|
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Howard F. Clark
Howard Clark was born in January 1962. He currently resides on the
228 acre farm in Iowa, United States, where he grew up.
Howard has been a full time blade smith for over 17 years. As a
member of the American Blade smith Society he earned his
Journeyman ranking with the ABS in 1990 and his Master smith
status in 1992. Howard is also a member of the Knife makers Guild
and a voting member since 1996.
Howard’s interest in knife making harks back to adolescence when,
much to his mothers dismay, he would reshape and “improve” the
household’s kitchen knives. As a full time maker of edged tools
and weapons Howard quickly came into his own. Blessed with a eye
for distal taper surrounding a strait plane, even early knives
possessed the balance and organic flow which is distinctive to his
work. His personal desire to produce blades that would not chip or
bend and would remain sharp with extended use drew Howard into the
field of metallurgy.
Through extensive reading and experimentation Howard delved into
the microstructure of modern steel and heat treating practice. He
is grateful for the introduction to Dr. John D Verhoeven and the
Department Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State
University. With access to the research tools of the metals lab
Howard was able to verify his findings through scientific method.
This quest resulted in listing as co-author with Dr. John D.
Verhoeven in several published papers, respect within the knife
making subculture as a “heat treatment guru” and in the L6
Japanese style katana currently the top performance blade in the
martial sword arts.
|
