The Shed – September-October 2019

B

lacksmith Josh Timmins plies his

trade in a large shed on his family

lifestyle block in Eketahuna. Behind

the shed a large vegetable garden

ÁRXULVKHVFKRRNVURDPIUHHO\DQGD

FRFN·VFURZSXQFWXDWHVWKHFODQJFODQJ

of metal on metal as Josh demonstrates

the stages of forging a blacksmith’s

9LNLQJNQLIH7KHNQLIHDOVRNQRZQDV

D¶ZRPDQ·V·NQLIHLVPDGHZLWKKDQGOH

DQGEODGHLQRQHSLHFHDQGLWLVUD]RU

sharp.

́,W·VDJHQHUDOSXUSRVHXWLOLW\NQLIH

useful when you are ripping apart

DUDEELWμ-RVKVD\V ́,W·VJRWTXLWH D

thick spine — around 5mm. A normal

kitchen knife today is around 2mm.

The business end is as sharp as hell

DQG MXVW VOLFHV WKURXJK EXW WKHQ LW

creates a wedge because of the width of

the blade and feels like it’s binding in

there. If you are cutting a carrot it pops

LWRSHQUDWKHUWKDQFXWWLQJDQGLWVOLFHV

WKURXJKPHDWHDV\DVμ

-RVKVD\VWKDWKHKDVPDGHTXLWHD

IHZEODGHVEXWDGGV ́-XVWIRUWKHUHFRUG

I’m not a knife maker; I’m a blacksmith

ZKR PDNHV NQLYHVμ $ IHDWXUH RI KLV

current work is the medieval-style axes

that he has been playing around with.

The nine-to-five stuff

Josh earns a living under his company

name ‘Industrial Fusion’ and forges a

lot of what he calls “bread-and-butter

VWXIIμ ³ ERWWOH RSHQHUV ÀUH SRNHUV

candle holders mounted on timber

VKHOYHVFRDWKRRNVSRWUDFNVKLQJHV

D[HV GRRU NQRFNHUV DQG GRRU SXOOV

JDUGHQWRROVDVZHOODVIXUQLWXUH

DQGEUD]LHUV&KHFNRXWKLVFRPSDQ\

ZHEVLWHLQGXVWULDOIXVLRQFRQ]

He separates the tools that he makes

into impact tools and slicing tools. He

makes higher impact tools out of new

VSULQJ VWHHO ZKLFK KH VD\V LV TXLWH

UHVLOLHQW ́%HIRUH , ERXJKW LW LW ZDV

destined to go in the suspension of a

car or truck. So it’s got give in it and

stands a good chance of being thrashed

to hell.

́%XW SHRSOH GR FUD]\ WKLQJV ZLWK

NQLYHVDQGEODGHVXVLQJWKHPDV

FURZEDUV VFUHZGULYHUV DQG RWKHU

stupid things blades are not meant

WRGRμ

He says that while new steel may be

GHDUHUWKDQVFUDSPHWDOLWLVPXFKPRUH

SUHGLFWDEOHLQWHUPVRITXDOLW\DQGKRZ

it will behave when heat treated.

Stages in the knife-making process from

start to finish

A son’s Father’s Day card for his dad: “He knows I

make a few knives”

Where the handle will start,

roughly half the blank