Largest bladesmith school in the world
Karim Haddad (main photo) runs the Tharwa Valley Forge in Tharwa in the ACT, a bladesmithing school which runs a vast array of different courses for people who are interested in learning more about almost all aspects of knives, from practical knifemaking and blacksmithing to knife sharpening and everything else in between.
He learnt his trade from a Master Bladesmith, in fact the very first Australian Master Bladesmith – Thomas Gerner – back in 1995, and went on to open Tharwa Valley Forge in 2003.
Since then the forge has grown immensely, both in terms of the range of skills taught and the popularity of the courses offered – people travel from all around Australia and the world to learn new skills from Karim’s team, and in fact Tharwa Valley Forge is now the largest bladesmithing school in the world!
Karim says “a well-made knife is a long term investment that only realises dividends if you care for it properly.”
His class on sharpening is very much ‘hands on’ and covers everything from the science of sharpening to all the different sharpening methods (there are five). Class attendees are asked to bring their knives – in fact not just knives but scissors, bread knives and garden tools so they can learn how to keep a range of blades in tip-top condition. He once had some vets come along wanting to know how to sharpen their dog tooth extraction tools!
Karim says “There are lots of different ways to sharpen knives and different people find some ways easier than others, so we need to help them find the best sharpening method for them.”
PS Tharwa Valley Forge is also a long time customer of our products.
Read more about Tharwa Valley Forge
https://www.tharwavalleyforge.com/
https://totalknifecare.com.au/the-grind/a_late_entrant_christmas_present_idea/
https://totalknifecare.com.au/the-grind/News_roundup_for_lovers_of_kitchen_knives/
An abridged version of this article – originally written by the Total Knife Care team – first appeared in Sporting Shooter magazine. Read it here… https://sportingshooter.com.au/news/learn-knife-making-at-the-worlds-largest-bladesmith-school/
