Knifemaking

Here's another quick entry from NZ! Yesterday we went and did a knife making course. It was fantastic and both me and Rob are really chuffed with our results. We started the day with no more than a long rectangular piece of carbon steel, a couple of small squares of brass, a few brass pins and a block of rimu (native hardwood tree) wood. Steve and Robyn were our hosts and instructors. They were very hospitable, and Steve also told a constant stream of bad jokes which kept us laughing throughout the day.

The first job was to transform the dull looking piece of steel into something resembling more of a blade shape. To do this we had to heat it in the fire and then on an anvil, using our best blacksmith skills and a large lumphammer to beat the end to form the point of the blade. We continually reheated the steel bar in the fire and gave it a good old beating to squash the side of the metal that would eventually become the blade. This was definitely the most fun of the day :)

Once we'd forged the blade, we cooled the metal quickly in a bucket full of a mixture of water and duck shit (apparently there are lots of nitrates in it that help with the strength of the steel). We then had to cut the unhammered end of the metal off so we had the correct length of knife.

Next we glued the brass pieces on - which were then drilled and riveted. After this we cut wooden handles and stuck them on too, again they were drilled and pinned. We then began the more tricky process of shaping the handle on a belt sander. Once roughly shaped we placed a polyester resin into the cracks of the knife between the blade and the brass and the wood and the steel.

The next process is the only one we weren't involved in. Once hardened the polyester had to be sanded - apparently this produces a rather toxic dust. So Steve did this part wearing a special mask. He also did some very useful corrections on our handles for us too!

Now we had back something that actually resembled a usable knife. The next stage was to polish the blade with a series of 5 or so different sandpapers. Thankfully all of this was also done on the belt sander so it was quite a speedy process. Once polished to almost a mirror finish, Steve went over the few bits we missed and the it was time to hand finish. Several wet and dry papers later and we had pretty much a mirror finish on our blades. Rob's knife not had only had sweat and tears poured into it as he managed to stab himself - so can proudly say it has been polished with his own blood! It was time to give the knife back to Steve who put the last finish to the handle before we stained the wood. Once this was done Steve stepped in again to give the knife the final sharpen, a quick polish of the handle with some shoe polish sealed the handle and made it waterproof. And we were done! It took us about 6 hours to complete the process and was a very enjoyable one indeed!

At lunch our group got to play on a really large swing in the garden combined with some very nice Venison Salami toasties made for a very wonderful, enjoyable and informative day which was topped off by some 'Barrypagne' (our course was held in a place called Barrytown) this was white wine that Robyn and Steve had placed in the Soda Stream to give it bubbles!!! Fabulous!!!

In case you are wondering when you look at the photos my knife is the shortest one of the group and Rob's is the long one next to it.