FORGED HAMMERED BAR

This is the most wide-spread method of making forged kitchen knives (not only in Europe but also in the Far East).

The first step is to shape a mass of metal on a bar of steel, at the point where the bolster will be. To do this, a technique called upsetting is used: the target area is heated, the strip of steel is "compressed" from each side so that the steel bulges out locally and forms a mass of metal.
The second step consists of forging this mass of metal, together with the blade and tang.

Like the previous method, forging is used here solely for its ability of producing parts that are solid. However, and unlike the previous method, the knife is not only made out one single piece, but above all it is entirely forged.