CLARKE KNIVES

Clarke Knives, Wiltshire, England

My interest in metal was first whetted over 60 years ago as a 12-year-old boy whilst helping my Grandad, Fred Polley, in his shed. Fred was born during the reign of Queen Victoria. From Essex farming stock, although he was poorly educated, he was typical of boys growing up in that era, and he had vast practical crafting skills that had been passed down from one generation to another. I was convinced that his Grandad was a magician when, fixing his lawnmower, the tip of his screwdriver bent. He whacked it with a big hammer, heated it with his paraffin blowlamp and dunked it into some old engine oil to re-harden the tip. And the screwdriver then worked perfectly! From that day, I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up!

I’m a graduate Metallurgist who helped manufacture guns, shells, tanks and rockets for the British Armed Forces. In 1983, after being retrenched from a company making synthetic diamond drilling bits for the oil industry, I emigrated to South Africa, where my very diverse metallurgical skills were in much demand.

After 34 years in South Africa, I returned to England in 2017 and, with the help of my Son & Grandson, opened an Experience Days opportunity in rural Wiltshire, running courses in bladesmithing and knife making. Hundreds of students subsequently took home a knife or axe, of which they were proud to say, “I made it myself”.

In 2025 we closed the Experience Days so that I can concentrate on making knives, running a Heat Treatment service for knife makers and blacksmiths and making high-end Damascus and San Mai (laminate) billets. I design, build, and maintain my own Heat Treatment furnaces and equipment in order to offer a service to a professional standard to which I add the personal touch that only a fellow knifemaker/bladesmith can add.