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

• Thomas Gerner
• Adam Fromholtz
• Alistair Phillips