Slaboon Knife smith –Phayao 

  Knife is one of the oldest tool of human being since the time of the pre-historic era. We will you to see the knife smith of Phayao. 

Work shop

Forging the iron

Te work shop of this place is at Ban longhi, Maesai, Phayao . People in this village earn living by creating knives, shovels, all kinds of agricultural tools for generation. The arts of blacksmith followed since the time of the grandfather, even the new technology still can not replace this arts work.

At his work plac	He is the one
Careful and attention	At work

 Slaboon is the blacksmith at his workshop, at the age of around 50, he has the education of the grade school and follow the tradition of the family. After the grade school at the age of a little more than10, he has been in this business for almost 4 decades.

Heating the iron	Foreign the iron
In the process	Cut to all sizes

 The knife smith told us that each day 30 knives is done from this shop, and one day in a week. It is easy to calculate 30x26 = 780 knives in a month.  In one year he can do 780x12 = 9,360 in a year.  So, in his almost 4 decades, more than 300,000 knives were made by Slaboon. His work shop is simple, consisting of charcoal stove, water basic to cool the knifes  for hardening , steel for forging , hammers, sharpening stones, etc.

Leaves spring for forging knives	Cut into shape
Ready to forge into shape	Tools ready

  Working time is 7 o’clock to 3 o’clock in the afternoon, by aiming at 30 pieces a day.  The spring leaf is about 4x12 inches, using 3 blacksmiths with 3 hammers to forge the iron into shape, excluding Slaboon which handle the piece of red hot iron with the throng on the steel to be shape. So, it takes 4 blacksmith to shape the knife. When they forge all the amount  they want, then they put them in the hot fire for hardening.

Red hot iron	Bending into shape
Using 4 blacksmiths in one stove	Three hammers and one to handle the heating and control the piece of blade.

  They heat the iron and hammer into shape, each hammer takes few seconds rhythm for about 1 minutes. Then the piece of red hot iron cool down and started to change color. Then it is time to reheat in the stove to red hot again for hammering the next round. After a few minutes rest during the piece of iron is being heating in the stove, the iron get red hot and time to hit again.

Hammering	Four of them at work
Sharpening on the stone	Nicely finished

After finish into shape, time to grind and sharpening. It is done by using high speed fiber sharpening, for special knife, special care is taken by hand hone sharpening and polishing.

The tools	Just resting
Hammer the logo	Hammering

When the iron is hit into shape, the logo is hammer into the products with 1 hard hit by heavy hammer. 

The last process is putting the knife in the handle .	Putting in the handle
	Our photographers

Hammering	Resting
Blacksmith	For shaping the iron
Tools for logo	Giving the knife as the gift

 It is a long, hot and hard process to turn a piece of leaf spring from the pick up truck, into the useful tool of the man. We have shown our friends the procedure of crafting the steel in to the knife. You can make a trip to Phayao and see this long and dying arts by yourself.

The knife to repair	Took a knife with wooden handle
	Change to toaster
แกนเหล็กใหญ่ที่มารองรับการตีมีดทุกวัน	attention

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