Issue 11 ~ Spring 2003:
released
24 October 2003
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Cover: Victorian knifemaker Kurt Simmonds
presents this rendition of a Scagel blade. See page 18 for the 'Simmonds
On Scagel' story.
Cover pic: Spencer photo - Copyright 2003.
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Edge-itorial: Keith Spencer
This column in KA is supposed to be chatty, positive
and informative. Of necessity, on this occasion it is informative, but
negative and none too chatty because I need to talk about anti-knife legislation
proposed in Victoria. More particularly, I refer to the Regulatory Impact
Statement, Control of Weapons (Amendment) Regulations 2003, issued by the
Department of Justice Victoria, which contains "the proposal to make swords
and crossbows a prohibited weapon".
I first began fighting anti-knife legislation in June
1993 after a Customs Officer at that time 'reinvented the wheel' when he
re-interpreted the dagger schedule and seized a Spencer Imports shipment
of Fairbairn Sykes commando knives at the point of entry into Australia.
Along with other importers around the nation, I had legitimately imported
double-edged knives under an unchanged schedule for more than 10 years.
...... cont. Issue 11, page 3
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Issue 11: Spring 2003 features:
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Our Man in Japan - Glenn Waters
The Little Known Art of Japanese Kitchen Knives
Not so many people in the world are familiar with the ancient
(and modern) craft of Japanese sword making, let alone be aware of the
techniques involved in producing and polishing these fantastic items of
functional art. Outside of Japan even less people know about the Japanese
kitchen knife industry.
The kitchen knife craft also goes back hundreds of years
and a ranking system exists as it does in many other Japanese industries.
Today, most of the knife makers work in small shops consisting of only
a handful of men or family owned shops with father and son.
...
cont. page 4
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Loophole in Knife Lore
In a world full of knife nous the fellas at Pinehurst Forge
in central Tasmania utilise a niche market for their uniquely conceived
loop knives for farriers. At a place called Parattah, Fergus (known as
Dow) Paterson took time out to show us over the production floor of Pinehurst
Forge. Very impressive. Dow and his business partner, Paul Mitchell, invested
considerable funds and energy to develop a range of specialised bladeware
and a suitable sharpening tool. The quality of the product has resulted
in a burgeoning export demand by New Zealand, European and the If American
users.
...cont. page 5
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Scratching Out a Living -
by
Joan Renton-Spencer
It was back in the mid 1980's when a scrimshander, resting
from her sea-faring life, settled for a time in Tasmania. By the
late 1980's, informed island-based custom-knifemakers had sought out the
skills of Christian Ahern, adding her intricate scrimshaw to the whale-teeth
ivory handles of their top-class knives. Happy to collaborate with makers
on the embellishment of their knife handles, Christian's work soon found
it's way into the home of dedicated knife collectors on Mainland Australia.
And so it was, that an interest in the knife as a new medium of expression
for her scrimshanding became established.
... cont. pages 6 & 7
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Giust Bros Blades
Long-term Tasmanian Knifernaker Alf Bennett put me in touch
with Dominic and Ottavio Giusti of Razor Sharp Sales & Sharpening Service
at Moonah in Hobart. Ours isa great country for finding things out by word
of mouth...along the grapevine, so as to speak. The Giusti brothers hail
from Italy so they know a bit about vines and vino, but they know a lot
more about scissors and knives and that's because they commercially produce
them
...cont page 8 & 9
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MilSpec with Paul Bergen
Make Mine an M-9
From the earliest civilised societies, humanity has .'recognised
that martial power and weapons sophistication is crucial for self-protection
and expansion. Crude wooden clubs and flint-tipped spears gave way to swords
and sabres with the discovery of metals. Then when an extended range of
engagement was needed, long bows and cross bows evolved into muskets and
muzzle-loaders. .....
Thus, by the late nineteenth century, the metallic cartridge
was directly instrumental in the emergence of the modem magazine fed, rapid
firing infantry rifle; a combination so potent that it provided a massive
amount of firepower to the regular foot soldier.
... cont. page 10 & 11
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With Club 'N' Knife: Sealing in the Southern Ocean
The Furneaux Group of Islands
Having 'wandered in the wilds' of Tasmania for a few days,
talking to blade makers and knife embellishers, I succumbed to a compulsion
to learn more about the Southern Ocean sealers of a bygone age and flew
with Joan to the Furneaux Group of Islands. There I planned to speak
with the Straitspeople, descendants from early eighteen hundreds of the
sealers who first worked the 52 islands that make up the Furneaux Group.
Several years ago I set about researching bladeware used
by sealers along Australia's southern shoreline as far east as New Zealand
and south to Antarctica. For the most part, I ran into a dead end. The
knives hundreds of sealers to remove milIions f sealskins over 5
decades were made of corrosive carbon steel and used entirely around salt
water, which means they've long since rusted away. ...cont.
pages 12 & 13 |
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Continuing Series:
by Keith Spencer Regional Bladeware
Emden Cocos Knife
George Johnson Johnson (Yogi Bear to his mates), a big bloke
with a propensity for gambling, spent a large slice of his life as a truckie
in Darwin and Perth. Amongst other things he did a stint at the old Wyndham
meatworks before it closed down. George died in 1997 aged about 65, but
before doing so, he passed on to his kindly neighbour, Bob Praed, an artefact
given to him by a Malay on Cocos (Keeling) Islands, where George worked
for a time during 1950's.
... cont. pages 14 & 15
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Mr Integrity - Custom Maker Alf Bennett
I am proud to say I purchased my first Custom made knife
from Alf Bennett in Van Diemen's land, otherwise known as Tasmania (although
a few of us like the original sounding name ... its gotta a lotta
character, don't you think?)
Alfie (you can call him Alfie when you've known him as
long as I have) is "steel true and blade straight". I read this on
a tombstone at St Luke's Church in historic Campbell Town on the drive
south from Launceston to Sorell, where Alf and Elaine Bennett live, just
outside Hobart. It aptly describes AIf. He's forgotten how to tell a lie
and this hard-to-find honesty reflects in Alf's bench-made knives.
... cont. page 17
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A Call to Arms
Ray Morris, of Medieval Arms and Armour, had invited us to
view Lorica Segmenta!. I wasn't quite sure what that was, but it sounded
interesting. Besides it gave us an excuse to down tools and go and find
out!
It was weird really. Ray lives in Swan View, where
the Darling Escarpment begins to rise from the coastal plain as the Swan
River meanders towards the city of Perth. Not far upstream that river is
known as the Avon. It's name only changes to the Swan when it reaches
the metropolitan area. Ray had served his initial apprenticeship in Bristol
(England) as a fitter and turner and later ... That firm was located at
Avonmouth, where the Avon River met the Severn River.
... cont. page 18
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That First Ever Knife ~ Jack
O'Brien
Ican remember the time as though it was just a few days back.
In fact it was almost thirty odd years ago. I reckon it had to have been
a Sunday night as the bar had closed early for some reason and I was laying
on my bed in a thatched hut in the back blocks, out the back of WEWAK on
the northern side of the New Guinea coastline. For back blocks, read" way
the hell into the damned bush about three hours into the hills outside
WEW AK in a village called Passam." Nothing there except myself and about
120 other diggers with the object of pushing a damned road through wet
soggy jungle to MAPRIK for some unknown reason. But the politicians in
Australia thought it seemed like a good idea at the time, so we got the
job.
... cont.
page 20
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The next lesson in a series of how-to's
by NSW knifemaker Peter Bennett.
Soldering Guards On To Handles
We now take on the tricky job of soldering guards on to the
knife. This is done to prevent dampness, slime, blood and water from getting
under the guard to avoid corrosion and hygiene problems. The most important
things to take into consideration are the fit of the guard, the material
the guard is made from, and the intended use of the knife. Brass and nickel
silver are the easiest guard materials to solder to a steel blade. Stainless
steel and guards of other ferrous materails are far more challenging soldering
tasks.
...cont. page 19
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Across The Tasman
Show Time In Auckland
Norman Sandow reported on the third Auckland Cutsom Knife
Show. How clearly I remember the Kiwi's detting up their first show, which
seems like only yesterday - time flicks by like thumbing through the pages
of a book.
... cont page 22
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Custom-Made Down-Under Blades
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John Suraski - Western Australia
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Ray Mende - Victoria
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David Brodziak - Western Australia
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Brent Sandow - New Zealand
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Alistair Bastian - South Australia
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Nathan Pink - Queensland
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