Do you have a burning question..?

I work with a variety of high carbon steels (HCS), as well as a few different ‘flavours’ of stainless steel (SS).

For high carbon, I mostly use 1084 and 1075. Two kinds of HCS that arrive annealed, and so are easy to work with hand tools for stock-removal style builds. They also forge well, and are both simple to heat treat, to harden the steel.

I also use 1095, which is a little more complex a HCS, but when coated with a refractory cement (such as Hamonite) can yield a beautiful hamon for a differential heat treatment on the blade.

I will often combine 15N20 and 1084 HCSs to create pattern-welded steel, otherwise know as ‘Damascus’ to create stunning and unique patterns in the steel.

SUP9 (or 5160) is a very tough high carbon steel that make for great large chopping style blades.

26C3 is a very high carbon steel. It has a closely controlled alloy content and low impurities, and it has very fine grain structure and the highest potential for sharpness. It also will produce an amazing hamon when clayed and heat-treated.

For stainless steel blades, I have mostly been using SF100, Nitro-V and 440C . They all have slightly different heat-treating methods, but all SS is definitely more involved than HCSs.

The various SSs have to be heat-treated whilst sealed inside a stainless foil packet/envelope, and when heat treating they need to be ‘soaked’ at certain temps, for certain periods of time, before being air-quenched between 2 large aluminium plates to act as heat-sinks, with compressed air blown over the blades to cool them. After that, they benefit from an ice bath soak for better hardness before being tempered for two, 2-hour cycles to reduce the brittleness.

I use both natural materials as well as synthetic.

A very tough, non-porous and durable material is G10. It is a fibreglass and resin composite, and is not only tough, it can be very beautiful when polished up. Very similar is Micarta, which is (often) a canvas and resin composite. I have also made my own Micarta out of old cotton T-shirts and epoxy resin. Layering different colours can make for some amazing patterns when shaped.

I have some beautiful Aussie hardwoods that I enjoy using too. I am fortunate enough to have access to a lot of offcuts from a local carpenter, so I am able to buy some amazing materials, such as Aussie Bluegum, Cooktown Kerosene wood, and Silky Oak.

I also have some sections of deer antler which is a challenge to work with (it’s very smelly when machining it!).

Maybe.

Firstly, this is not legally binding advice! Just what I have been able to learn whilst conducting my own online research, which is what I would also strongly advise you to do too.

As per a basic search for ‘knife laws within Australia’, the search states:

That will vary greatly, depending on what work/projects I have underway, the urgency of the requested build, and the size, materials, style, intricacy etc etc.

The quickest I have made a functional blade would be about 20 minutes; it was a small Kiridashi style knife, made from a little off-cut of steel. Purely a tool for shaving wood, and for my own use in the workshop.

The quickest I have made a full knife build was 1.5 days.  It was a serrated camp-knife, complete with sheath, and it was a mad rush for a last-miunte birthday gift order. (If only birthdays happened every year on the same day, so we knew about them..!)

The set of three Damascus knives for a 3 Michelin Star chef was a full month long build. Well worth the time though, as he was thrilled with them, as was I.

Definitely.

If you have a good idea what you want already, that’s great.

If there are any design concerns, I’ll let you know. Whilst I am creative and experienced, I’m also always learning and improving too. So if I feel it isn’t possible, I will let you know. However, the internet is an amazing resource to learn from, and I’m always eager to expand my abilities.

So I say, send away, and let’s get creative!

Within Australia, (nationally), certainly.

Internationally… Yes, but it definitely depends on the laws of the destination country.

Prior to COVID, it wasn’t much of a  problem to courier items internationally, provided the item wasn’t a prohibited item at the destination country. For example, I shipped a kitchen knife to Korea. It was allowed, but only as long as the blade was no longer than 14.5cm. (It was made to be 13.5 cm to be sure).

Since COVID, contactless delivery has become a thing, and so couriers were not ensuring a responsible adult was signing for a package, and so it became a problem with teenagers ordering knives they wouldn’t have otherwise be able to buy or allowed to have.

Currently, I know that the USA and the UK do not allow knives to be sent from Australia, either by courier or regular mail.

Canada does allow knives to be sent there, and the USA does allow knives to be set from Canada… So that is a possible legal work-around for sending to the USA, but obviously increases cost and risk of loss.

As always, please contact me and we can see what we can work out should the need arise.

This is a great question!

The short answers:

For knives; Dry the blade after use (don’t leave it to dry), and then give it a light coat of oil (olive oil is food-safe and works well, especially if the knife is used regularly) or a specific knife oil like Tsubaki Oil which is also food safe.

For wooden spearguns; Rinse the whole gun in fresh water after use. Pay particular attention to the stainless hardware (eg; the trigger mechanism and the rollers, if it has them). Then I usually dry off with a towel and keep it somewhere flat or vertical (a dedicated gun rack is good) and dry. Don’t leave it leaning at an angle against a wall.

Care for anything is important, but a unique item that has been painstakingly hand-made is even more so.

High carbon (HC) steel knives should be looked after much more so than (usually, commercially bought) stainless steel blades.

HC will rust quickly if left wet after use. This is usually just light surface rust that can be removed with a little wipe from a cleaning sponge, but if left for a longer period of time, it may start to cause surface pitting. Acidic foods like onions and lemons will can almost instant patina (darkening) of a HC blade, so when cutting that kind of thing, I always give my blades a rinse off straight away afterwards.

If the blade is no longer needed then give it a gentle wipe with a soapy sponge, a rinse with fresh water, and then dry the blade with a fresh tea towel or paper towel. Then a careful, light coat of oil on the blade before putting it away.

It will vary, and it really depends on what you want.

As a rough guide, a basic camp style knife with a plain high carbon steel blade, full tang handle with G10 handle scales (the sides of the handle) and Kydex sheath is around $350-$450, (A$) depending on the size.

The same in stainless steel, would be around $450-$500.

The WDW Signature Camp Knives start from $500 (featuring a plain high carbon steel blade and G10 handle scales) and can be further customised, depending on your requirements (serrated blades, stabilised timber handles, stainless steel or Damascus versions etc) and budget.

Chefs/kitchen knives, made with with raindrop pattern-welded steel (150 to 200 layers) would be around $850.

The size, materials and level of intricacy will dictate the cost.

I am happy to discuss a build, based on a budget. And once the price is agreed, I don’t change it, so there are never any unexpected additional charges. Even if there is a problem with the build and I have to start again, that’s on me.

I don’t do engraving myself, but I can arrange for it to be done.

However, I need to know about it before the blade is hardened, as having it engraved after heat-treating is not ideal.

Engraving is best done on plain steel blades, and not Damascus. The patterns in the Damascus make it much harder to see any engraving, so I don’t recommend it.

I am planning to expand into etching designs or text onto blades, but I’m not set up for that yet. Watch this space!

I mostly make wooden body spearguns (‘woodies’, as they’re known) with stainless steel trigger mechanisms and either stainless steel or aluminium hardware (trigger guards, line guides etc).

I have made conventional guns (with the rubbers looped though the muzzle) with a machined top rail for the spear shaft to lay on, or an enclosed track cut into the body of the gun for increased accuracy and less ‘archers paradox’ of the spear.

I have also made a roller gun with an enclosed track, which was amazingly powerful and accurate.

As well as making the wooden bodies from scratch, I can assemble and rig aluminium or carbon fibre guns from various components to make a custom build, or to modify/customise an existing gun.