Knife Making in Barrytown

This has got to be one of the best days out ever, making your own knife from scratch. Diane went off to Greymouth and left me to it. The Host for the day was knife maker Steve. He was a funny guy. Hobbling with Arthritis, clearly in pain but god he had a joke for everything. I had tears rolling down my cheeks within 10 minutes of being there. Well this was the real deal. Start with a piece of mild steel, a roaring fire and some good instruction and you would be amazed at the result.





Steve wielding the hammer and giving us a demo

Shot of the Anvil and forge. We each had our own anvil and all the gear.

Starting to take shape, apparently the heating and hammering puts carbon into the metal and the quenching in coolant hardens the blade. I just loved it.

Once the basic shape is achieved different grades of abrasive are used to hone and polish the blade

Brass and wooden handle being cut and riveted into place

Handle in place ready to be shaped on the belt sanders

Bit more shaping on the belts

Applying resin around the joints, thats mine with J.P on it; strange that!

Not bad heh

Finished by hand polishing and waxing the handle

Good work fellas