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The answer is a resounding yes! But does the result measure up? I’ll give it a go for the first time. Silver brazing This is a new technique for me, because although I’ve done quite a bit of soldering with tin, the objective here is quite different. It’s a technique that’s often used in jewellery, and it has to meet two main requirements: strength and aesthetics. Suffice to say that on this first attempt, I had no ambitions regarding this second criterion....

Finishing steel, particularly in knife making, is a major challenge for beginners. On paper, it’s fairly straightforward, yet the first results are generally disappointing. Here are a few tips to help you avoid the frustration of a long job that ends up with a mediocre result. Note that much of this advice also applies to metals in general… Why sand steel? As with wood, once the general shape of the object has been obtained, we try to improve the appearance of the steel....

If there’s one technique that’s poorly documented (in french) and fairly discreet on the web, it’s metal enamelling. I’ve only recently got started, after digging up all the sources I could find online: videos, blogs, various articles. Many of the resources are in English. What exactly are we talking about? Enamel Wikipedia tells us: Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C (1,380 and 1,560 °F)....

When it comes to making knives and other objects from a variety of materials and assemblies, you can often get by with what you can afford, to start with. As you progress, the difficulty (in my opinion) lies in choosing what should remain manual and what merits investment, a machine with a motor, for example. Mind you, I’m not saying that hand tools are always cheap! This lovely Canadian plane can testify to that....

What is steel, anyway? Wikipedia tells us that steel is an iron-based alloy with a carbon content of between 0.02% and 2% by mass, which may or may not contain other chemical elements (impurities). The elements added to iron modify its physico-chemical characteristics. Carbon is always present, but in variable quantities, which influences the alloy’s maximum hardness or its ability to be enamelled, for example. When the carbon content exceeds 2....