Learning from a professional

“Knife and man, they belong together”

Men from a wide range of professions make a pilgrimage to Salzburg knife maker Richard Kappeller (front).(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

Highly concentrated and full of anticipation, a dozen men are drilling and sharpening. They all want one thing: to make their very own knife. A well-known professional is at their side to show them how it's done.

Richard Kappeller's knife-making course in Salzburg-Gnigl is noisy. Several grinding machines are running simultaneously in the workshop. A dozen men bend over the tools that are being created in their hands.

The anticipation of their home-made knives can already be seen in many of them. Matthias Hang from Kuchl has brought wood from his walnut tree. "I use it to make the handle," he says, looking forward to the personal touch of his workpiece. The software developer is fascinated by what you can make with your own hands. As a boy scout, he wants to make fire chips with his knife.

"Mine will be the most beautiful"
"Knives and people have belonged together since prehistory. I want mine to be the most beautiful," grins an entrepreneur from Styria as he drills holes in the handle of his knife. "I started cooking when I retired. That's why I want a unique knife," says Gerhard Widhalm from Salzburg, looking up from his work. He finds the two-day men's workshop decelerating and meditative.

The manual work lasts two days. Mistakes are polished away.(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

Few words are spoken on the course, which is mostly booked by men. But when Richard Kappeller speaks, everyone listens carefully. "Please listen. Now take the 240-grit sandpaper. Make sure you don't get a heel in it," explains the man from Salzburg and then everyone disperses again.

Kappeller once found his passion at the Holztechnikum Kuchl. "We had to identify types of wood. I looked at wooden handles with a knife maker," he recalls. Customers now come to his store and courses from as far away as Dubai, and he employs nine people. This year, the master knife maker won 2nd prize at the Salzburg Craftsmanship Award - and next year he will be going to the World Exhibition.