BLACK ADEPT

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BLACK ADEPT AMORE ATQUE RES GESTAS PER GEMMAS
"Love & History Through Jewels"
www.blackadept.com Black Adept is a partnership focused on the archaic & the occult.

We aim to offer a great variety of engraving & material options in the jewelry we provide, alongside an education on the varied histories & intents of jewelry.

09/14/2026

Part VI

"Post Amara Dulcia", or "After the bitter comes the sweet", seemed like a fitting inscription for this small dining knife. After engraving & a brief polish it's complete. Very happy with how it turned out, really feels of one piece even though the knife consists of 22 parts.

09/13/2026

Part V

The handle pieces and inlay were all measured slightly proud so they can be filed to final dimensions and are brought to a near finish by sanding.

09/13/2026

Part IV

There are many recipes for cutler's resin. The ratio I landed on is 1 part bitumen, 1 part beeswax, 3 parts pine rosin, a few pieces of fresh pine resin if available, and maybe 1/2 part charcoal powder. As a hot melt glue it's sensitive to temperature, but provides a very strong bond between tightly fitted parts.

09/12/2026

Part III

Surprisingly, most extant knives survive with their wood inlays intact. This is great for preservation but in my case, an example with missing parts would be more informative. The most common type of inlay is with pain wood slabs but a two-tone checker pattern was also popular as I've done here.

09/12/2026

Part II

The only research I've found specifically about these knives is the short 1947 Dutch article "Gegraveerde Gotische Mesheften" written by J.W. Frederiks for the Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art. Because sources are scarce, I've relied on auction & museum photos to reverse engineer their assembly, with a focus on the style of handle produced by "Workshop C" as described by Frederiks.

09/11/2026

Part I

A little side project for fun and to test out my theory on how these late medieval knife handles were constructed. Such knives are found archaeologically across Europe, but are most concentrated around their probable points of manufacture in the Low Countries.

In this first part we plan out & cut the brass handle pieces.

"π”π”žπ”«π”Ά π”žπ”―π”’ 𝔱π”₯𝔒 π”°π”±π”žπ”―π”° β„‘ 𝔰𝔒𝔒, 𝔢𝔒𝔱 𝔦𝔫 π”ͺ𝔢 𝔒𝔢𝔒, 𝔫𝔬 π”°π”±π”žπ”― 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔒 𝔱π”₯𝔒𝔒."Multi-gold 4-band armillary.
07/01/2026

"π”π”žπ”«π”Ά π”žπ”―π”’ 𝔱π”₯𝔒 π”°π”±π”žπ”―π”° β„‘ 𝔰𝔒𝔒, 𝔢𝔒𝔱 𝔦𝔫 π”ͺ𝔢 𝔒𝔢𝔒, 𝔫𝔬 π”°π”±π”žπ”― 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔒 𝔱π”₯𝔒𝔒."
Multi-gold 4-band armillary.

On the bench today.
06/30/2026

On the bench today.

11/01/2025

Nothing goes to waste!

Thank you to everyone who made our 2024 so great! Your support and care for small businesses like ours are what keep us ...
01/06/2025

Thank you to everyone who made our 2024 so great! Your support and care for small businesses like ours are what keep us doing what we love. Look out in 2025 for new pieces and other fun projects!

(Shown: our Java sparrows born last year. Roti, Curry, Frog, Baldy & Runt)

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New York, NY

Opening Hours

Monday 11am - 6:30pm
Tuesday 11am - 5pm
Wednesday 11am - 6:30pm
Thursday 11am - 6:30pm
Friday 11am - 5pm

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