I suppose it was always inevitable that Knives Australia magazine would one day be issued in the ‘generally acknowledged’ magazine format. That day has come. After 25 issues - all but the premier issue appearing on newsstands nationwide - this is the last magazine to be published in a tabloid format. Published ‘in-house’ by AKC Publications, the first nine issues of the magazine was produced on newsprint stock, looking a little like the daily newspaper, but then, economies of production had to be observed in those early days. Issue ten heralded in a new-look glossy magazine with lots of colour pages. Up went production costs, although the selling price remained at $5.95 to encourage the growing readership.
We’ve succumbed to sound advice we’ve listened to over many months, suggesting that it is in the best interest of Knives Australia magazine for its format to be changed at this time. Many readers and maybe advertisers too, I’m sure, will relish the change, but there are others, I know, who will be sad to see the ‘big spread’ format disappear. For what it is worth, I will be one of them, but perhaps for a different reason. I’m a bit ‘longer in the tooth’ than many of our readers; however, I am not loathing making changes when necessary. I learned a long while ago that nothing lasts forever, that all things have a cycle of existence; that we must accept moving on...and I will. But let me share something with you before I do.

Cover Pic: 
'Collectable utilitarian heritage knife by full-time Westralian custom knifemaker David Brodziak. Blade forged-welded embodying a shearing comb and ‘Thylacene’ grip embellishment by first class artist Carol Ann O’Connor. K Spencer photo – copyright 2007. 

SHARING A PASSION FOR KNIVES. By a member of the Australasian Knife Collectors Club who prefers to remain anonymous 
Last year my husband and I went for a holiday in the USA. When people ask us questions about our trip, we have to pause and reply with regard to who we are talking to. To be totally truthful, our holiday was for the sole purpose of visiting every knife, hunting and gun shop that we could fit in our schedule. Not many people understand the passion we have for knives and they are surprised to learn that we planned a trip around visiting these stores as opposed to visiting Disneyland, Hollywood or the likes. We even pre-printed directions listing those stores we may only have had the time to visit order of merit, so that if we were disappointed we could move on to next store on the list, in some cases a few hours drive away.
 

...cont. page 6

ABOUT BIBLES AND BLADES. I remember having one of those ‘what’s it all about’ conversations with a prominent Australian knifemaker a lot of years ago over one or two ports after dinner one night. It came down to “if someone ‘pushed the button’ and ended the world as we know it and you had the chance to wander off into the wilderness with your woman to kick-start humanity all over again what would you carry in each hand?” There was a bit of a silence while we shuffled on our barstools pondering the proposition we’d set for ourselves in a fog of port, then Max broke the silence. “I reckon I’d take the Bible in one hand and a knife in the other...yeah...that’s all I would carry,” he declared. 
 

.... cont. page 7

'SOLINGEN’ KNIGHTLY SWORD  by John Oliver  I've been a collector of edged weapons for most of my life; at different times a collector of British military swords (swords made since 1796), Third Reich daggers, Japanese samurai swords (Koto, Shinto and Shinshinto) and European smallswords and baskethilts. One area of collecting I've never been able to afford is the collecting of mediaeval knightly swords; to get an original piece in decent condition is very expensive.
Whilst I've always been quite prejudiced against any bladed weapon that wasn't ‘100% original and authentic’, I finally realised that if I wanted to scratch this itch I would be better off getting a high quality modern reproduction rather than going without forever...or waiting until I won Lotto!
Having made the decision, the Internet online research began. Finally I settled upon a supplier called Albion Swords in the USA. And no, they aren't paying me to write this and there are other excellent 'semi-custom' and 'custom' swordsmiths out there producing faithfully replicated works of sword artistry.
 

...cont.  page 8

BELT ORDER FOR LAW & ORDER - By Chirripa In my past life as a prison officer, we were issued with certain items that had to carried ‘on the person’ at all times whilst on duty. Frankly, I got fed up with having to put them on my belt at the start of a shift, then take them off again at the end of the shift, so I bought my own ‘requirements’. The price tag on the gear of $56.50 is still visible. Attaching them to my pants belt proved to be a nuisance, so I made up my own integrated ‘utility belt order. On this I carried the 911 Rescue Tool (knife), a leather pouch containing latex gloves and a breather mask, a large leather 4-cell Maglite torch holder, a whistle and a pen. I’m sure glad there wasn't anything else, because I wouldn’t have had the room - even with my girth!

...cont. page 10

MICK RHYS- RISING KNIFEMAKER We chatted a couple of times on the phone and in the course of conversation I suggested to Mick - as I have said to hundreds of knifemakers before him - “Send us some images of your work, or better still, send us in a knife or two to examine and photograph, along with a portfolio for your file and possible publication.” Knives Australia magazine, in conjunction with Australasian Knife Collectors (AKC), maintains the most comprehensive record of Australian and New Zealand custom knifemakers stretching back for almost four decades. I began recording the work of Australian custom knifemakers in 1987 and undertook research into custom knifemakers reaching back to the 1960’s. 
Of course, there are a few makers who haven’t sent in any information, but not a lot have ‘slipped through the cracks’ over the years. Anyway, it’s up to individual makers as to whether they want their knifemaking published or archived for posterity and some choose not to. Nevertheless, in the absence of any other organisation interested in undertaking the task, we at the AKC feel an obligation to provide such a facility, because if not recorded somewhere, our precious knife-producing culture is forever lost! 
 

... cont. page 11

Keris blade culture is no less important in the Asian region than Japanese blade culture, yet Australians are far more familiar with the latter, mainly through martial arts and its exposure by filmmakers, particularly in more recent times. Being peculiar to South East Asia on the equator and embracing the Philippines, the intricate keris culture is much closer to home than that of Japanese bladeware, which is geographically located adjacent to China, not far south of the Arctic Circle.  Traditional Japanese bladeware, for scarcely fathomable reasons, disproportionately fascinates collectors in this country, seriously rivalling traditional English/European blade culture, which has direct links with the Australian lineage through colonization. A nation’s blade culture has to do with the method of making of knives, swords and axes, their symbolic significance to that race of people and how the implements were applied as tools and weapons over many generations. 
Just north of Australia beyond the Timor Sea is ‘keris country’, where keris-makers forge-fashion uniquely-styled edged objets d’art that are, for the same abovementioned reasons, highly collectable commodities for discerning collectors of historic knives and swords. Modern-day highly respected keris, parang and golok artisans in Indonesia are no less accessible than the katana, wakisashi and tanto artisans in Japan. In each case you need to be invited to meet with them, you have to travel off the beaten track to find them and you require an interpreter in order to communicate with them.

...cont. page 12 & 13

RC - WHAT IT REALY MEANS

Those of us in the ‘knife know’ bandy it about all the time – ‘RC’... ‘Rockwell hardness’ – whenever we talk about the strength of a knife, but those new to the industry sometimes grapple with the terminology, its whys and wherefores. Put simply, knife manufacturers and custom knifemakers select appropriate hardenable bladesteels, from which they produce bladeware that in order to hold an edge when sharpened needs to be heat treated;  that is, hardened and tempered. This blade strength is measured according to Rockwell hardness (RC), which can be accurately measured. 
As a general rule, the Rockwell hardness of most knives we use falls between RC54 and RC58. Trade blades, such as slim boners and skinners, are frequently hardened towards the lower end of the scale, say on average around RC55, because they are frequently ‘steeled’ to maintain razor sharpness for use by fast-working fish and meat processors. Recreational knives used by game hunters, on the other hand, are usually made of thicker bladesteel with a steeper edge-angle and on average are heat treated to around RC57

...cont. page 14

PILOT LIGHT EXTINGUISHED

Mark Zalesky, the editor of Knifeworld (USA) magazine reported on the demise of an iconic American knife manufacturer: “In what has become a recurring nightmare for lovers of American-made knives, another major cutlery manufacturer has fallen. On Wednesday February 28 (2007), workers at Camillus Cutlery Company of Camillus walked out the factory doors for the final time, ending 113 years of service in the little town located in central New York state, near Syracuse.”
Mr Zalesky winds up the eulogy by saying: “What’s a blow to knife lovers is no less a blow to the village of Camillus, population 1,250. Located near the centre of town along Nine Mile Creek, the cutlery company was a large part of the village’s identity. Entering Camillus, on one of four main roads, visitors are greeted by signs reading ‘Welcome to the village of Camillus, home of the world famous Camillus Cutlery.” Camillus was America’s oldest continuous knife manufacturer.

... cont. page 15

WALKABOUT CHEF TALKS ABOUT BUSH TUCKER

We first said g’day to each other in Adelaide in 1989 at the time when I was researching my first book, Australian Custom Knifemakers 1991. Back then, Steve Sunk was a prolific knifemaker, smithing and grinding out a wide variety of bladeware in all styles and sizes in his spare time. A cookery lecturer at Adelaide’s Regency College in those days, Steve made and sold ‘Croc Dundee-type’ knives to an American knife promoter to earn a few extra dollars. Shortly before, our hero Hoge’s had donned croc-skin togs to produce the movie for which Australian filmmakers are best remembered. 
Steve shifted with his family to the Top End a lot of years ago and is a cookery teacher at the Charles Darwin University. He created the ‘Back to Basics’ cookery programme that aims to improve health, nutrition and employment at Aboriginal communities throughout the Northern Territory by taking cookery to indigenous people, instead of bringing them to the cities, where they sometimes feel displaced.

... cont. page 16

Cut throat razor enthusiast, Mr Lynn Abrams has become a well known identity within the world of cutthroat shaving enthusiasts – to both users and collectors. As a 30 year+ ‘straight razor shaver’ and the founder of the original Web-based Razor Place ( an internet forum and support group for cutthroat razor enthusiasts), Lynn has also honed over 7000 razors for people all over the world who lacked that skill and were unable to ‘hone their own’.  Lynn is a perfectionist, ever passionate about all-things shaving sharp. This latest DVD, released in 2006, welcomes you into Lynn’s own home for 3 ½ hours of instruction and demonstration. . 

...cont. page 18

Recently I received a phone call from a gentleman saying the rivets in his kitchen knife handle were loose and asked if I could fix them. My first instinct was to run and hide, but because he mentioned a friend of mine had recommended me I said yes. (Mental note - always go with the first instinct).
The knife, an 8-inch chef’s type with what appears to be a black Pakkawood handle fixed with aluminium rivets, looked to have been through the dishwasher a few too many times and this had caused the problems with the handle. The rivets were badly corroded and the synthetic handle material had begun to delaminate. Judging by the multiple dents on top of the rivets, the owner had made an attempt to fix the rivets himself. 
 

...cont. page 19

WHY KA-BAR COMMEMORATIVES

Such a question begs the obvious answer, why not? Why not, indeed? There are a couple of excellent reasons that immediately leap to mind; because Ka-Bar commemorative military knives are both significant and relevant in the ‘lest we forget’ theme. Ka-Bar Was There captioned the distinctive combat-field knife emblazoned on the first pamphlet the company produced, which was entitled The Original USMC Fighting Knife Available Only From KA-Bar Knives. “Here’s the story of the famous Ka-Bar” it goes on to say, inviting the reader to read on.
I was one of those readers that read on in 1982 and have continued ever since to marvel at the unwavering popularity of what has to be dubbed a genuine legendary knife. The Ka-Bar USMC Fighting Knife ranks alongside the British Fairbairn Sykes Commando Knife as clearly the most recognisable military knives of the 20th century. In 1941, after the start of World War Two, Ka-Bar submitted a fighting-utility knife to the United States Marine Corp that was accepted as the standard issue for the Corps.
 

..cont. page 21