Just finished an enjoyable 1 day knife and axe sharpening course. Sharp tools are essential for any woodworker and one of the things where we maybe don’t always put in the time we should. Well today we put the time in. We started by looking at the sharpening systems everyone was currently using mostly a combination of diamonds, wet and…
Woodcarving is so much easier if you have the right tools for the job and thankfully in this case the right tools need not cost a fortune. So what makes the best knife for wood carving and whittling and what should you look for when buying one? It should be made of a good quality steel, reasonably hard and take…
It is difficult today to comprehend just how vast the Sheffield metalworking industries were, but whenever I am in town I see the evidence everywhere. Today I was collecting wood for a spoon carving course next week. Anderson Tree Care are cutting trees from the banks of all Sheffield’s rivers after the big floods in 2008. This is the worksite,…
Last week I posted about visiting a traditional Sheffield pocketknife maker with Jon Henley from the Guardian. Now you can see Jon’s slide show here. Appologies for wrong link posted yesterday. http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/audioslideshow/2010/jan/26/sheffield-pocket-knife-trevor-ablett If you like it why not post a comment here or sign up to the guardian site and post a comment below the slide show. The more interest…
Visiting Trevor Ablett last week reminded me that I never posted pictures of the folding knife makers I visited in Spain last October. There were many similarities and some differences between the two businesses which I would like to discuss at the bottom but first some pictures of the workshop. This is Antonio Diaz Bermudez of Taramundi a traditional knifemaking…
This period between Christmas and new year is a time for playing with things that I would not have time for at other times. Whilst I have been experimenting with bowlcarving over the last months I have been primarily working in a Scandinavian/European tradition both tools and designs. I have always very much admired the work of the native cultures…
On Friday I visited Trevor Ablett one of the last of Sheffield’s pen and pocketknife makers. Trevor is on the left with Reg Cooper bowie knife maker on the right. I have visited Trevor a few times now and bought quite a few of his knives. I tend to give them as gifts when we visit folk on behalf of…
And the other question is what age is it OK for children to use knives? I am a great believer in teaching children the safe use of knives as tools. This is best done with one on one supervision in the home, starting with food preparation. Our children started before the age of 3 helping make a fruit salad using…
Yesterday I spent in London talking to as many people as possible trying to pass on the message that traditional crafts in Britain need a little help. At present they fall outside the remit of all government departments and all public agencies. This means no funding and no support. The Landscape has Natural England as lead body.The Built Heritage is…
Yesterday I visited some wonderful old Sheffield knife makers with a group of folk from the British Blades forum. Nicola has spent quite a bit of time recording these folk on film but for me it was great to see the old skills alongside some very up to date production. First we went to Taylors Eye Witness Works where they…
