Meet The Maker: Billy Pearce

By Bjorn Jacobsen, April 2023

I met Billy during the Master Class of the 2022 Blade Symposium. What a guy! Going with Jamie and Pierre to the master class I knew it would be fun already, but Billy certainly added to the group laughs! From what I picked up during the week, I knew Billy had quite the story. Working through a difficult period of his life and using his passion for making to find both new energy, and new people to call friends. We are grateful to Billy for wanting to share his story here.

2022 Master Class: from left Pierre Mefflin, Francois Mazieres, Billy Pearce, Bjorn Jacobsen, Jackson Rumble, Jamie Bishop and… Mathew Durning who might have been taking the photo.

My story

My name is Billy Pearce. Originally from the UK but now calling Canberra my home, together with my wife and our 3 sons. I am 59 years old, a trained nurse but I have not worked as a nurse for a while now, these days I am helping out at Tharwa Valley Forge a few days a week but more about that later.

Glasgow and Liverpool

My dad and his brothers were welders at the shipyards, just like their father again. My mother was from Glasgow and my father from Liverpool. After school I went to London and worked in the dry docks there but found it was not what I wanted to do with my life. After some volunteering in a hospital I got noticed and given an opportunity to study to become a medical nurse, completing in 1985.

In London I worked in surgical paediatric and organ transplant medicine, having a career path ahead of me that seemed stable.. until a trip to Africa made me want more.

Driving a bus in Africa

Trained as a nurse and with a heavy goods driver’s license, a career break in Africa seemed a good idea. By the mid-nineties I was living in Africa, driving overland safaris. Bus driver, tour guide, taking groups of people out and making sure they were safe while having the time of their lives. I met a lovely Aussie girl on one of those trips called Claire.

Fast forward to today, Claire and I have been married for 22 years now and have 3 gorgeous boys of 11, 14 and 16 years old. We live in Canberra, my wife is an Assistant professor at the University of Canberra and I worked within Emergency nursing in for many years. We spent a year travelling to get here, and hit 52 countries together even before the kids.

Ultramarathon runner

I used to be into running. Like, really into running. Having completed 52 full marathons and probably about as many ultramarathons, like the Coast to Kosciuszko ultramarathon, I enjoyed the training and the sense of competing with myself and the elements.

(Editor's note: Coast to Kosci is a 240 km (!) ultramarathon happening in the December heat every year, going from the coast up to literally the summit of Australia's tallets mountain.)

Billy on the right, captaining the running team at the Coast to Kosci ultramarathon in 2013.

The longest race I've run is 456 kms in Adelaide over 6 days - it'd be easier in a car, I know! 

I also enjoyed taking part in organising runs, here is a snap from the Canberra 48 hour race, back in 2016;

Billy having fun as the course director at the 2016 48-hour ultramarathon in Canberra.

Rugby

Another sport I have had a lot of fun times with is rugby, be it playing it myself or teaching others. Raising our kids in Australia has been great in so many ways, not least in allowing them to excel in sport as well as in music and at school.

I have been fortunate enough to play in both Fiji and Australia, having played 100 masters games in rugby union. Even got a silver medal at the Pan Pacific Games in 2018.

2018 and PTSD

Things were going well in so many ways, but parts of my work were hard and over time it impacted my health. I hit a speed bump if you will, a wheel fell off and I went into a difficult period of my life.

It was PTSD that caught up with me and pulled me down. My last day working as a nurse was in May 2018 and for a long time, I seemed to have lost my identity and the roles in life I was comfortable in. For the next two years I limped through life, even with the support of Claire, my friends and family it was a real struggle.

A day at Tharwa Valley Forge

The idea of trying to pursue a new interest was put to me but I saw little value in it. I was not looking for a new hobby. And why would trying to pursue my high school interest in metalwork help now?!

But the suggestion was raised again and to shut it down, I went along with it, agreeing to do a blacksmithing day at something called Tharwa Valley Forge just outside of Canberra.

With a heavy heart and not much hope I took the short journey to Tharwa, not expecting much other than a day of disappointment.

Leading the class was Karim Haddad, unbeknown to me a legend amongst his peers. In no time at all he had me forging steel and enjoying myself. A poker made, some hooks and I said to myself "I am leaving now as its going well I don't want to spoil things" That is all it took, I was hooked 100%!

Dark art of knife making

I did several blacksmithing classes at TVF and eventually tried my hand at the dark art of knife making, not expecting it to become such a passion of mine.

Billy's first ever knives, made at a class with Baz at Tharwa Valley Forge.

Learning from the best

If there ever was a wormhole to go down, knife making is a mighty big one! Again with the good fortune of being allowed to use the resources Karim has assembled, I took classes with Baz, Russell, Adam and Jackson and others at TVF. Being exposed to these excellent knife makers only made me more interested and hungrier to learn. Bladesmithing had a firm hold on me by now, given me a new interest in life and through this helped me come out of my shell a little. It has been amazing learning from the team at Tharwa.

The therapy of making and wanting to work again

The journey has proven to be not only fascinating but also deeply therapeutic, taking me outside of my head and out into the world. Meeting new and interesting people, learning new skills, the feeling of slowly mastering something I felt good about has helped me on many levels. Having taking part in so many of the TVF courses over time led to me doing one on one weekly student days at Tharwa and eventually to now working 3 days a week at TVF. I had not expected how blacksmithing and knife making would impact my life in a positive way, way outside of just learning a new hobby skill.

With finding new energy in life, I have enjoyed trying my hand at other crafts as well. Having done some leatherwork, as well as painting. As many makers I enjoy learning new skills and playing with different materials.

Big moments as a knife maker

To date my two most important knife making moments are the Bowie masterclass with Jackson Rumble, as well as passing my probationary assessment of the Australian Knifemakers Guild. It is a journey I am still on and one I hope will keep going for a long time.

This is a another set I am quite happy with, a Japanese style chef knife set in stainless for a friend;

3 tips for new makers

• My advice to any new or prospective makers who are not quite sure where to start is - just do it!
• Get some lessons, ask questions, go out and get some help with some of the technical details to make sure you get onto the bits you enjoy.
• Be open to messing up, more than anything; enjoy the journey this is.

Grateful

My journey into knifemaking has all been made possible by Karim and his endless patience, support and equipment. He has been amazing, guiding me with his wealth of knowledge. And the team at Tharwa who took me on face value and selflessly shared their skills with me. Also my good fortune to have access to Jackson Rumble who always has been willing to answer questions and help share new and exciting methods. I am very lucky to have gone to TVF for that blacksmithing day and what it has turned into.

Thank you to Billy for sharing his story with us. Should you wish to get in contact with Billy at Saehrimnir Forge, he is on Instagram at LINK , or you might meet him at Tharwa Valley Forge.