Innehållsförteckning för No 107 March - April 2023 från The Shed

For Steve, at the age of 14, an article in Australian Archery Action magazine on how to make a hunting knife not only got him “hooked on knives” but also interested in metallurgy, which then led to a career in mechanical engineering. He began making knives in earnest as a stay-at-home dad. “I designed and built all my machinery — heat-treatment equipment, furnace, buffing machine, two grinders, and everything in between.” Steve still has his first self-built Loveless-style blade. “I look at it now; it’s a brick.” The heat-treatment process is the area he loves most: “I spend days doing trials and tests to get the best performance out of every different steel I use.” Sweeping grind lines are Steve’s signature. “It takes many years to achieve; it’s not easy…

Caleb was brought up hunting and has carried a knife since he was a teen, but it was his love of competing in historical medieval battles that led him to knife-making. Simply put, Caleb grew tired of snapping swords during full-armoured fights. He figured it would be “cheaper to go out the back and make a sword than pay a thousand dollars for a replacement”. Once he learned to forge steel, “it steamrolled into knife-making”. He says, “My first blade was Damascus; I guess I like doing things no one should.” Caleb quit his building job to take up knife-making full time around the time that Covid hit — “as people started buying locally made”. Suddenly, he was swamped with knife commissions, booked for two years in advance. “I have…

Knife-making is a restorative process for Michael. While he first tried making knives as a small boy, it took a bout of cancer as an adult to convince him to give it a go again. “I got crook and went into my shed and started making knives. I haven’t stopped since. To me, it is the therapy in making them rather than cost, value, or money earned.” Michael still works full time but says that blade-making keeps the stress levels down. He credits fellow South African knife-maker Andre De Villiers as his inspiration: “I thought if he could, I could, because he was a farmer just like I was.” Since 2013, Michael has made more than 900 knives, selling them by word of mouth. Clean lines, blade patinas, and detailed…

There is something undeniably robust and tough about Eddie’s finger-grip handles and stainless-steel eagle-head pommels. He specialises in working knives, skinners, and swords. His signature hollow grinds and mirror-polished blades set his bowie-knives and drop-point hunters apart. Eddie has recently branched out into smaller drop-points — which he calls ‘biltong’ — and says they are proving very popular. Eddie is a fitter and turner by day, but ever since building his first linisher in Durban over three decades ago, he has been making knives as a hobby. “I made my first knife for my son,” he says, “and sometimes I think I have given away more than I have sold. But I like to give to people who really appreciate them. There is a big difference between using a handcrafted…

From bowies with custom leather sheaths to hunters and art daggers, Shaun specialises in high-performance collectors’ knives. He has been making seriously for nine years but has now set his sights set on achieving a ‘journeyman smith’ rating with the American Bladesmith Society. If successful, the recognition will place him among the cream of international blade-smiths. “It’s a long journey,” he admits. “You present five high-carbon knives to seven judges and all seven judges have to approve all of your knives.” Each knife will take Shaun about two months to make. To call oneself a blade-smith, he says, involves “years of practice — and failures — to understand the fundamentals of steel and the forge; balance, functionality, and tip speed; heat treating high carbon steel; tempering and tension on the…

With a background in industrial engineering and over three decades of knife-making experience, Brent makes blades that are collected all over the world. He is a regular exhibitor at the Blade Show in Atlanta — the largest knife show on the planet — a member of the prestigious Knifemakers’ Guild of Southern Africa, and was the founder and former organiser of The Auckland Blade Show. Brent made his first knife back in South Africa as a nipper, simply because he couldn’t afford the ones that he saw in a gun store. These days, he is known primarily for his Loveless-style knives but has recently been experimenting with folders and art knives. He sees knife-making as an art form in its own right. “There is the mechanical side as well as…

Growing up on a farm in remote South Africa meant that Willie was handling knives by the age of five. His first blade was a little Okapi pocket knife, which he still owns today. At 16, a survival course taught him how to build blades by “hammering out a piece of flat bar by hand on top of an old railway track”, and he has never looked back. Later, after spending time with Japanese master knife-maker Kazuyuki Tanaka, Willie went ‘free-hand’. Since then, he has earned a reputation for making quality blades, tools, stickers, and swords that come with a lifetime guarantee. Kiwi Blade Knives, run with Angela, Willie’s partner in life and business, is very much a family affair. “We often come up with the designs and ideas together,”…

As a long-time member of the medieval re-enactment community, Justin’s first experience with blades was with swords not knives. As well as making swords for medieval combat, he has also amassed a sizeable collection of swords from other places. “The first sword I made was a hunk of cold steel dressed up with an angle grinder,” he says. From there, he began his foray into metalwork with a $5 hammer and a $15 angle grinder from The Warehouse. He used a wok for a breastplate for his first piece of armour. Now, as a full-time blacksmith and metal-art creator, his shed features multiple coal and gas forges for heat treating, plus more than 150 different hammers for beating the various shapes necessary to manufacture his armour. When Justin found himself…

If anybody knows what it takes to make a quality hunting knife, Tony is your man. This once former craftsman plumber now works in the deer industry, as well as running his own Southern Alps trophy-hunting operation — a personalised hunting and mountain-guide service — through the mainland. He is a skilled and passionate hunter with more than 30 years of trophy-hunting experience behind him. Tony began making knives circa 2018 because he struggled to find a practical, well-designed antler-handled knife for hunting. He says that he has a passion for functional tools, and his work “is backed for life and built to perform”. He makes hard-working beautiful knives from high-carbon steels and stainless blade steel with locally grown antler handles — think sambar, elk, and red deer. He says…

For Stu, crafting blades is as much a therapeutic journey as it is about passion. He says, “I love making knives. In my shop, I am the only one responsible for everything. I make all the knives; I forge everything. I make all the machines. I do the sharpening and the aftercare. When everything else sucks and feels out of control, I can control all of that.” He admits to being a Jack of all trades: “Dad had a garage full of tools. I used to modify cars and mini choppers. I can weld and fabricate — I call it ‘fabricobbling’; I cobble stuff together. Part of knife-making is learning to use the proper tools; it envelops so many other skills.” Stu’s knife-making journey began back in 2018, when he…

With a passion for teaching and sharing knowledge, Shea and Lena Stackhouse not only combine their blade-smithing and carving skills to create unique artworks but are also building community. Together, they have been running Stackhouse Knives for the best part of five years, offering classes in knife-making, Damascus steel, blacksmithing, jewellery, and carving. “We are full-time knife-makers. The classes started through our arts background and have become a key part of our business, centring on sharing knowledge and providing opportunities for people to learn and express themselves,” says Shea. The Stackhouse tagline is: “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re leading a dull life”, and the work they create together pushes conventional boundaries. Lena specialises in art knives with a twist. She has been making for about 10 years…

Neville Watkinson wanted to build a ‘sharpie’ — a shallow-draught sailing boat — and was impressed by the design of the sharpie ketch Floridays from the drawing board of well-known US designer Mark Fitzgerald, which he had seen on the internet. Neville contacted Mark, who said that he didn’t have comprehensive plans for the boat, as he had the only example, which he still owns, built 30 years before under his direct supervision. He had been contacted by a number of prospective builders over the years — including ones from this part of the world — who had been interested in purchasing plans, but it wasn’t viable for a very busy designer to spend significant time on a design that was never going to be put into commercial production. He…

The problem that I am trying to solve: getting older and weaker. Since I don’t have a solution for the problem, I figure I can try to work smarter by designing and building something to reduce the impacts of the problem. One impact is the challenge of lifting heavy things, such as chucks onto the spindle of the lathe or a vice or universal dividing head onto the table of a milling machine. The tasks I’ve mentioned would require a crane with very fine levels of adjustment on the crane hook, especially when handling a chuck onto the threaded spindle of my big lathe. I already have an engine crane, and it is quite capable of lifting weights exceeding two tonnes. However, it has limited mobility when something is on…

“I made my first guitar at 13 and played it for years, so it’s had a bit of a hard life” Luthier, or guitar builder, Laurence Frangos-Rhodes has never been far from music or musical instruments. Now 20, Laurence and his two younger brothers, Sam aged 18 and Nate aged 16, are members of the home-schooled Frangos-Rhodes family. About 10 years ago, Laurence was initially tutored in guitar by well-known Waikato folk musician Julie Pescud, before moving to Pitt Ramsay, equally renowned in the blues scene. Laurence is a member of family band RhodeWorks, which has performed in many house concerts and at folk and bluegrass festivals around New Zealand and in Australia. More recently he has joined his brother Sam, Kim Bonnington, and Nat Torkington in the band You,…

Like most sheddies, I have a list of jobs. Some are in my head, a few occasionally get written down. I’m reluctant to write a comprehensive list because it would be depressingly long, so I write lists of three or four things at a time and lately just try to get a few things done — or, more importantly, get a few jobs actually finished. If I have one bad habit, it’s that I have lots of things on the go. Things get mostly done; I tend to think, I’ll finish it tomorrow. Then, tomorrow, something else comes up — something that I really need to do, or that I just want to do more than I want to finish that other job. However, I’m working on that and have…

As far as living history goes, Whanganui’s paddle steamer Waimarie is as good as it gets. It is the pride of the city, the last of its kind in New Zealand, and has been a fixture on the Whanganui River for more than 100 years. When launched in 1900, Waimarie was the first registered boat in the country for the new century. In its first year of operation, it carried more than 25,000 passengers up to Pipiriki and back. Today, Waimarie is as active as ever, introducing sightseers and private parties to the pace of life — and technology — of yesteryear, when our waterways were the highways and the Whanganui River was considered the ‘Rhine of the South Pacific’. Peaceful waters The word ‘waimarie’ means good fortune or peaceful…

Best of The Shed Featuring 18 of the best projects from the last 10 years, The Best of The Shed includes all of our most popular projects. With step-by-step instructions, the 176-page book will take you through a variety of projects, including a pizza oven, a trailer, a rocking horse, and a knife. How to Weld Learn how to weld with this best-selling book on the subject. Suitable for beginners through to experienced welders, this 207-page book will help you to transform ordinary steel into a blank canvas for invention. Professional Sheet Metal Fabrication The most detailed sheet-metal book available, this 304-page paperback includes clear instructions on a variety of subjects — including directions for using pneumatic hammers, an English wheel, and more. Learn how to form door seams and…

Welcome to 2023. At first glance it doesn’t appear to be too different from 2022, which, for me, was characterised by far too much rain. As I speak, rain is falling, and has been for several days, and we are told to expect more. At least the forecasters have been proved right. I have written previously about the predicted persistence of La Niña. You may also be aware that I have been awaiting the chance to get the slab poured for my new shed. There was a glimmer of hope before Christmas but the work was delayed due to the expectation of rain. That rain didn’t actually amount to much; things have got worse since. I think we owe a debt of thanks to the weather forecasters Credit where it’s…

Clean, futuristic designs, precision blades, and signature stone handles set Stuart’s kitchen knives apart. He began making knives three years ago and says that he has never made two knives the same. “I always try to upgrade the design every time; keep them simple and clean looking — nothing too flamboyant; simple designs that work well.” Stuart’s first knife memory is of a handed-down pocket knife from his grandfather. He bought another pocket knife during his engineering apprenticeship and loved, “the way it worked; the locking mechanisms; the details — a lot of pieces coming together to make a product”. As soon as Stuart learned about heat treating, he reckoned the bug had bitten and the urge to start making knives was locked in. Stuart works patiently and methodically, taking…

Whether AJ is drawing from memories of his knife-carrying grandfather, reading sci-fi fantasy, watching the “university of YouTube”, or reconnecting with his culture, his curiosity knows no bounds and inspiration reveals itself at every turn. AJ has been knife-making full time for six years. He often uses reclaimed materials and historic techniques, but he says that nothing he does is planned. “I don’t repeat. I do like to do integral knives and Japanese-style kitchen knives. I prefer a downplayed aesthetic: the greens, the browns, natural patina. I’m not a fan of shiny.” AJ makes his own steel using Japanese oroshigane techniques and has recently begun integrating traditional Māori carving (whakairo) into his work. He produces a range of hunting, culinary, and utility knives but is currently exploring how early Māori…

Growing up in South Africa, David says carrying a knife was second nature — for camping and everyday uses. However, his obsession with blades really began after watching Rambo as a young boy. That led him to collect and buy knives at all sorts of price points. He played around with repairs and re-handling knives, but he says “the fascination for me was always in making them”. Two years ago, he built his own forge and began making in earnest, working hard to turn his hobby into a revenue stream. “[I make] what strikes my fancy. I stick to things that I know. I do a lot of cooking, so I make culinary knives and everyday carries,” David says. His preference is for “clean lines, what feels good in the…

A 20-year, international kitchen career goes a long way in informing Hayden’s one-of-a-kind culinary knives. “Knife-making and cooking have parallels: following recipes, building up a knowledge base, and then running off recipes; finding new things and being creative.” Hayden reckons that he has had a knife in his hand since he was a young boy running around in rural South Otago. His ‘first tool’ was a white-handled Victory boning knife, which he used while working in a freezing works, sorting offal and trimming lambs. A gift of a handmade Peter Lorimer knife changed Hayden’s perspective of knives and ultimately sparked his curiosity about making them for himself. “I was lucky enough to meet a knife-maker in Tasmania making Damascus knives at his forge in the forest. I thought I wanted…

It is the satisfaction that comes from achieving something difficult that keeps Bruce pushing himself into ever more complex blade-making challenges. That, and a keen interest in his Scottish heritage. Bruce made first knife from a lawn-mower blade in his early teens — a sgian dubh using a flat file and vice. “I was in a pipe band and I think the reason I wanted to be in a pipe band was simply so I could wear a sgian dubh and a dirk as part of the uniform.” A sgian dubh, with all the elaborate silver-work, is a complicated piece to pull off well — particularly, Bruce says, when you add “regimental patterns like Argyll and Southern Highlanders; Celtic dragons, and other motifs”. The Scottish thing kept going, and Bruce…

A gift of a Swiss Army Knife at the age of eight was all the inspiration that Geo needed to set him on his knife-making path. He created his first knife at age 10 and today builds blades from scratch. “Folding knives, preferably with locking blades — liner locks. I learned to make them with Eddie Scott [a member of the Knifemakers’ Guild of Southern Africa].” Geo also specialises in titanium anodizing and electro etching, as well as customising existing knives — Victorinox folders, Leatherman multi-tools, all kinds of production knives; whatever his client’s needs. He says that he is on a quest for simplicity, and he loves the R&D phase. “Designing and making the prototype — that’s the best part. It’s the last 20 per cent of the knife…

As young blade-smiths go, few come finer than Liam. Already, at 18 years old, he is cutting up the knife-maker community with his historically inspired and ornate work. At The Auckland Blade Show 2022, he took out the award for the Best Details and won the praise of many seasoned makers. Liam says he aims, “To create works of art that cut as good as they look, something people will cherish for their lifetime.” Perhaps it is the splendid isolation of living on Little Barrier Island with his ecologist parents that gives him the necessary focus. Liam combines a love of fantasy novels with his passion for making things with his hands to create his one-off art pieces. In a relatively short space of time, he has dedicated himself to…

Making is in Paul’s blood. He grew up in a family of makers and, with his own agricultural, engineering, and building background, he has been tinkering with and transforming raw products — mostly wood and steel — into something usable for most of his life. His blacksmithing and knife-making journey began in late 2018 with hooks and decorative items, but he is best known for his hand-crafted axes, hatchets, knives, and hammers. In his shed, Paul has engineered all his tools and designed and built his coal and gas forges, grinders, heat-treating oven, press, and power hammer. He handles the entire making process, from engineering, machining, and forging to grinding, heat treating, handle making, timber stabilising, and leather-work. He says, “Nothing leaves the workshop unless I am completely happy with…

Marcos’s fascination with blades began at an early age when he was gifted a pocket knife by his father. Thereafter, Marcos’s pocket money was saved for visits to the local sports stores to buy knives for his burgeoning collection. His playtime was spent making double-edged daggers from modified kitchen knives and cutting throwing stars from sheet metal. “Ninjas were big at the time.” When, later, Marcos laid eyes on an old copy of Knife Annual, his world was opened to an encyclopaedic range of knife and sword designs. In 2001, an article in a local rag alerted him to knife-maker Norman Sandow and the first Auckland Blade Show. A visit there left Marcos spellbound. He immediately jumped online and bought How to Make Knives, by Richard Barney and Robert Loveless,…

Part-time blade-maker Tyler Ackland discovered his passion for metalworking on a pre-trade collision-repair course. After the course finished, panel beating held no appeal; instead, Tyler had a hankering to create things that would function as well as look good. He admits that his first knife foray was less than successful. He watched some YouTube videos and thought he’d give it a shot. “I tried to do a hidden tang on a short little nakiri [Japanese chef’s knife]. It’s a horrible little thing — doesn’t cut carrots or anything like that — but after that experience, I dived into this world, watching Alec Steele and Will Stelter, and it has all exploded since then.” Tyler has been crafting knives for around five years, with a focus on culinary knives — “But…

When Rick started making knives, he just wanted to make a good hunter. “When a mate kept grabbing mine, I decided to make him one so I could get my knife back. From there, things took off. I just wanted to keep making the next one better than the one I just made.” Rick started with basic tools, and credits Wayne Goddard’s book $50 Knife Shop as being a great source for how to build a knife on a budget. “Everything you need to get started.” Rick is a full-time agriculture teacher at Palmerston North Boys’ High School. He says that, after doing “brain stuff” all day, being able to use his hands at the end of the day and see something he has made is rewarding. He spreads his…

Knife-making may be a recent pursuit for Simon but already he is earning his chops. Simon is a chef by trade, so he understands the qualities necessary for tools that can endure years of chopping, cutting, and dicing. “I’m for function first — because I’m a chef, it’s got to work — but if I have something in my hand every day then I want it to be beautiful. Achieving that as opposed to knowing, is the learning.” A shoulder replacement coupled with lockdown and a series of Forged in Fire convinced Simon to give knife-making a go. “I thought, I’ll get bored for the next 12 months, what am I going to do? I watched, and realised I didn’t need a forge to make a knife, so off I…

When I first met Neville Watkinson, he was planning to repaint the Milford 20, as it was nearly 10 years since it had been built. He used two-pack finishes for the whole boat with the exception of the hull’s rubbing strip, which he envisioned would have to be regularly touched up, as the paint was worn away. Two-pack finishes have unrivalled durability, but they are very costly and are much more difficult to use than ordinary finishes. Neville found it almost impossible to clean the brushes and rollers used to apply the finishes, and had to treat them as single-use items. He also found the tins containing the catalyst exceptionally difficult to open after the first couple of times. The lids of the containers would glue themselves very firmly in…

Up and away You’ll be on the job in minutes with the Foldaway mobile scaffold. Made in New Zealand, the Foldaway is the ideal solution to accessing jobs without any hassles. Ideal for both indoor and outdoor use, the versatile scaffold is fast and simple to use, with easy access to the hatch platform and built-in rungs, making for maximum efficiency. Transporting and storage is a cinch with the Foldaway, which is rated for 225kg. A unique channel locking platform ensures minimal bracing is needed, speeding up assembly, which can be done by one person. Ideal for both tradies and DIYers, this mobile scaffold will transform the way you tackle those hard-to reach jobs. See www.easyaccess.co.nz/products/foldaway-scaffold for more info. Water in, leaves out Autumn in New Zealand is a beautiful…

Someone asked what it’s called. I call it a ‘bitsa-crane’, since it is bits of an engine crane, bits of a pallet jack, and bits of a winch, plus whatever else I add for the lift. I found that I gained 3mm for each ‘click’ of my winch and could get very fine control using a combination of the hydraulics of the jib ram and the pallet jack. You will quickly develop the habit of paying out the winch cable before attempting to extend the boom; otherwise, the cable will restrict movement. I used a maillon (aka quick link) to attach the hook to the thimble of the winch cable. This allows me a high degree of flexibility to change the hook for some other lifting device to suit the…

“The first job is to check if there is water in the boiler; open up the gauge glasses and never light the fire if you don’t have sufficient water. If there isn’t enough, then obviously it is leaking. “Next, clean out the firebox and begin lubricating, before lighting it up. An even fire bed of coal across the eight-foot-deep grate is essential for maintaining pressure. If the bed is too thick, you won’t get enough air through and you won’t get enough heat. If it’s too thin, you’ll get too much air through and cold air, and no heat. It has to be even; it’s all technique. “The stoker looks after the fire and the water pressure. Water circulates through the tubes — 306 tubes on each side — and…

When Colin snapped his expensive Puma knife on a hunting trip in the Kaimanawas in the 1980s, he decided to make his own replacement. “I said it can’t be too hard — famous last words!” Colin’s first knife was cut from an old saw blade; his second he made for cutting his wedding cake — it was fashioned from an old file. “It took another 20 years to get to a place where I was really happy,” he reckons. Colin is a science and technology teacher, working as a knifemaker in his spare time. He prefers to use a select few steels to get the optimum result every time. He also forges Damascus. He admits to often destroying blades while doing flex tests just to see if he is on…

Some ancient blade-smithing spirit courses through Hugo’s DNA. As a boy growing up in Canada, his birthday treats always meant visiting the museum to see the collections of ancient swords, knives, and armour. At home, he was constantly making “lots of wooden swords, all with metal guards”. After serving a sheet-metal apprenticeship, Hugo moved into stainless-steel fabrication for the biotech industry and became a master polisher — skills he later harnessed for his own business: custom-building motorcycle mufflers and professional cookware. Burnout led Hugo back to sword-play. He got himself a smaller workshop, built a forge, and reset himself as a blade-smith — a whole new area of metalwork. His virtuosity with stainless steel translated well to forge work, as did the polishing, but, “I had to learn a whole…

The natural world, historical blades, and a strong upcycling ethic inform Benjamin’s work — those, and the activities of his jewellery-making partner Marissa, whom he credits with keeping a handle on his quality control. Benjamin was raised hunting and fishing, and always carried pocket knives. However, it was bronze casting in a shed-built foundry that led him to knife-making. “I realised I needed certain steel tools for specific jobs,” he says. Shaping casting tools quickly evolved into blade-making. Benjamin makes knives “from the ground up”. Fossicking for salvaged steel and discarded timber is part of his practice, and pattern welding is the cornerstone of his MO. “I layer up a bunch of steel-bent nails, wrought iron, bandsaw blades, 1084 steel — stuff that is already out there in the world;…

Metalwork is a central component of Nick’s life. He is a fitter and turner by trade, a full-time knife-maker by choice, and an engineering teacher on the side. For the past 30 years, Nick has had a deep involvement with medieval re-enactments and the associated armoury and weapons. His knife journey also began three decades ago, in a metalwork workshop that he was sharing with a mate who wanted to try making knives. “We both got into it and decided it was fun.” Nick is known for his hunting and kitchen knives as well as historical blades, in both carbon steel and Damascus. “Science is critical to what we do,” he believes. “We are heat treating metals with well-established science and engineering behind it; it is not something you make…

Liam lives his passions, dividing his working life between making props for film and TV and crafting historically based art blades. “I don’t like modern stuff; super crisp lines, they’re not my thing,” he explains. Norse mythology and perennial cutting edges are paramount to the success of his Viking-flavoured creations. Each of his highly detailed, pattern-welded swords, axes, knives, and spears is forged, heat treated, and crafted to perform. In the tradition of the Vikings, patterns honouring nature are etched into his fullers and centre bars; visions of trees — roots, branches, even knots in the bark — and stars in the sky. Each sword is embellished with signature motifs, such as an ash tree; eagles, ravens, and dragons; even scenes of “Odin hanging himself, picking up his tiny runes…

Knife-making experiments began early for Shane. At age 11, he made his first fishing knife out of an old Wiltshire Stay Sharp blade tied to a piece of wooden broom handle, and he still owns it. Later, after grinding and shaping two slasher-blade knives with a flat file, he discovered David Boye’s book Step-by-Step Knifemaking: You Can Do It! It was a massive influence. For the past 20 years, Shane tells us, he has been indulging his knifemaking skills, creating Japanese-style kitchen knives and forged chef knives in the gyuto style. He primarily forges pattern-welded (Damascus) blades with integral bolsters but also makes drop-point hunters and utilities. Lately, he has moved into doing all his own leather-work. “I love knife-making because I am creating a tool that has a purpose.…

The knife-wielding figure of Rambo made an indelible impression on Leif as a boy, but, growing up on a farm, he quickly learned that knives were not just for Hollywood heroes; they were an everyday practical tool. At the age of nine, Leif and his siblings were already turning out knives and swords in their father’s workshop. “Nothing fancy — carbon steel rubbish — but we made and used them.” About 15 years ago, Leif decided to take his knife-making to the next level: “I set up my shed as a knife-making shop and concentrated solely on producing knives.” Today, after some serious refinement, the Haseltine collection features six to eight Loveless-type patterns, made with hunting in mind. Leif has produced his own signature blades, known as a ‘Wappity’, a…

Knives have been a feature in Justin’s life since his nan gifted him a little stag handle, fixed blade that belonged to his grandad. “I lost it in the woods as a kid,” he says, “but it was handed to me with a kind of reverence. ‘You need to be responsible and careful with this, and care for it.’ The message stuck with me.” At 14, Justin fashioned a folding knife for his dad from a nail he found in the garage. His father still has it. He says he has been making things since then. “I would look at Blade magazine and Knife Annual, for makers who lived in the UK, and, as a kid, I would phone people up and ask them for advice.” Life took Justin in…

Before knives, Matt was very much on the tools, working first as a logger and then as a bush contractor. He has been making custom knives and Damascus steel for about 25 years. He enjoys challenging himself, furthering his skills and pushing the boundaries. Matt is self-taught, and he relied on instinct more than anything as he built his own workshop and forge. “There were not a lot of books on the subject, and the internet was not the fantastic resource it is today.” From there, he started experimenting and developing the skills necessary to forge award-winning knives and Damascus steel. Matt specialises in ‘integrals’, where both the blade and the bolster of the handle are forged, machined, and ground from a single piece of steel. It is a technique…

Millennial knife-maker Caden Bostic was introduced to historical weaponry through gaming. Much of his self-education came from YouTube; his sources of inspiration found on Instagram and Pinterest. At the age of 15, he was given his first Uncle Henry folding knife. This triggered what he calls his “obsession with making knives and historical items”. Caden’s first knife effort was fashioned from an aluminium fire extinguisher and aluminium bottle that he found under his mum’s house. Six years later, he is a part-time knife-making instructor while also working alongside Shea and Lena Stackhouse of Stackhouse Knives in Wellington. “They have been a massive help in my journey,” he says. “Skye Eilers [Auckland Blade Show host] has taught me a lot too.” While historic replicas and heritage designs really engage Caden, he…

Richard is one of the most accomplished and sought-after knife-makers in the country. As a goldsmith/jeweller first, his exquisitely crafted knives are collectors’ pieces. He remembers receiving his first knife as a present from his grandfather at the age five or six, and says he always thought of knife-making as something he wanted to do. “But I figured that nothing like that was possible because I was born too late. I chose the next best thing and became a goldsmith.” Richard completed his training in Holland in the late 1970s before immigrating to New Zealand. In 1980, he came across David Boye’s book Step-by-Step Knifemaking: You Can Do It, which, he says, “Got me on track.” He’s been making knives on and off ever since. In 1996, Richard met a…

Skye is an embodiment of blade-smithing’s new wave. While he is committed to perfecting time-honoured crafts, he is equally dedicated to building an online community of fellow makers, while growing awareness of the craft and an audience of potential buyers. He went professional in 2018 and sees knife-making as “one of the most multifaceted disciplines in the world — forging, metalwork, woodwork, metallurgy, jewellery techniques, engraving, hunting, and culinary knowledge. There’s always more to learn. Being able to dedicate yourself with patience to every process is a challenge”. That challenge is not just with knives but on the business side too. Skye’s fascination with sharp things began at an early age in the UK, while he was studying Greek, Roman, and medieval history at primary school. His dad helped knock…

THAT’S A GOOD IDEA I saw an image of the MPCNC on your Mar.–Apr. 2022 cover. I am wondering where you got the files for the TFT case and the mount for it. I’m in the process of building one and like what you did. Thanks, Matthew Taylor Hi Matthew, You will enjoy using the router; it is a great little machine. Gavin Melville drew up the extra parts that we printed. He is happy to share the STL files with you if you contact him directly: Gavin.melville.nz@gmail.com The Shed writer, Des Thompson KEEPING MY OLD DRILL PRESS ALIVE I read your article on the restoration of an old Tanner drill press. I was given one by an older gentleman, and I would like to continue to use it, but…

Three or four centuries before Europeans arrived in New Zealand, competition for resources caused conflict between iwi, leading to the building of thousands of fortified pā around the country and the very labour-intensive production of weapons, such as mere, from various materials, notably pounamu (New Zealand greenstone) using sandstone grinding stones (hōanga). With the Europeans came guns, and these had a profound effect on Māori. Just one musket could dramatically intensify long-standing inter-tribal disputes, leading to devastating loss of life. In combination with introduced diseases, the inter-tribal Musket Wars (1807–1838) were responsible for a significant decrease in the Māori population, with some iwi being completely wiped out. A small number of larger bore weapons — cannons — were also involved in this warfare and in the disparate Māori–settler Government conflicts,…

In this, part four of the series, we will be creating a vee pulley using mirroring and patterning tools. Fig. 15 shows the completed pulley. This takes your skills another step forward as we learn how to use more of the handy tools available in the Alibre Atom 3D program. In part three, we learnt how to produce a 2D drawing from the 3D model that we had created of the 17mm deep socket, so, after completing this vee-pulley design, you might like to produce a drawing of it too. The process begins Start by opening the Alibre Atom program and looking at the home page. Click on the New Part icon. You can determine what each icon represents by moving the cursor over it; some text will appear stating…

The original crane manual — or various online copies — outlines guidelines and rules regarding the use of a “short as possible” boom extension and keeping the load within the footprint of the crane to avoid toppling. These guidelines apply to all lifting arrangements, and this device is bound by those as well. Always ensure that the jib boom is locked in place with the cross pin as originally supplied. These typically come with a wire R-clip to lock the pin in place. I added a short length of chain between the pin and the R-clip so I couldn’t lose the clip.…

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