Happy New Year. This Australia Day issue of Knives Australia celebrates five years of the magazines existence in the marketplace. Thank you for enabling us to keep KA on the newsstands. Thanks to the many readers for supporting  'Australia's own' knife magazine and thanks to the writers for sending in all those interesting stories. And in this issue, more guest writers appear than in any previous issue. It's a celebration - a Knives Australia milestone and Australia day - and we want to share it with our writers as well as our readers. The experiences  and perceptions of guest writers, which include our valued regular columnists, enrich the pages of KA. They provide the all-important variety so necessary to appease the interests of readers assessing a wide range of interests in bladeware.

Cover Pic:  In deference to Australia Day, our most celebrated day on the calendar, the Australian flag provides a prominent backdrop for a magnificently fashioned folding lock-knife hand crafted by one of the nation’s best-known custom knifemakers, Myron Husiak of Victoria. Only the best qualifies to grace Australia’s flag. Spencer photo. 

Early in 2005 I had the pleasure of attending a display of marital arts on the Budokan in Hirosaki Japan, the town where I live. The guest was Mr Konno Yoshinori from Akita, who apart from other things is very proficient in the use of the Japanese sword and shuriken (mainly star shaped  knives).

When I saw the star knives I became interested. It borught back memories as a child in the 1960's watching THe Samurai, you know, starring Shintaro and Tombi and with ninjas Ega and Koga throwing star knives all over the place. I remembered all the kids in Beacon Hill in Sydney getting dressed up as ninjas and samurai warriors brandishing their pretend plastic swords and star throwing knives. Well I did too, except my shurikens were made of steel and very sharp and my sword (when my father wasn't home) was a real samurai sword that he had hidden in the back of his wardrobe.!

JUST GET ON WITH IT. ACT Knifemaker Brett Simpson epitomises the correct attitude of mind when he decided to hand craft knives back in 1992 - he simply got on with it! It is human nature, I suppose, for most people to procrastinate for a little while when contemplating some kind of sea change in their lifestyle, but for how long? For some, that is all the contemplated project amounts to - procrastination. They never get around to physically doing what they visualise in their mind’s eye. The ‘Gunnerdo’ people.  But you’ve got to admire the person who says, ‘Dammit … I know all I need to know to get going!’ 

HEW AXE A HANDFUL

Malay born Adrian Hew lived for some years in Australia, but had to return to Malaysia – our loss. His aging mum was ailing, so putting family first, Adrian decided to move back to his homeland to watch over her. Adrian is an interesting fellow and very friendly and I came to know him quite well in the space of a few years. Just after I met him Adrian said he could shuck a coconut using only a Swiss Army knife. ‘I’d like to see that’, I said skeptically, but politely.  So, the next time he turned up he did! Admittedly, it was a survival-style Swiss Army model with a small saw component and it was a fresh green-clad coconut, but Adrian speedily and expertly ‘unzipped’ the cladding and ‘broke into’ the nut. My skepticism evaporated. 

As we were being driven into Sheffield along Abbeydale Road by Philip Wright, the owner of scissors manufacturing firm Kutrite of Sheffield, he slowed the car and pointed out a tired old building set back from the roadside. ‘That was once the home of Joseph Rodgers’, he said. ‘It must have looked majestic in its day, but it became neglected and allowed to run down. Very few people would now know that it was once built by England’s most famous cutlery producing family.’ 
For more than a century the Joseph Rodgers brand was a household cutlery name throughout the British Empire and America and in fact, the famous trademark continues to appear on pocketknives still made today in Sheffield. The Rodgers home, known as Abbeydale House, was constructed at the time when Sheffield was clearly the cradle of world cutlery. 

STANDARD DRESS DIVERS KNIFE ~ Dennis Lee Sye Standard Dress divers were those fellas you see in the old movies wearing big copper and brass helmets, large lead chest weights, canvas twill suits, heavy lead-soled boots and a sheath knife hanging from a leather belt about his waist. A knife was and still is considered an essential tool to a diver who may need to cut tree an entanglement, pry something loose or hack off a sample to bring back to the surface. He may need to release himself from the clutches of numerous bits of wire, rope and netting waiting to trap the diver going down to salvage a recently sunk vessel. Some early diving manuals actually state that ‘the diver shall not enter the water without his knife regardless of the job requirement’.

NOT POSH BUT PLENTIFUL Victorian custom knifemaker David Myhill doesn’t profess to be a producer of collectable artistic bladeware, although more of his knives than he might imagine go into collector’s cabinets or get fastened to walls behind bars in bloke’s dens. Dave’s primary aim has always been to make honest knives that won’t let the user down and he turns out lots of them; serious users don’t question, nor complain about the ability of Myhill workblades to perform the tough cutting tasks. Even his big blades beg to be used in spite of the fact that big blades – Bowie styles and the like – are considered by many to be more showy than practical. However, Dave doesn’t make them for show, but to be worked and you can confidently work them hard! 

Milspec- with Paul Bergen
Kizlyar Kombat

 Following the sudden death of General Secretary Konstantin Cherenko, Mikhail Gorbachev took office in March 1985. His policies of progressive, liberal and well-intended programs of glasnost  (political openness), perestroika (economic restructuring) and uskorenie (speeding up of economic development) did not bring about the expected growth and recovery of the region, but instead, the sudden and unexpected political, economical and military destruction of the mighty Soviet Union. 
In the southern region of the ‘new’ Russia, squeezed in between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, lies Dagestan on the old Silk Road. For more than five hundred years Dagestan has been known as the centre of weaponry making in the region. It is from this remote area in the rugged Caucasus foothills that a new player – the Kizlyar company - has entered the world knife arena and attracted the attention of users and collectors in the Australian market

 
MR AMBASSADOR ~ Joan Renton-Spencer One of the things that really excites me about attending a knife show, apart from the tempting array of hand crafted edged items on display, are the stories behind the makers … background snippets that make it all the more interesting. And our latest visit to the Adelaide Knife Show was no different.  Anxious not to interrupt any of the maker’s sales, I allowed myself to be swept along past the tables and up along the top row. Suddenly a hand darted out across a table and brushed at my arm – no, not a pick pocket – it was Rob Klitscher of Ninety Mile Knives in Coonalpyn in South Australia. I smiled and stood to one side, waiting. Once the crowd had dispersed and the initial buying frenzy had subsided, I stepped forward. 

A DECADE OF DAMASTEEL CELEBRATED. Accepting an invitation to share in the 10th year celebrations of Damasteel AB at Soderfors in Sweden last August was an enjoyable and enlightening experience. It was enriching to meet so many people from other countries, who like us were responsible for globally spreading the word about Swedish manufactured Damasteel and promoting the best-you-can- get in pattern welded stainless damascene (Damascus-type) steel. The Damasteel AB celebration, which included a conference, also brought together representatives from Germany, France, Austria, Czech Republic and Italy, but not America nor Canada – their loss! Of course, there was a strong Scandinavian contingent in attendance. And the location at Soderfors on the River Dalalven in the Uppland region of central Sweden was simply fantastic, particularly for those of us with an interest in iron and steel history. 

SICUT BUSH KUKRI Named the Kukri of Nepal, this model is the latest addition to the SICUT family of Australian-designed, Asian-style villager’s big blades. The Kukri of Nepal joins the Parang of Borneo and the Golok of Java, which are established models used by Australians and exported around the world.  The kukri’s capacity to serve as a close quarters combat weapon and its symbolic significance to a race of people aside, the Nepalese kukri concept has incredible merit as a heavy duty bush knife – a survival tool. Some people liken the kukri to a machete, albeit a bent version of the Spanish-American jungle knife with a French name. They are incorrect in this analogy. Kukris are akin to axes; more heavy duty choppers than medium-weight slashing tools. Kukris are shorter and more bulky than the generally longer and slimmer machete variations. 

CHEERIO NEIL CHARITY 

We received the sad news of Neil’s passing after a long illness just prior to going to print with KA. Oh dear, Australia has lost yet another fantastic knifemaker, but one who made his mark on the custom knifemaking industry, mainly as a folder maker during the 1990’s. Neil Charity’s presence will be missed by his knifemaking colleagues and collectors alike.

Wednesday 11th January 2006.  Cyclone Claire had crossed the coast of the Pilbara in Western Australia only 12 hours earlier, cutting telecommunications, dumping hundreds of millimetres of rain and isolating communities. Flash flood warnings had just been issued with heavy rain expected for much of the state. Little did I know that another disaster was about to hit, this time Australia’s knife world and without any warning. For the next two and half days all our other work was put aside while Knives Australia magazine and Australasian Knife Collectors Club battled ‘cyclone Aust-Post’ on your behalf. 
The phone rang. “I have information regarding the posting of knives. Aust- Post will no longer accept postings containing firearms or items of weaponry (includes knives, swords, includes toy or replicas) for carriage to or from an international country. Effective immediately. The International Post Guide will be suitably amended in due course. ” It’s mid morning Western Standard Time and just after lunch on the east coast. 

ADELAIDE KNIFE SHOW SNIPPETS It is always worth the journey to attend the annual Adelaide show for custom knifemakers. Given that knifemakers from all over the continent present a wide variety of blade artistry for sale it is truly a national show for Australian, even New Zealand knifemakers. For umpteen years renowned folder-maker Peter Bald has done a damn fine job of running the longest continuous custom knife show, which draws collectors from interstate and sometimes overseas. Onya Pete, you’ve created an Aussie institution!

A few months back I got a call from a bloke in north Queensland who has one of my blades and he was asking about another blade based on the old Ka-Bar (field/combat knife) that was issued to some of our diggers in Viet Nam. We got to about it and after chewing up a tin or two [of amber fluid –Ed]) on each end of the line and I discovered that he was a member of the Viet Nam Vets Motorcycle Club.

A bit more bumping of the gums and it appeared that some of the members of the Queensland chapter of the club made regular self-funded trips to Cambodia each year and spent a few months of their time and a heap of their money clearing old minefields. They had heard about the problems over there with kids going out with their ‘Cambodian farm tractors’ [Buffaloes –Ed] to do some plowing of their paddocks for crops, and things becoming a little untidy when either the child or the ‘tractor’ stepped on a mine.

HEAT TREATING AT HOME As a knifemaker, which includes the period of running my knife shop, I always preferred to carry out my own heat treatment of the blades I made.  This is done in a small electric kiln, which takes about 2 ½ hours to heat up to the desired temperature. The advantage of doing my own hardening and tempering is that I am in full control of the knife from start to finish, which means I can adjust the blade’s hardness to what I consider to be the correct Rockwell Hardness for the intended purpose of the knife. And if in a hurry to complete the knife, I can simply lose a bit of sleep and keep working, so as to have the knife ready for polishing, and fitting of furnishings the next day. 

Dust - the silent killer! Every time we turn on our beltgrinders or pick up a piece of abrasive paper to shape hardwood knife handles, healthwise, we put ourselves at risk. Some timbers are known carcinogens, while others just irritate our our eyes and noses. I for one am allergic to Walnut, yet other knifemakers can roll in wood dust with no effect whatsoever, so I devsied a system of dust control for me to use whilst working on wood using abrasive materials.

 MY CUTTHROAT RAZOR  ~ William Russell  Do you remember were you where in September 2001? My family and I were enjoying a holiday in Tasmania, our first real holiday in seven years. We were staying in a very nice B&B called Pomona in Beauty Point just outside Launceston. We began holidaying only a few days before the Twin Towers tragedy of September 11. We woke up September 12th to hear the news and as they say, the rest is history. 

What has that to do with straight razors? Well it was during this holiday that I bought my first straight razor from a little second hand shop for the princely sum of 18 dollars. It was a Butler brand with black resin scales and in OK condition.  You could ride to China and back on it and not cut yourself, but it was a cutthroat razor, just like grand pappy use to use. Actually none of my family back to Grand pappy would have used a straight razor. It was the thought of using something that generally was overlooked today that appealed to me. 
 

...cont. page 20

TOPO CONTOURS: SOG SUBSIDIARY KNIVES.
In accordance with the ‘one knife cannot do it all’ belief SOG’S TOPOS fit nicely into the category of a supplementary knife that can be slung around the neck, clipped onto the belt or tucked into the boot. TOPO is a small and handy backup blade that can be made readily accessible on the body according to the activity of the user.

DAGGERTS: SOG SCULPTED KNIVES.
When you see and feel a knife for the first time some words leap to mind to succinctly describe your impression of it. With the Daggert that word was sculpture. The overall symmetry of the black Daggert, the especially shaped guard and pommel, swollen grip and multi-faceted blade seem to have been hewn and refined from a single chunk of raw material – sculpted!

George Nisselle is a well known face within the Australian knife scene. He is a common fixture at numerous knife and gun shows and has been collecting and trading knives for the past 45 years.  I was fortunate enough to meet George several years ago and he has helped me with my knife collecting ever since. He has a wealth of knowledge on antique knives in particular and enjoys passing on the invaluable lessons that he has had to learn the hard way over the years.  Recently I sat down with George over a cuppa to talk about knife collecting.

• Norman Sandow-New Zealand
• Mal Hannan (Otis) - NSW
• Peter Tree - QLD
• Joe Zemetis - NSW
• Richard Moase - NSw
• Terry Cox - QLD