When he was just 5 days old they planted a blue cedar tree and she wanted a knife made with a piece from the tree. Now I can’t resist a bit of wood with a story and with a year until his birthday I agreed to make it. ​

'The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative'

The word inspiration come from the Latin word inspiratus and means to breathe into, to inspire. Being an artist is having the ability to breathe in what's around, to notice the little details, to develop new ideas and concepts.

I am an environmentalist and one of the things that inspires me most is being outside in nature. I spend a lot of time outdoors with my kids, exploring rivers, woods, and caves and this is what gives me much of my inspiration. Being with children gives focus to the small details; the intricacies of a fallen leaf, the shadows over a wooded path, the pattern on a beetles back.

I am also inspired by light and shadow. The way that morning light shines through stained glass, the sun's rays through fresh beech leaves in spring, the reflections of a stormy sky in an autumn puddle. Shadow changes the view of things and within shadows details can be seen normally hidden from view.

Being an artist knife maker is to be creative, to be inspired and to take risks. Only by using the inspiration in the world to take risks can the boundaries be explored and knife making pushed to the next level. 

Bone...

This seems to be a stone lid...

Here are some 'Making of' photographs.

See the Phoenix fly...

Its been a great year for Ferraby Knives. Looking back at all the knives I've made in 2017 has been really enjoyable - I usually only think about the knife I am about to make next! I've put loads in here because there loads that belonged here... scroll through and enjoy.

He wanted me to make him a knife which he could give to his wife for her birthday and keep a little ink memento for himself . I am a bit of a romantic too and was game for a collaboration with a 5th generation Chef and a fellow Artist to make two knives that would last a lifetime. 

The challenge was to design and make a 3D knife that would look good 2D, with Abalone shell, to a deadine. It had to fit onto his left forearm so he could pretend pick it up with his right hand ready to slice any pretend food. So a 4'' kitchen knife then.... 

The all important outline included a hooked handle and forged blade. I wanted to include some recognisably Ferraby details:

• Olive  - My No.1 handle material. Why? (see blog) 
• Bog Oak - My second favourite. Its 7000yrs old, almost as hard as stone and is ethically totally sound.
• Steel Wave - My signature mark. Symbol of the artists eternal fight against the straight line. 

​The shape changed a bit as it felt better in the hand. The 3D sculpting process is always intuitive and allows your inner self to find the knife in the wood. The colours and textures are all about balancing.

You can see the blues and greens of the Abalone are complimented by the golden heart wood and mirrored by the resin, the dark blue next to the silver wave (which looks black) and of course the blue sky reflected in the blade. The Bog Oak is balanced with the black denim and coconut fibre bolster lip. The silver wave is balanced with the Sterling Silver circlet that houses the Abalone.

I am lucky enough to be pals with one of the best Artist Tattoists - Dr Viper (Max). He popped round my place and took a great photo from which he produced the very fine graphic above.

Rene came to Sheffield for the day and we were tempted to write 'HAND DRAWN IN SHEFFIELD' instead of my HANDFORGED blade mark. There is only so much space on a blade though and though Max's peepers are first class it would be so small it would be illedgable. Oh well.   

Motorbike chain, chainsaw steel and nickel from a boat. This knife is fast, with a keen cutting edge and cuts through hard wood like it's water!

This was the last custom outdoor knife that was ordered before my books closed two years ago so I decided to make this one a bit special!

The 4" blade was made from Sheffield Silver Fox 100, a steel made here in Sheffield, which is a high carbon stainless that has all the benefits of a carbon steel but without the rust. It's strong, holds a great edge and is easy to sharpen. 

The bolster is a one off piece of pattern welded metal which was made using upcycled chainsaw chains, carbon steel motorbike chain and nickel from a boats hull  by my blacksmith friend, Josh Burrell. I spent a week acid etching it using lemon juice to bring out the patterns. The lemon juice is good as it allows a very subtle etch and can bring out all the different colours and tones. The darker areas are where the carbon steel has been eaten away by the acid, leaving the silver patterns of nickel which are more resistant. 

The collar is a carefully sculptured section of copper which is then cast in a resin mould. Blue and black pigment was carefully added to give the finished product a semi-opaque coloured finish which looks different in different lights.

I chose corian for the handle liner for its material properties as well as its aesthetic beauty complimenting the materials around it. It is a very dense material which is both heat resistant and durable. The deep black of the liner extenuates the lithe flowing form of the Ferraby Steel Wave on the spine of the knife. This is the signature mark of all my full tang knives. ​

The live edge of the olive wood has a blue resin fill. The wood has a much more subtle grain than many of the pieces I usually use so as to draw attention and carefully compliment the more patterned areas of the knife. The blue infill balances the orange of the olive but is also mirrored by the blue in the collar and when blue sky is reflected on the blade. 

I spent a week making the sheath; each stitch hole has a graduated distance and the dying process took 14 incremental layers of dye. ​

I've managed to combine many of my latest methods with one of my original knife designs - the Wilderness 5. Out of the 12 outdoor knives I used to make this one was always the most popular.
 
​I was happy to hear that the first project this knife will make is going to be a wooden spreading knife from a piece of local green wood. 

So I bid farewell to this knife that has a chainsaw, a motorbike and a speed boat locked inside it. I  wouldn't like to be the piece of wood!