Artist’s Context – Knife Making

I go to the Forge Through program. Dean Hamilton, he’s ex-army and ex-New South Wales copper, and a mate of mine, Geoff, have started the Forge Through course in New South Wales for veterans and first responders.

The knife making is a bait to get the veterans and first responders to turn up and talk about their issues. You spend three days and two nights there. My first time was as a student and the next time I was a mentor.

The beauty about forging is you can repurpose something. The knives that I’ve made, one came from a harrow and the other was a plough. They were worn out, broken, busted, and I cut bits of steel off and reshaped it in the forge. I’m a carpenter so I’ve got carpentering tools to do the handle and the rivets.

It takes two full days to make a knife. There’s the blacksmithing part, then the forging and then there’s the sanding part, and it’s mindfulness. It’s almost meditative… You’re totally engrossed in this tiny little thing.

It’s as much a tool as it is a visual thing of beauty. It is a piece of art.

(click on images to enlarge)