About the Forge

Karim Haddad - Bladesmith

Karim began his journey with knifemaking under Master Bladesmith Thomas Gerner in 1995. Thomas was the first Australian Master Bladesmith from the prestigious American Bladesmith Society. Karim has developed his skills in the area of blade forging, heat treating steel, handle construction, sheath making and leatherwork. He has been teaching knife making since 1998, and created the Tharwa Valley Forge to provide further opportunities for teaching and learning in 2003. He is an active member of the Australian Knifemaking Guild and orgainses the Canberra Custom Knife Show. He currently teaches courses in Knifemaking, Forging and Sharpening as well as making custom knives to order.

Karim has been an Outdoor Educator for over 13 years with Outward Bound Australia, designing and running personal development programs for youth. Currently he is running a national leadership program. He is an experienced adult trainer having run staff training for a number of years, and training for the local Rural Fire Service. He holds a Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment.

Karim is working towards becoming a Master Bladesmith as he further develops his skills over the next few years.


Other Guest Presenters

From time to time we have other guest presenters who bring their talents to the workshops. If you would like to help out as a course presenter, give us a call or an email. It is a great way to learn, by sharing your talents.

Many thanks, for their assistance and experience, to

Upcoming Courses

Thu Apr 29 @19:30 - 09:30PM
Sharpening
Fri Apr 30 @19:00 - 05:00PM
Knifemaking (SOLD OUT)
Thu Jun 24 @19:30 - 09:30PM
Sharpening
Fri Jun 25 @19:00 - 05:00PM
Knifemaking (SOLD OUT)
Fri Jul 02 @19:00 - 05:00PM
Folding Knives
Sun Jul 04 @08:00 - 05:00PM
Damascus Introduction
Thu Jul 29 @19:30 - 09:30PM
Sharpening
Fri Jul 30 @19:00 - 05:00PM
Knifemaking (TWO PLACES LEFT)
Sun Aug 29 @08:00 - 05:00PM
Damascus Introduction
Thu Oct 07 @19:30 - 09:30PM
Sharpening
Fri Oct 08 @19:00 - 05:00PM
Knifemaking (TWO PLACES LEFT)
Thu Nov 25 @19:30 - 09:30PM
Sharpening
Fri Nov 26 @19:00 - 05:00PM
Knifemaking