I found the course to be relaxed, informative and very practical on its application and execution. I did leave the course with a SHARP knife that quite easily sliced through any meat or vegetable presented and even the on-edge paper test.
I would however whether suggest the following improvements for consideration, understanding that this is a weekend course I recommend some documentation be available in the following areas.
• Some knife history (an overview of knives in history limited to a synopsis).
• Some information on the shapes of knives and the purposes of those shapes.
• Some information relating to the choice of materials for the blade and the handle. Scaling the materials in difficulty from beginners (such as ourselves) to fine artisans.
• Some more detailed information on the heat treatment of the materials, inclusive of temperature, soak times and withdrawal temperature from the quenching fluid.
• Some details on quenching mediums.
• Some information on the abrasive belts that we use and recommend steps.
• A short list of guilds, societies and forums for further study.
Overall I enjoyed the course and I came away with a knife that I can use, it has left me with a hunger for more information and the challenges to make my next knife!
Regards
Jim Keamy