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 diverse metallurgical skills were in much demand. I ran a heat treatment facility servicing the Engineering Manufacturing sector for many years. It was during that period that I took up the hobby of knife making. South African knife makers are very skillful; They shared their knowledge with me and I was able to share my metallurgical expertise with them. It was a win-win! You can learn more about me and how I can create a beautiful knife that is optimized for peak performance combining my metallurgical skills with craftsmanship.

I returned to the UK 9 years ago and I am making knives and running a Heat Treatment service for knife makers and blacksmiths. I also make high-end Damascus and San Mai (laminate) billets for other knife makers.

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.