2 Questions about Drop Hammer Forging

[Uath]

I just got a new knife from Pennsylvania Knife Works. It's a 1095 knife with a bone handle, "Handmade." I think it's forged, but I'm not totally sure. I don't think it's hand forged, becaues there are only a very few, very slight hammer marks. Let me ask two questions about drop forging:

1) If a knife has a distal taper, does that mean it's forged? Mine is 3/16 inch thick at the handle (Exposed tang). It tapers very slightly toward the tip. This is not the edge grind, the actual spine tapers slightly along the length.

2) Does drop forging leave hammer marks? The one or two imperfections look like havver marks, but they are VERY slight, almost to the point of I could be wrong.

Are there any other ways to tell? I'm going to drop PKW a line asking about their manufactoring process. I'm seeing if I can tell first.

 

[me2]

1. No, it doesn't guarantee its forged.
2. Maybe. If it does, they likely wont be the shape of hand hammer marks.

 

[Uath]

I just dropped them a line, we'll see... I'm going to go with yes, because the distal taper just doesn't look like a grind. There would be no reason for it.

 

[Uath]

Here's the knife. Fit and finish are wonderful. I love this thing. 49$ from Amazon. You even get free shipping!!

 

[Shotgun]

Here's the knife. Fit and finish are wonderful. I love this thing. 49$ from Amazon. You even get free shipping!!

Nice looking knife.

To your first question there is no indication of it being hand forged from a distal taper. ESEE's, Spyderco's etc all have distal tapers and I highly doubt Spyderco hand forges all of their folders.

I just dropped them a line, we'll see... I'm going to go with yes, because the distal taper just doesn't look like a grind. There would be no reason for it.

Distal tapers increase cutting performance. They have a very real reason for it to be there.