As the year comes to a slowing down, and the holidays approach, it is time to let everyone know what the fall and winter have in store.

The  grand opening of ” The Story of North Carolina” will be held at the North Carolina Museum Of History in Raleigh NC, November 5, 2011.  Music, dancing, performers and historically accurate crafts will all be ongoing throughout the day. Chuck and Peggy Patrick will be representing basket making in  North Carolina from 11 a.m., until 4 p.m.  Hand splitting white oak and river cane for basketry as well as the weaving of baskets will both be represented in detail.

Chuck and Peggy Patrick will be showing their workmanship at the John C. Campbell Folk School annual Fireside Sale on Sunday, December 4th, 2011, 10 am – 5 pm. Handmade damascus knives, white oak and river cane baskets, beaded buckskin and Old Time Mountain Music cds will be made available from them personally at this festive Christmas time event. This sale will be offering arts and crafts made exclusively by the artist who teach at this one of a kind school.

In January Peggy Patrick and Emma Garrett will be teaching a river cane basket class together. The class will begin by going to the river bank and harvesting river cane to begin learning the splitting process. Each student will then make one basket using materials expertly prepared before hand. Traditional Cherokee techniques will be taught as well as how to dye the material with natural dyes.

a student files a blade after forging

Also in January, Chuck Patrick and James Batson, (former president of the Blade Smithing Society) will be teaching a Bowie making class. Learn from the masters how to hand forge, heat treat and finish a traditional bowie knife. Learn how to forge a blade closely and do the finish work at the bench using hand tools. This week long class will give the student with some experience, plenty of time to hone their knife making skills.

In March, Chuck  Patrick and John Kraus will teach tool forging. In this class students will gain the skills to make their own edged tools for wood working projects.  Proper heat treating and tempering for each tool will be covered as well as designing the tool to work correctly.  These instructors are used to making tools that work as well as look good.

See the classes page to find out where to register for any classes coming up and dates for each. The material fee if applicable, will be listed with each class. Hope to see you soon. Have a great winter!

✢ Color of the Fire ✢

¤ Chuck Patrick is a damascus knife maker and blacksmith. A blade-smith is a blacksmith with a special understanding of metallurgy that  blacksmith does not necessarily have. Chuck Patrick is a blacksmith, yes , but he does so much more than make horse shoes and sharpen plows.

Chuck Patrick made his first knife while living in the Alaskan bush country. When his need for a superior tool led him to spend days on end trying to come up with a blade he could use the way he needed to in this tough environment where you are not forgiven by nature if you fail. From this humble beginning he has become one of this nations leading expert  Blade-smiths and metallurgist.

Chuck has been and continues to be consulted by many top knife making companies, about his Damascus steel, as well as his heat treating genius. Chuck seems to be in tune with the fire as he works in it. He can tell by the color of the fire and the steel, what the temperature is with out even looking at the thermostat. In fact Chuck Patrick can tell if the thermostat is wrong!

Chuck Patrick has traveled throughout the U.S.A. teaching knife making. He continues to teach locally and  in the southeast.  In addition, he and  Dr. James Batson former president of the American Bladesmithing society (ABS), co-teach a knife making class at the John C. Campbell Folk School. The class name  is The American Hand Forged Knife. To find out when the next class will be held, and to register, see our classes page¤

To see photos from this class: Knife Making Class Photos