Pure copper. Originally from a strap of armature stamping plate. I shaped it entirely cold, as it would have been if I was flopping the rough ingot out of a stone or clay mold.
The handle wrap is pine bark. I'm not sure how well it will stand up to being held and manipulated (it's working very well for my slate dagger's sheath). I'll probably wrap a palm swell onto this once this layer dries out (a day probably).
The thickness is just over 1/16th inch (I photographed it here slightly off of parallel with the blade so that it shows up!) When I started out, the pure copper stock was very wimpy, and was bent easily. Through my persistent and even hammering, the metal has been hardened to a surprising degree, and the blade is quite springy.
The edge is sharpened primarily by hammering it between two curved surfaces, basically smashing it to a flat razor edge between them. And I'm very bad at it since this my first attempt. Then I lightly "steeled" (actually, rocked) the edge to straighten it out a little. Despite its irregularity, it is quite sharp! It aggressively slices grasses and meat, and can be persuaded to slice into wood though I don't dare put too much force into it because a.) the edge is so thin and b.) it's doubled-edged. :P Working wood with it is actually interesting because it slices readily but doesn't bite deep, so it's most effective to slash up a curl and then cut it off from the other direction. Certainly a HUGE improvement though over a stone blade!
Hopefully I will be able to refine the point some more. I think at this point that will involve grinding metal off, as it's already so thin I can't effectively redistribute the metal any more.
Overall, this is not meant to be a direct replica of a historic knife. I have only seen one exmample of a "full tang" copper knife and it was so elaborately and finely made that it was clearly not your average slicer. Most copper age knives instead fit into a slot in a solid wood handle, and are riveted in place. However, though I didn't follow a specific historic pattern, there's no reason this knife couldn't have been made 7,000 years ago. The only difference is that I spent a lot more precious copper on the tool than they would have. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />