Australian Blade Ed 3 Dec 2017

story
Adam’s
received my first knife over forty five years ago, and almost
I
QMAC Note - When listening to the stories of other members in
our club, it is interesting to see that the art of knifemaking can be
a consistent and lifelong journey towards the nebulous goal of
perfection.
immediately sought to improve upon it, constantly working on
design. Many of my school hours were spent sketching ideas out
when I should have been listening to my teachers.
Spending many hours fishing, camping and hunting showed me what worked and what could be
improved upon. Studies in Western Fencing styles with my father, then later in many Eastern Martial
Arts, lead to more ideas. Knives I owned were modified. Prototypes were made in cardboard,
plywood, timber, whatever scraps I could scavenge.
Trying to find the perfect knife eluded me constantly. The only way was to make what I wanted
myself, but I did not find anyone willing to teach me at that time.
At the same time, 1000km from where I lived, the pioneer of the modern Australian Knifemaking
movement was struggling with similar concepts about knifemaking. I never met George Lee Sye, did
not in fact learn about him until about 15 years later, but a quote attributed to him "There is no point
owning a custom knife unless it is better in every way than a factory made knife" perfectly described
what I was striving for.
During the 80's I subscribed to various American knife orientated magazines. I learnt a lot from them,
and will always be grateful to the people who produced them, but also realised I did not want to fall
into the trap of making what was trendy, or copy a popular maker's work.
It was also about 1982, that I bought my first straight (cutthroat) razor, and taught myself to shave.
Crudely and painfully, and with no knowledge of proper razor maintenance and sharpening.
Over time I began to set up a workshop in rented properties where I lived, and began the slow and
painful progress of teaching myself. My workshop was broken into and my tools stolen a few times.
Many times I would have given up if not for the support and encouragement of my parents, and later
when i was fortunate enough to meet her, my wife. Today my children have joined my wife in being
my greatest support and encouragement.
Today there is a world of information available to everyone on the Internet on both knifemaking and
straight razor shaving. It is just a matter of sorting through it to find the truth and avoid the opinions of
"armchair experts" and those who just do not yet have enough experience to understand the many facets of
these crafts.