As above, thinking of booking this for my brother in law’s birthday.
Seen this place:
https://www.oldfieldforge.co.uk/product/forge-a-knife/
But looking for any other recommendations. He’s Manchester based.
Thanks in advance.
As above, thinking of booking this for my brother in law’s birthday.
Seen this place:
https://www.oldfieldforge.co.uk/product/forge-a-knife/
But looking for any other recommendations. He’s Manchester based.
Thanks in advance.
If he’s from Manchester, for Gods sake don’t give him a knife .
There are few in the south east.
https://www.jackravenbushcraft.co.uk...nordic-crafts/
There is also a guy in Welling South East London
The Mrs keeps threatening to send me on a course for some reason.
A mate did one a while ago (he had it bought as a present) really enjoyed it.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
There was a guy in Didsbury but he seems to have dropped off the radar.
York Knives runs a course too.
Www.yorkknives.co.uk
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I'd also consider this. I've been lucky enough to meet the man on a few occasions to discuss knives and he's one of the best blade smiths this country has to offer.
https://www.whitetigerknives.com/training/
Owen Bush is well respected in knife circles, and is a nice guy.
https://www.owenbush.co.uk/bushfire-...urse-calendar/
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I own a Hamon blade Bushcraft knife, and a San Mai Camp Knife both purchased from this guy. My SanMai blade is the twin to this. But standard scales & pins.
EnJoY
https://youtu.be/iYVzoZc1FPE
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Based in Devon, Dave Budd Knives:
http://www.davebudd.com
Are Owen's kitchen knives comparable to the Japanese forgers? I would like to buy British but know little about the quality of his work other than the fact they look great. His Damascus blades are fantastic looking things.
I can't comment on his kitchen knives, I've only ever seen maybe two of Owen's creations in the flesh, and even then they were not at all users by the owners, they just looked beautiful!
For kitchen stuff I'd also check out Will Catcheside if you're in the market. Again, based on reputation and a fondle of one knife, and not personal use of his wares either.
As an aside, it's worth flagging that Japan has the full range of forgers, so it's not necessarily a mark of quality just because it's Japanese. There's a heck of a lot of tat that's sold at a mark up just through being Japanese.
Loz Harrop forges his own steels making Damascus, Hamon and San Mai billets from which he makes SUPERB kitchen/Chef knives through to axes and knives. Even katana swords. He uses Japanese techniques, but not the straw that they use.
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I wasn’t massively taken with the kitchen knives of Owens, he’s an incredible maker, and few people know more about forging than him, but the kitchen knives weren’t what I was into. Will Catcheside on the other hand makes some of the best kitchen knives around, I have a few that I bought years ago, prices have risen significantly since then, I doubt I’d justify spending that much now.
And now it has arrived. I'd like to thank the posters that pointed me in the direction of William Catcheside. It is a sublime piece of work, clearly a class or two above the (not inexpensive) Japanese steels I already have. I am blown away by its beautiful blued finish. A quick strop and it happily shaves the hair off my arms.
Thank you Hugh.
Sorry to the OP for derailing the thread.
Can anyone comment on the merits of Damascus vs carbon steel? The carbon steel knive I already own holds a slightly better edge than my Damascus one, discolours easier etc...is that it?
It depends on the carbon steel used and the steels used in the 'damascus', but damascus isn't really damascus these days unless you really go deep into particular very specialist makers (they'll often call it Wootz). What most damascus is is pattern welded, and is more for the look than cutting performance. You can get some laminated steels which have a hard core of decent steel for the cutting edge, sandwiched between damascus for the looks, so you get the best of both worlds.
Edge retention is a result of a combination of factors of the heat treatment, edge geometry and tasks its put to combined with the steel itself. Just because you have steel that's theoretically going to have extraordinary edge retention, does not guarantee it's going to achieve that in use.
It just depends on the steel used to make the 'damascus' in the first place.
There is a lot of 'damascus' around made using inferior steels. Looks nice but doesn't perform well.
My preference for multilayer steels are Damasteel products from Sweden and Takefu VG10 core 67 layer steel, both give good consistent results.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Thanks both
And thanks again!