King Tut's dagger--a blade of meteroritic iron

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I've just a done quick scan of the material you have supplied links to, and although I have picked up "cold work", I have not yet seen "cold forge". Cold forging means that you work the material at a black heat, in other words you bring it to a red heat, let the material lose its heat until it is black, then you work it with a hammer until it is cold. This technique is sometimes used to pack the edge of a blade.

"Cold work" means bringing the material to the shape required by cutting or grinding.

At the bottom of the page in the summary on Timo's second link the term they use is not "cold work", but "cold hammering".
"...the examples make it clear that i) iron meteorites may be forged at red heat to nails, horseshoes, hinges, swords, crowbars ploughshares, etc. to maximize weighs of a few kilograms ii) iron meteorites may be cold hammered to arrowheads, knives and other small objects with a maximum weight of a few tens of grams iii) massive iron meteorites have served as anvils for generations. Many of these have survived to our day and may be studied in various museums iv) iron meteorites do corrode in the terrestrial envirionment at the same rate as wrought iron..."
The body of the text around figure 10 on this last link talks repeatedly about the work being shaped by "cold hammering". I don't know if this is the same as "cold forging", but it doesn't sound like simple stock removal to me.