Woodlore Blog

Ray Mears on location during the filming of Wild Britain

Exclusive, hour-long episodes of Ray’s most recent series, Wild Britain with Ray Mears, are to be shown shortly on the Sky channel Eden. The series, which was originally aired on ITV 1 last year in 30 minute slots, will now be shown on Eden with additional, never-seen-before footage on each episode.

The series begins this coming Monday, 4th April; for exact showing times, please visit the following link:

When is it on?

It seems as though Julius Pettersson’s reputation is spreading worldwide, with Californian customer Jonathan Aballi getting hold of one his knife blades and kindly sending in these pictures:

Hello Woodlore,

I wanted to send pictures of my finished knife. The handle is made from giraffe bone, leather and stabilized black ash burl:

The finished article

(more…)

During the second half of summer back in 2010, Woodlore Field Staff member Sarah Day took some fantastic photos of a butterfly that she had spotted. The first person who can correctly identify the species will win a £10.00 Woodlore Voucher, which can be used against any items of kit in our Online Shop or against a Bushcraft Course of your choice. Good luck!

The butterfly, correctly identified as a Male Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)

(more…)

Woodlore customer Nick Davis had a go at fitting a handle to his Julius Pettersson Knife Blade, and sent in the results:

Nick Davis' finished Julius Pettersson Knife

Hi Woodlore Team,

Just wanted to send in a photo of my finished Julius Pettersson knife in the hope that you will add it to the others already on your blog page.

 

The handle is Thoya Burr and buffalo horn inlayed with bone. The ferrule and tang are both brass for added strength.

 

Working on these wonderful blades is such a relaxing and rewarding undertaking as you are building something that will be a source of pride every time you use it… and it will last a lifetime!

 

Many thanks for all you do in sourcing quality items such as these blades!….. now I better get on with building my crooked knife!

 

All the Best,

 

Nick Davis

The following text and accompanying photographs were kindly sent in by Woodlore customer Jon Mac:

Dear Woodlore,

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jon Mac, I am a spoon carver working in Devon. A few years ago I was given a Julius Pettersson laminated blade to assist me in my work. The blade has excellent quality and performance.

After fitting the blade into the handle which I designed and made, I sent the blade to a knifemaker, Chris Grant, to be slightly reshaped to my specifications. The Pettersson blade was tweaked to my preferences, these being, a narrower belly and finer point to facilitate an ease in carving internal radii.

The handle was designed very much with carving in mind - specific ergonomics for everyday, comfortable and accurate use.

Chris and I wanted to thank you for providing the spark that became this exciting and rewarding project. This has helped me find the working knife that I have been searching for, for many years.

Jon Mac

Jon’s Julius Pettersson Hand-forged Knife Blade before being reshaped

(more…)