Presentation
My name is Anders Hedlund of Sweden and I am 37 years old. I live in the village of Sämstad, on the west coast of Sweden.
My wife's name is Pernilla and our son Samuel is four and a half years old.
I made my first knife in the wood shop in school at age 15.
It was so much fun so I made two knives instead of just one.
That teacher is the only instructor I have ever had in the art of knife making. Everything else is learned from books, by asking other knifemakers, and by trial and error.
My other childhood passion took over completely when I graduated from school at 18. Fishing was the name of the game.
I fish almost anything that swims but carp and trout are two favourites.
A few years later, I begun working as a church janitor, a job much like a gardener, and on the brakes.
I started making knives again. At that point, very simple knives with factory made blades. Nevertheless,
I got to sell a knife or two and that gave me the inspiration to carry on with my knife making.
After having used factory made blades for a while, I started making my own blades out of stainless steels such as RWL-34 from Söderfors, Marss 500 and AEB-L from Uddeholm. I ground them out on a slow working Tormek sandstone grinder.

I heard about the Swedish Knifemaker’s Association, so I phoned called them up and joined the organization. With the membership came an excellent magazine with pictures of other knifemaker’s knives, and a lot of info about knife making. This magazine became a great source of inspiration to me. It also had info about knife competitions around the country.
I decided to send a knife to a Swedish competition in Söderhamn in 1999, and I received good reviews on the knife but was told it could be improved. I got ”bitten” hard by the "knife bug" and sent more knives to competitions, and in 2002, the first time I attended the Swedish Championships, I became Swedish Champion. In 2002, I won the open class, the elaborate working knife, and the folder class. In the 2003 Swedish Championship, I won the working class, the elaborate working class, the full tang class, and the folder class. In 2004, it went equally well with wins in 5 different classes - the open class, the full tang class, the folding class, and the special class. In the 2005 Swedish Championship, I won the full tang class, the open class, and the folder class. In the 2006 Swedish Championship, I took first and second place in the folder class. In the 2007 Swedish Championship, I took first place in the Team Work class together with two of my friends, Ulf Brandt and Robert Mattsson. This knife also won the visitors price for the most beautiful knive at the show. In the 2008 Swedish Championship, I won the elaborate working class, folder class and the class grinded knifeblades.Those are my awards in the Swedish Championship so far. I also in the 2006, won the Nordic Championship in Ludvika, Sweden, Mr Jonny Walker Nilsson Prize of honour. I also won the fixed knife non forge class in the 2005 Paris SICAC show.
I have had knives publizied in La passion des Couteaux and in the Excalibur, both great French magazines. I have also have knives publizied in Knives Illustrated and in Blade, the two biggest American magazines.
My little specialty is carvings in leather sheaths and custom made folder boxes. The carving is done with a small scalpel looking knife. All carving must be done on a finished and dry sheath, so if you make a mistake, you will have to sew a new sheath and start all over.

I try to use only the finest materials, both in the knife handle and in the choice of steel. I buy Damascus bars from Sweden’s, and the rest of the worlds top smiths, or Damasteel, and shape and grind almost all blades myself with the bar stock removal method. Occasionally, I use other makers' ready made blades, for instance Conny Persson and Mattias Styrefors, but only for stick tang type of knives. My folders exclusively have Damascus or mosaic damascus blades of my own grinding.
I make all kinds of knives - stick and full tang fixed blades, folders, and daggers. I am not afraid of trying to make new sorts of knives as long as the design is good. However, at the moment, folders are closest to my heart.
Design is important to me. The lines must be flawless during the drawing phase or else the knife will never be made. I see myself as a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my knives. Perhaps this is the reason I have done so well in the Swedish Championship.

Favourite handle materials are desert ironwood, mammoth and mother of pearl. But I use almost any material, it just has to have that little extra. When I use Scandinavian wood in knife handles, it is almost exclusively stabilized wood.
My folders tends to have exlusive mosaic bolsters and mosaic or damascus blade. I love to work with Mother of pearl and mammoth Ivory. I especially love the chocolate brown mammoth. Many of the folders that I make have gold pins.
I regulary make slim folding daggers. The daggers almost always feature mother of pearl or black lip pearl, often with pique work. The pique work is always done with 24k gold.

My knife making is moving towards more and more fancy and high end knives because they are so much more fun to do. It is so much more satisfying! I like to spend a lot of time on each knife, so it will become unique and as perfect as possible. I am constantly learning new things that I use on my knives, and I am not afraid to try new things.
After a week`s crash course in the art of engraving with GRS instructor Sam Alfano, I have continued teaching myself in this difficul art. My hope for the future is to produce good quality engravings on both my sticktang type of knives as well for my folders.

Knifemakers should share knowledge so we can learn from each other. This way knife making will evolve and all knifemakers will make better knives. I consider knife making an art form that requires mastering many different skills. You have to, like the drawer, have the feel for lines, so you can make exact drawings or templates. The painter's feel for colour is also necessary so that you can match the different knife materials. You also have to have the ability to envision the finished knife in the raw material, just like the sculptor does with a piece of stone or wood. And just like the sculptor, you remove material until the piece is finished.

In the future I am hoping to continue to travel to different knife shows around the world, trying to make my knives loved by collectors worldwide.

Abroad from Sweden I do the februari ECCKS knifeshow in New York and the september SICAC knifeshow in Paris every year.
I am a member of the Swedish Knifemaker’s Association, and the Scandinavian Knifemaker’s Guild.

Best regards
Knifemaker Anders Hedlund
Sweden