making a Handle and Sheath - Create a handle and sheath for your new knife.
Maintaining the Edge - Learn sharpening techniques to maintain the knife's edge.
Throughout, Zerra includes Pro-Tips from some of the leading knifemakers working today, including Ken Onion, Kaila Cumings, and Mike Jones.
Modern Knifemaking for Beginners covers every detail of knifemaking so you can create your knife with confidence.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780760398043
Publisher: New Shoe Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 11 September 2025
Country: United States
Imprint: New Shoe Press
Illustration: color photos
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 191.0mm
Height: 235.0mm
Weight: 440g
Pages: 144
About the Author
Laura Zerra is a primitive survival expert who has been practicing her craft in different ecosystems around the world for the past fifteen years. She is perhaps best known for her appearance on Discovery Channel's Naked and Afraid and Naked and Afraid XL, completing survival challenges in Panama, the Peruvian Amazon, and Colombia. She spent a combined total of eighty-two days in the wilderness, relying on her knife as her sole survival tool.
Through her extensive time spent in these and countless other survival situations, Laura gained a deep appreciation for a good knife and an understanding of what elements truly work out in the field. She chose to master the art of knifemaking to not only create her own perfect knife, but also to experience surviving in the wild with a blade made by her own hand.
In addition to her survival experience, Laura has worked as a butcher, a taxidermist, and a farrier. Learning these crafts has further added to her knowledge, understanding, and love of knives.
Her belief that life is a continuous learning process drives her to constantly seek new experiences and push the edges of her comfort zone. A self-proclaimed nomad, Laura shares her experiences through speaking appearances and teaching. When not practicing the art of primitive survival or working in the shop, her hobbies include hunting, spearfishing, freediving, bow building, shed antler hunting, and learning new skills.
You can follow her adventures by visiting laurazerra.com.
Also by Laura Zerra
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A Modern Guide to Knifemaking
We all use a knife almost every day, but for well-known survivalist Laura Zerra, her very life often depends on the blade she takes with her into the wild. She's learned about what works and what doesn't, what steel will hold an edge, and what nuances in blade design will make or break a knife. In A Modern Guide to...Paperback$4999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
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