ABOUT TEDD
I made my first knife out of an old English table butter knife when I was 10 years old. I made my second knife out of a file when I was 16, and my third blade was made when I was 18. I finished that knife when I was around 24, and have been making knives ever since that time.
I had no tools in 1970 when I really got interested in making knives, so on a visit to a friend of my father I suggested to him that I would make a knife for him out of a bayonet he had found. He gave me an old washing machine motor with an arbor and grey grinding wheel in trade for the work. Most of the work I did for the next few years was done with nothing more than that grinder. Later I made a better grinder that I could put flap and buffing wheels on after the hard wheel had done its work.
I began making useful knives out of old military knives, such as Kabar and PAL, that had been carried in World War II. Their handles were made of stacked leather washers, and the dry Arizona climate really dried them out. I reground the blades to take and hold razor keen edges, then made new guards of brass and handles of oak flooring.
I remade one of those knives for my friend and supervisor, Peter Kraai. He and his wife were attacked when they went home to California for Christmas one year. Peter defended his wife and himself with that knife. He told me that one of the attackers was killed, another severely wounded, and the third ran away.
One of my aunts knew a man who worked in a saw mill east of Globe, Arizona, and got some saw blades and planer blades for me. I had a friend cut out blade shapes with a cutting torch from the saw blades, then I ground them to shape and put handles on them. They were the next step up in my development as a knife maker.
We moved to Utah, and I began to buy O-1 bars in parallel ground flats to grind my knives from. I then had them heat treated at a commercial heat treating establishment in Salt Lake City. A gunsmith friend polished the blades for me for a while until I got enough equipment together to begin doing that myself.
I read all I could find on making knives, and was fortunate to find a magazine article about Dan Dennehy, a bladesmith who lived at the time in Yuma, Arizona. I wrote him a letter asking for help in learning how to make knives. He very kindly answered my letter, stating that he made around 100 knives a year, and had no time to teach me. However, he sent a copy of his brochure. In it he described his process of forging and heat treating his knives. Just what I wanted!
I also wrote to Bo Randall of Randall Made Knives and got his brochure. He described his methods, which were a bit different from the Dennehy methods, but both men made wonderful knives, so I decided that I could learn from both.
I began pestering blacksmiths' sons and grandsons, trying to learn how to forge my blades. I eventually got so interested in forging that I asked Lieutenant Richard Barnhart, Sr. at the Utah State Prison with whom I worked, how to build a forge. He described how he had built forges back in his home state of Nebraska, and I gathered the materials and got to work. I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow a 70# anvil from another friend, bought a 2 1/2# engineer's hammer, and began forging knives out of old files and a few bearing races. But the first item I made was a pair of tongs with which to hold the hot steel while it was being hammered into shape. I still have and use those tongs.
Sometime in the mid 1970s I heard about a sportsman's show in Pleasant Grove, Utah, near where we were living. I still had some of the saw blade steel, so I made 3 knives and took them to the show, where I was able to get a table.
I don't remember selling any of my knives, but I saw a knife made by another fellow at the show. That knife looked way better than mine, and I asked him how he made it. He told me he had a belt sander that he bought from Bob Scrimscher, one of the earliest fellows who sold knife making supplies. I went to the credit union soon after that and borrowed the money to buy one of those cool belt sanders, and I was off and running. My work improved a great deal.
Around 1977 I heard about a book on knife making written by Bob Loveless and Richard Barney. As soon as I could, I bought that book. Bob was a stock removal man, and a great knife maker. Barney, too was a stock removal man, but he didn't use a belt sander. He only used files to make his knives. Both methods were described in great detail, with lots of photographs.
The center section of the book was written by William F. Moran, or Bill, as he was called. It, too, had lots of photographs. Bill was a bladesmith, and I fell in love with bladesmithing from reading that section over and over again. The book nearly fell apart. I called Bill and asked him for a brochure, which he very graciously sent to me. I called him a couple more times to discuss his process of forging, and how he made damascus blades. In 1983 I got to visit him at his home, and he took me to his shop. What a treat!
I used my coal forge until 1997 when I bought my first propane forge. That year I also bought a Burr-King belt grinder and the videos Bill Moran made on forging knives, and attended the William F. Moran School of Bladesmithing in Washington, Arkansas. Dr. James Batson was my instructor. He was a real rocket scientist and a great master bladesmith.
At the school I learned how to control the steel as I hammer it to shape, and how to heat treat with an acetylene torch, heating only the edge of the knife, and quenching only the edge. I also learned in greater detail the Moran method of forging a blade to the exact shape I had designed.
The school is a combined effort of the American Bladesmith Society and Texarkana College, and teaches the skills necessary for folks to become good knife makers. The main focus is, as mentioned, on forging and heat treating blades properly. In addition, many other subjects are taught: handles and guards, sheath making, making folders, making damascus blades. I took the basic bladesmithing course. I recommend the school to anyone who is interested in learning this fine art.
It was earlier in 1997 that I became acquainted with Ed Fowler. I bought his video on making knives from ball bearings. Ed described his heat treating process in great detail, and I began using his method. My heat treating became more consistent and reliable.
A little later I met Wayne Goddard in his shop in Oregon. Wow! Lots of equipment, jigs, and gadgets, most of which Wayne built himself. I bought Wayne's video on making cable damascus knives and his 2 books, The Wonder of Knife Making, and The $50 Knife Shop. And I learned a lot more about making knives.
Wayne suggested that I join the Oregon Knife Collectors Association, and begin attending their annual show in Eugene in April. I took his advice, and have enjoyed many years of association with the folks in this fine organization.
Over the years I have had opportunities to help folks learn bladesmithing, and still teach it at my home forge. This is a source of great satisfaction to me. I have had students from the age of 10 years old to 72 years old. All one needs is a desire to learn and make knives. I will help you learn what you need to learn to make a good, serviceable knife. Some folks only make one knife, and that satisfies them. Others like making knives so much that they keep working and learning and getting better the rest of their lives.
I had no tools in 1970 when I really got interested in making knives, so on a visit to a friend of my father I suggested to him that I would make a knife for him out of a bayonet he had found. He gave me an old washing machine motor with an arbor and grey grinding wheel in trade for the work. Most of the work I did for the next few years was done with nothing more than that grinder. Later I made a better grinder that I could put flap and buffing wheels on after the hard wheel had done its work.
I began making useful knives out of old military knives, such as Kabar and PAL, that had been carried in World War II. Their handles were made of stacked leather washers, and the dry Arizona climate really dried them out. I reground the blades to take and hold razor keen edges, then made new guards of brass and handles of oak flooring.
I remade one of those knives for my friend and supervisor, Peter Kraai. He and his wife were attacked when they went home to California for Christmas one year. Peter defended his wife and himself with that knife. He told me that one of the attackers was killed, another severely wounded, and the third ran away.
One of my aunts knew a man who worked in a saw mill east of Globe, Arizona, and got some saw blades and planer blades for me. I had a friend cut out blade shapes with a cutting torch from the saw blades, then I ground them to shape and put handles on them. They were the next step up in my development as a knife maker.
We moved to Utah, and I began to buy O-1 bars in parallel ground flats to grind my knives from. I then had them heat treated at a commercial heat treating establishment in Salt Lake City. A gunsmith friend polished the blades for me for a while until I got enough equipment together to begin doing that myself.
I read all I could find on making knives, and was fortunate to find a magazine article about Dan Dennehy, a bladesmith who lived at the time in Yuma, Arizona. I wrote him a letter asking for help in learning how to make knives. He very kindly answered my letter, stating that he made around 100 knives a year, and had no time to teach me. However, he sent a copy of his brochure. In it he described his process of forging and heat treating his knives. Just what I wanted!
I also wrote to Bo Randall of Randall Made Knives and got his brochure. He described his methods, which were a bit different from the Dennehy methods, but both men made wonderful knives, so I decided that I could learn from both.
I began pestering blacksmiths' sons and grandsons, trying to learn how to forge my blades. I eventually got so interested in forging that I asked Lieutenant Richard Barnhart, Sr. at the Utah State Prison with whom I worked, how to build a forge. He described how he had built forges back in his home state of Nebraska, and I gathered the materials and got to work. I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow a 70# anvil from another friend, bought a 2 1/2# engineer's hammer, and began forging knives out of old files and a few bearing races. But the first item I made was a pair of tongs with which to hold the hot steel while it was being hammered into shape. I still have and use those tongs.
Sometime in the mid 1970s I heard about a sportsman's show in Pleasant Grove, Utah, near where we were living. I still had some of the saw blade steel, so I made 3 knives and took them to the show, where I was able to get a table.
I don't remember selling any of my knives, but I saw a knife made by another fellow at the show. That knife looked way better than mine, and I asked him how he made it. He told me he had a belt sander that he bought from Bob Scrimscher, one of the earliest fellows who sold knife making supplies. I went to the credit union soon after that and borrowed the money to buy one of those cool belt sanders, and I was off and running. My work improved a great deal.
Around 1977 I heard about a book on knife making written by Bob Loveless and Richard Barney. As soon as I could, I bought that book. Bob was a stock removal man, and a great knife maker. Barney, too was a stock removal man, but he didn't use a belt sander. He only used files to make his knives. Both methods were described in great detail, with lots of photographs.
The center section of the book was written by William F. Moran, or Bill, as he was called. It, too, had lots of photographs. Bill was a bladesmith, and I fell in love with bladesmithing from reading that section over and over again. The book nearly fell apart. I called Bill and asked him for a brochure, which he very graciously sent to me. I called him a couple more times to discuss his process of forging, and how he made damascus blades. In 1983 I got to visit him at his home, and he took me to his shop. What a treat!
I used my coal forge until 1997 when I bought my first propane forge. That year I also bought a Burr-King belt grinder and the videos Bill Moran made on forging knives, and attended the William F. Moran School of Bladesmithing in Washington, Arkansas. Dr. James Batson was my instructor. He was a real rocket scientist and a great master bladesmith.
At the school I learned how to control the steel as I hammer it to shape, and how to heat treat with an acetylene torch, heating only the edge of the knife, and quenching only the edge. I also learned in greater detail the Moran method of forging a blade to the exact shape I had designed.
The school is a combined effort of the American Bladesmith Society and Texarkana College, and teaches the skills necessary for folks to become good knife makers. The main focus is, as mentioned, on forging and heat treating blades properly. In addition, many other subjects are taught: handles and guards, sheath making, making folders, making damascus blades. I took the basic bladesmithing course. I recommend the school to anyone who is interested in learning this fine art.
It was earlier in 1997 that I became acquainted with Ed Fowler. I bought his video on making knives from ball bearings. Ed described his heat treating process in great detail, and I began using his method. My heat treating became more consistent and reliable.
A little later I met Wayne Goddard in his shop in Oregon. Wow! Lots of equipment, jigs, and gadgets, most of which Wayne built himself. I bought Wayne's video on making cable damascus knives and his 2 books, The Wonder of Knife Making, and The $50 Knife Shop. And I learned a lot more about making knives.
Wayne suggested that I join the Oregon Knife Collectors Association, and begin attending their annual show in Eugene in April. I took his advice, and have enjoyed many years of association with the folks in this fine organization.
Over the years I have had opportunities to help folks learn bladesmithing, and still teach it at my home forge. This is a source of great satisfaction to me. I have had students from the age of 10 years old to 72 years old. All one needs is a desire to learn and make knives. I will help you learn what you need to learn to make a good, serviceable knife. Some folks only make one knife, and that satisfies them. Others like making knives so much that they keep working and learning and getting better the rest of their lives.