What Makes a Knife a Knife?

As you (the reader of this blog) may be aware, I have been following The Suburban Bushwacker for some time now and recently made him a knife to review. Well this isn't a link to the review (that's to come later) but I'd like to share this informative article he's written on buying the right knife.


If you have a general love of the outdoors, and/or bushcraft I'd also recommend having a look through his other posts. In fact, have a read even if you're not into bushcraft and spent your days in a darkened room surfing the net.. it might help.

Photo Credit: Todd Hill - Primitive Point

Finished Leaves

They're done. It wasn't as difficult as I originally invisioned - though I've still got a long way to go and I'm pretty sure making a knife this way is going to be a lot harder than stock removal. I'm happy with the way the turned out though - and hopefully so will be the ABA.

Copper Leaves

I fired up the forge yesterday and heated the copper rod I picked up at the scrapyard and this is what I've come up with so far after a bit of persuasion with a hammer. It still needs a little refining but it's getting there.

The Tree Project

I found this link on a knifemaking site a little while ago and I've been turning over in my head whether or not I should participate. It's not that I don't want to - it's more that I don't want to make something that looks like a dog's breakfast. I haven't done a lot of forging before, at least not without someone there to tell me if I'm doing it right or wrong, so if I'm going to forge something in memory of someone -- or in this case, many -- I want it to be something that looks like time and skill has gone into it.

That said, I went to the scrapyard yesterday and bought some bronze rod to have a go with. I'll post again later with the results.


"The Australian Blacksmiths Association (Victoria) Inc. is asking blacksmiths worldwide to help us create a forged gumtree. This tree will be a memorial to the people who lost their lives in the 7 Feb bushfires, to honour the tireless people who defended others and to stand as a symbol of regeneration for the community"

"Blacksmiths worldwide are helping us grow a tree from their forges and fires; creating gum leaves from stainless steel or copper to be added to a forged gumtree. This gumtree is to be erected in one of the affected townships as a memorial of these events, for the loss suffered and for the spirit of renewal."
Source: ABA

BlackRabbit Logo

I know this blog is called Obsidian Rabbit but truth be told, when I started thinking of trading names for my knifemaking the first thing that came to mind was BlackRabbit. Sadly that name is already being used for another blog, which serves another purpose - but that doesn't mean I can't still use the name for my knifemaking.
So now I have a logo.