Meet The Maker: Cameron Elder from Sacred Blades

By Darren Ilias, Sept 2022 for Nordic Edge.

This is my first MTM article for Nordic Edge, and after seeing Cameron's work online and knowing a little about his background being similar to mine, I really wanted to know more about who he is and why he does what he does. Darren

Meet The Maker #19: Cam from Sacred Blades

My name is Cameron Elder, I'm 37 years old. I’m of British origin…. My father as Stoic Glaswegian, brought up in the tough slums in Glasgow, Scotland building warships as a young man. My mum couldn’t have been further away from him in personality and temperament. I like to think I have taken the best of both :)

I lived in a pretty rural area with lots of forests and rolling hills in the Midlands of England.

My Uncle and cousin were both in the army, so they introduced me to camping and bushcraft early on.

The first thing I ever made was a bushcraft Bow saw using just my axe and the natural progression was Bow saw, bow and arrow, obsidian arrow heads and eventually decided I wanted to attempt to make a knife. By this time, I’d already amassed a psychologically questionable amount of knives, daggers, swords, martial arts weaponry etc.

I apprenticed in England as a chef and quickly found an unhealthy obsession with sharp stuff.

I was obsessed with Globals at the time (don't hate me I was only 15 :))

I moved to Australia at 19 and kick started my career in fine dining restaurants.

Working as a chef 

Starting at Reserve under George Calombaris, then moving to restaurants Vue de Monde, Jacques Reymond's, The Stokehouse, Interlude and Brighton Baths. My cooking career spanned approximately 15 years in fine dining kitchens and eventually I opened my own cafe with my partner called The Angry Gnome.

I’ve been making knives seriously since January 2020 after my parents bought me my first forge for my birthday.

To date I've made around 220 blades.

I primarily make chefs knives as I have a deep understanding of what makes an amazing blade not just for every now and again use, but for efficient, comfortable use every day in a professional environment.

I will mainly focus on chef’s knives though as cooking was my original passion and it’s been an amazing journey to integrate my two passions and now a full-time maker!

I also love making bushcraft and hunting knives and will soon be getting into art Daggers.

Martial arts

Another huge part of my life is Martial Arts. I began with Aikido which sparked my interest in swords and combat blades. I’ve also been training and competing heavily in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling for 16 years and more recently started training with Kinetic Fighting which is an organisation that teaches enhanced operational skills for use in combat run by both active and inactive Special Forces personnel.

Most of the chef’s knives I make are hidden tang, although I really enjoy the different challenges doing other constructions such as full tang, frame tang and also threaded/pommel tang too.

Boredom as a motivator to try new things

The reason I really enjoy what I do is I get bored VERY quickly…. I have a very acute attention to detail, bordering on obsessive, to my own detriment at times, but because of the nature of custom making, I'm constantly trying new techniques, using completely different materials, steels, woods, bones, non-ferrous metals, horns, corals, fossils etc.….and I love the challenge of mastering each material (although I don’t think I've mastered anything yet apart from swearing at my mistakes….I'm f**king amazing at that (comes from my Scottish heritage ).

The most rewarding and favourite part of knife-making is creating pattern welded steel…….the pattern reveal NEVER ceases to enchant me……my second favourite is Hamon work…..I spent months perfecting the technique to get consistent results…..but I also enjoy the unpredictability the patterns can have sometimes…..and no matter how many times my good friend and mentor Dar Lu says it, a Hamon is not ugly :).

(Editor's note: Dar Lu was our Meet The Maker #5: LINK)

My favourite carbon steels to use are 1084/15n20 for Damascus, W2, 01, D2. I enjoy the consistent results of these steels and the relatively easy heat treatment too.

The steel I dislike working with is Spicy White (26c3) …. maybe I didn’t finish it correctly, but it was horrible to polish and etch, just seemed dirty to handle, and patinas very easily. Hopefully someone can teach me to use it properly one day!

The most rewarding aspect for me is the final fit and finish of a knife that every part has been made by myself. Making sure everything is as perfect as my abilities can make it. The steel is polished correctly, all the linear elements are in line, the blade cross section is symmetrical, and the profile of the blade and handle are all in proportion…and best of all making them scarily sharp…. I never compromise on quality…. ever.

The things I find most frustrating are,

the tang transition to the ricasso where it meets the front of the handle……I used to do this by hand until my father made me a flat disc grinder, made half of the experience very easy …. I do still struggle with it from time to time.

I really enjoy using different exotics for the handles, giraffe, mammoth, ivory and carbon fibre are my favourites.

My favourite timbers are Birdseye Huon Pine, Blue box and Flame box elder, and Amboyna and anything that’s quilted or has crazy chatoyance. (I'm a magpie for shiny stuff)

My plans for my knife-making are to Become a Master Blade-smith with the ABS (currently an apprentice). I want to eventually master Damascus and expand my workshop to create Damascus for wholesale like Vegas Forge and Damasteel ( a distant plan but hey….you gotta try right??)…

I also want my dad to retire and make knives with me too ( he’ extremely skilled with his hands and also has vast experience in engineering, manufacturing and fabrication and he currently makes all of the custom handmade timber boxes for my knives).

Support from family and friends is important

I have 100% the best support possible from my family, partner and the mentors and friends I've made in the industry. Which I have to say is a really great community….so far, I haven’t come across one fuckwit.

There are a few Australian makers I who’s work I really admire and want to reach their skill level one day.

My top three knife makers are:

My friend Jason Heineman IMO the best dagger maker in Australia and who has been an incredible mentor and friend to me for a few years now. Inviting me into his home to teach me how to make mosaic Damascus extremely accurately and always constantly driving the importance of a high level of fit and finish…and the importance of professional integrity when it comes to a blade that has your name stamped on it… It not only represents your work, but who you are as a person. Always pushing and helping me towards higher and higher standards.

Jackson Rumble…. seeing his work up close recently….it was perfect…I could see not one flaw on his blades…. his level of accuracy really is special. Really excited to see where his knife-making goes (definitely no small feat being mentioned in one of Kyle Royers videos…that’s gangster!)

Tobias Bockholt… his creativity and expertise with Damascus and his handles are mesmerising. He also loves the forest.

And why do I make knives?

Humans are losing touch of basic primal, primitive skills of making fire, weapons, tools and equipment. We've lost touch of our tribal ancestry.

Sacred Blades is my humble attempt at reconnecting with my ancestry and warrior heritage but blending it with the skills I’ve developed over a long career in high level kitchens.

I am also a bit of a magpie.... I’m hypnotised by beautiful, sharp and shiny things and have hundreds of blades in my collection... but I’d like to create heirloom blades for you to enjoy, admire and behold for generations.

The “throw away” temporary culture that we seem to live in now with so much waste and disregard for resources and materials, animals, the environment etc. really upsets me, which is why I'm a bit of a loner, but I've made some great friends through knife-making with some very kind, generous and highly skilled people.

My top 3 tips for new makers:

1. Don’t skimp on your tools! Some of the old guard will say “The tools don’t make the maker”, but good quality, precision made tools that make you more accurate and efficient definitely help A LOT! for a long time I tried to blag it with cheap tools and it just didn’t cut it. Good equipment also takes a lot of the anxiety and mistakes away from making. Figure out if you want to make it a business or just to keep it as a hobby and tool up accordingly!

2. Take safety seriously! Almost everything in knife-making is dangerous to some degree…. invest in proper PPE, my most valuable piece of equipment in my shop is my Versaflo respirator and face shield. However, safety isn’t just exclusive to PPE, really think about things like electrical layout (so there’s no cables, chords etc. trailing as trip hazards), chemical or dangerous good storage or combustibles storage, proper ventilation and extraction. maintain your machinery regularly and be neat and tidy…. a messy workshop is a dangerous workshop!! (And last but not least a decent first aid kit with eye wash station :P)

3. Be ambitious, get out of your comfort zone, try new techniques and materials etc.…..by no means skip learning the basics but really try to push yourself and improve at least 1% more everything you step into the workshop….and if you make a mistake, keep it and record what errors were made so you know what to do (or what not to do next time).

Thanks for reading!

Cameron Elder

To get in touch with Cam or get one of his amazing knives: Sacred Blades Website