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Beechey, George

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George Beechey passed away in July of 2006 and will be greatly missed by the knifemaking community, his friends, family and loved ones.

Knives have been my daily companion for as long as I can remember. A small town farm boy from South Africa always had his slingshot and Joseph Rodgers at hand -- that was the norm those days. Over the years, the slingshot evolved through different calibres of side arms and rifles, but the Joseph Rodgers endures to this day.

Completion of an apprenticeship in the early sixties as a Millwright in the steel smelter developed my skills. In 1963, availability of high carbon rope wire and tool steels was the catalyst for me to start forging my first knives. These were given to friends and family.

In 1969, after working for ten years in a steel mill and living in a city environment, our passion for contact with nature drove my wife Lorraine, our two young daughters and me to relocate to the wilderness of the Zululand East Coast. Here, we joined a small group of pioneers on construction of the Alusaf Aluminium Smelter in the swampland of uMhlatuze. This put a hold on my knifemaking for many years -- until in the eighties a paradigm shift occurred in the approach to sustainable wildlife utilisation, and a new industry was born in Zululand.

Game farming became popular, attracting many hunters to Zululand. I now seriously applied my hand to knifemaking and, with the aid of the book How to Make Knives , taught myself the stock removal method, which is better suited to the hot humid Zululand climate. In 1998, I joined the South African Knifemakers Guild and took early retirement to become a full time knifemaker.

My knife preference is for stainless steel medium size working hunters, working field type liner lock folders and a range of titanium liner lock gent's folders. Local natural materials are selected for handles, with giraffe bone, ivory, pearl and stone among my favorites.

In 2004 we emigrated to Australia to join our children and now live in Queensland. My workshop is small by comparison to other makers and that demands I do a lot of the work with my hands and basic tools, a choice I have made and a method I prefer. This means that each knife is individually crafted to my satisfaction.

Awards

  • 1997 Award of Excellence - Casablanca Challenge
  • 1998 South African Knifemakers' Guild Membership
  • 1999 Best Boot Knife - Durban Knife Show
  • 1999 Best Fixed Blade under R500 - Durban Knife Show
  • 2000 Best Fixed Blade under R500 - Durban Knife Show
  • 2000 Best Fighting Blade - South African Guild Show
  • 2000 Best Hunting Knife - South African Guild Show
  • 2000 Best Knife under R500 - South African Guild Show
  • 2001 Best Bird/Trout Knife - Durban Knife Show
  • 2003 Best Hunting Knife - Durban Easter Knife Show
  • 2003 Best Hunter - Hoedspruit Invitational Show
PREVIOUSLY SOLD ITEMS
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African Blackwood Boot Dagger
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