Australian Blade Ed 2 Sep 2017

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life” (carks it). Alexander, Michael, Beowulf: a verse translation Penguin Books, 2001, page 54 2 Ian G. Peirce, Ewart Oakeshott. Swords of the Viking Age. p. 145. 3 In another translation, before diving into the pool, Beowulf provides instructions should he “be sundered from "Let Unferth have the blade that I inherited - he is a widely known man - this wave-patterned sword of rare hardness. With Hrunting shall I achieve this deed – or death shall take me.”2 So at this point we have a story written between 1017 to 1317 years ago (but much older) that describes a sword that in 500 AD was variously: “rare and ancient sword… with … ill-boding patterns… tempered in blood” and “…wave-patterned … of rare hardness” This sounds exactly like the knives that won Best in Show, Best Damascus and Best Everything Else at Sydney in August! No seriously – how cool is that! We have an ancient description of what could be either Wootz steel or Damascus, but which type? Wootz, also known as the “True Damascus” was an ancient way of producing patterned steel, the technique of which is long forgotten. Wootz is distinct from the pattern welded/laminated steel we call “Damascus” today. Both steels however were known in ancient times and were around at the time the story was set in the 6th century. Denmark, the setting for Beowulf has been described as the spiritual and historical home of the Vikings. As intrepid traders, they established the Volga trade route from the 5th century which stretched from Sweden to Iran and beyond. Wootz steel is acknowledged to have been worked by smiths from China to Scandinavia, spread via the trade routes. The Vikings were also fond of laminated or pattern welded steel 3 which: “…is known to have existed as early as 500 BCE as it is found in some Celtic swords from that era.”4 So which steel is described in Beowulf? I’m not going to venture an opinion. In my view, it’s impossible to know and in any event it hardly matters. So there you have it! That’s how classical literature fits with knives. Anyway Beowulf wasn’t able to kill Grendel’s mother with Hrunting, but not through any flaw in that sword. He did defeat the water witch with a sword or part thereof but you’ll need to buy the book and read about it yourself. Beo later goes on to slay a dragon with another “excellent ancient sword”, Næġling. Anyway Beowulf is a rollicking good read, if somewhat a little heavily at times due to the archaic language. As the oldest surviving poem in Old English and given the subject matter, in my view, it’s the original story that inspired the multitude of sword and sorcery tales ever since. Finally it provides a handy tip on how to temper a blade if you want to take out the Sydney Knife Show – blood! 4 David J. Atkinson. Atkinson Collection: Swords and Knives, Pattern Welding.
Review - Procreate Software Harriss Chris Procreate is a natty little app for your ipad that will enable you to have some fun designing your next blade and help you to sketch out your latest and greatest etching and engraving ideas. "How's it work?" - Well here's a little video I did soon after I got the app. The layer feature really appeals to me. I have taken a photo of an antler in my shed, inserted that image onto my canvas and then proceeded to sketch the knife blade to suit. Save you design as a PDF or an image, print and you're ready to go back to the shed and use it to cut out your knife blank. You can do all sorts of other things, the only limitations - your time and imagination. I can see a whole new range of Damascus patterns emerging - maybe. Anyway for about thirteen bucks, the cheaper side of me approves!
Page 1 and 2: End of an Era The Bethune Bowie Spe
Page 3 and 4: Contents Welcome...................
Page 5 and 6: Australia” Best Chef’s Knife Co
Page 7 and 8: The show has gone from strength to
Page 9 and 10: Frontier According author of “Wil
Page 11 and 12: "Day two started at a more respecta
Page 13 and 14: Damascus Magic! Steve Filicietti is
Page 15 and 16: Knife Magazine Tricks” and a rari
Page 17 and 18: WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT Then came the
Page 19 and 20: Profile Maker Johnson James A littl
Page 21 and 22: Versions of Perfection Drew Weeks -
Page 23 and 24: Bowie with Captain Barry Cross Beth
Page 25 and 26: "So (it's) ... the last of the Mohi
Page 27: Review - Beowulf Book Harriss Chris

Australian Blade Ed 2 Sep 2017

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