That’s a relief. A worrying number of the knife makers one encounters online seem to make weapons too, great scimitar-like numbers for martial arts – available blunt-edged, or scarily sharp – as well as swords and spears. Edmonds, too, has had some strange requests. “People have asked for ninja throwing stars, there was a South African who wanted a machete, and a guy who said he worked in a chicken factory who wanted a huge cleaver but without any logo on – it’s a bit suspicious, isn’t it?” He turned all of them down. The process of making a knife by hand is a lengthy one, and Edmonds can make only four or five a week, as he chooses to do all the work himself. First off the blades are laser cut from a sheet of steel at a local firm, following Edmonds’s design. The blade needs to be wide enough that when chopping your knuckles don’t hit the work surface, be flat-edged at the handle end so that a good length comes into contact with the chopping surface, and curved towards the tip to allow for an efficient rocking action.