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Simple way to make "Wa" or Japanese style handleThis was a great learning exercise and sharing the photos and process here - even though the result is not what I wanted.   I messed up already when rough shaping the handle and made the decision to continue to test the process, where it would have been smarter to not invest more time into this handle, and just start again.Anyway, I think the process is sound still, and it is a very simple to follow way to create the Japanese style Wa han …

Australian Knife Making Awards is an online, free knife making competition organised by Nordic Edge on the Australian Beginner Knifemaking Group on Facebook every year in May.We could not have put this on without our sponsors, and we are very grateful for the prizes from:Aussie Outback SuppliesOlight AustraliaAussie Woodsmith MagazineHare & Forbes MachineryhouseAustralian Knife MagazineLast night the Winner Announcements were made on the group by our hosting team Darren Ilias, Riley Burns an …

Beginner Knife Making TipsBy Dwayne Williams, Australian Knife Making Awards 2020 WinnerHi all,Bjorn has invited me to share a few tips which have helped me on my short knife making journey. For those who don’t know me I am an electrician who has always had an interest in wood work and dabbled in some minor metal fabrication constructing gates, benches and tables for the shed at home. I was privileged enough to win the Best Outdoor Knife by a beginner category at last year’s inaugural knife …

Daniel Dashevsky posted his latest chef knife on the Australian Beginner Knifemaking Group on Facebook over the weekend and it is a stunner! The blade is in 1084 high carbon steel that has been mustard etched. Brass dovetail bolsters front and rear finishes the knife off.Forcing a patina with mustard:Carbon steel when used in the kitchen will patina and discolour over time with use. The acidic food materials being cut by the blade will etch the surface steel and create coloured bl …

Many makers want to use stainless steel for a cleaner look in kitchen knives, in the past we have used to suggest 12C27 as the stainless steel to start with. 12c27 is fairly easy to heat treat, at least the easiest stainless.We suggest you might want to consider swapping to 14C28N:better edge retentioncan be hardened to higher HRC and retaining edge toughness (Sandvik recommends working hardness up to 62 HRC)smaller carbides than for instance 440C makes for easier, faster sharpeningan improvemen …