About Me
I was born and raised in the south of Germany in the region of the river Rheine. When I was a young boy, my father (a fanatic hunter) took me out to his favourite hunting grounds and on various hunts. I can not remember the day I got my first knife; I just remember always having one, or more. As a teenager we went away for weekends and slept outside in the forests of the river Rheine. I learnt very quickly the difference between a good quality knife and a bad one. At the age of 16 I got my first 50 cc motorbike and from then on there was no holding me back!
Every Friday evening after work we left with just our sleeping bags and the most essential things strapped to our bikes. Even the cold in the winter did not stop our enthusiasm for our weekend getaways. We taught ourselves the basics of motorbike repairs and also started to make our first custom knives Pic. These were made from industrial saw blades from my father's workshop. It impressed other people to see how we carved using a big roofing nail. The blades worked so well that you could still slice paper with them after carving on metal. These types of blades had two big drawbacks however: Firstly, it was very hard work to grind the saw blades into the design (they were not allowed to get too hot as they would lose their hardness) and secondly, they broke very easily because they were so hard.
In 1975 I was working at the Polytechnic Institute in Karlsruhe as a machine constructor. Another worker and I had always the milling machine running during our lunch break. I would work with a mouth full of food, holding my lunch in my left hand while using my right hand to drill holes into my disc brakes. At the same time the other man worked on his first big Bowie knife blades. Nowadays nearly every one who is interested in handmade knives in or around Europe knows his name - it was the young "Wolf Borger".
In the following years I rode my Harley all over Europe. Up to Sweden, down to Spain, over to England and many times into the Alps of Austria, Switzerland and Italy. (After 110.000 miles I overhauled the engine, bored and stoked it with S&S parts to make it run much faster). I still have my first Harley - Davidson. We always appreciated the importance of the quality of a knife. When you are travelling with a bike your knife is your can opener, used to rivet your chain, take the isolation off cables or drill a hole in your fender. In just one weekend living on the road you learnt if your knife will do what you expect and need it to do.
After staying in America, Canada and Africa, the wish to have more freedom was growing inside me, and in 1986 I made the decision to leave my homeland of Germany to move somewhere with more sunshine, more open nature and where I could live and work more freely. I found my new home here in Portugal, on the Algarve coast, just 20 km away from the most south-westerly point of Europe.
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Every Friday evening after work we left with just our sleeping bags and the most essential things strapped to our bikes. Even the cold in the winter did not stop our enthusiasm for our weekend getaways. We taught ourselves the basics of motorbike repairs and also started to make our first custom knives Pic. These were made from industrial saw blades from my father's workshop. It impressed other people to see how we carved using a big roofing nail. The blades worked so well that you could still slice paper with them after carving on metal. These types of blades had two big drawbacks however: Firstly, it was very hard work to grind the saw blades into the design (they were not allowed to get too hot as they would lose their hardness) and secondly, they broke very easily because they were so hard.
In 1975 I was working at the Polytechnic Institute in Karlsruhe as a machine constructor. Another worker and I had always the milling machine running during our lunch break. I would work with a mouth full of food, holding my lunch in my left hand while using my right hand to drill holes into my disc brakes. At the same time the other man worked on his first big Bowie knife blades. Nowadays nearly every one who is interested in handmade knives in or around Europe knows his name - it was the young "Wolf Borger".
In the following years I rode my Harley all over Europe. Up to Sweden, down to Spain, over to England and many times into the Alps of Austria, Switzerland and Italy. (After 110.000 miles I overhauled the engine, bored and stoked it with S&S parts to make it run much faster). I still have my first Harley - Davidson. We always appreciated the importance of the quality of a knife. When you are travelling with a bike your knife is your can opener, used to rivet your chain, take the isolation off cables or drill a hole in your fender. In just one weekend living on the road you learnt if your knife will do what you expect and need it to do.
After staying in America, Canada and Africa, the wish to have more freedom was growing inside me, and in 1986 I made the decision to leave my homeland of Germany to move somewhere with more sunshine, more open nature and where I could live and work more freely. I found my new home here in Portugal, on the Algarve coast, just 20 km away from the most south-westerly point of Europe.
In 1987 I sold my Harley-Davidson shop in Germany and bought a big piece of land on which I built my round dream house. I am still living here, and with the wild years behind me I finally settled and married my wife Wanida in 2007. We were married in the north of Thailand, 60 kms away from the Laos border.
Wanida is a fully qualified Thai Yoga massage practitioner and takes care of our visitors and the guest's cottage. Wanida is also professional masseur with many years experience and is available for bookings. I work in my bike shop "Cavalo de Ferro" (Iron Horse) where I build custom bikes and base my knife business. The knives are my passion and are made in any spare time I have. Sometimes I work late into the night in my workshop finishing the knives.
If you would like to have a handmade custom knife, whether for hunting, fishing, outdoor use or other, please consult me. I can advise you and work with you to create a knife which will suit your personal wishes and requirements. You can choose everything from the steel, design and fabrication. I can also make a knife for you to any design, colour or size if you already know what you would like. I always carry blades, handle materials and different blocks of wood in stock.In my spare time I like to ride my bikes (on my dirt bike across country or on my Harley for longer road trips).
We go fly-fishing for bass out at the big reservoir (15 min away) or I take a 3 minute drive over to Praia da Luz (beach of light) to catch fresh saltwater fish in the ocean. During the summer months we sleep outside on our roof terrace under the beautiful clear, star covered sky. We hear the sound of the frogs in my pond and sometimes the sound of the little owls which breed every year under our roof. No traffic noises, no polluted air, no stress - it's just beautiful - and this is why I'm here!
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If you ever visit the Algarve coast, please come and visit us. Here we still have the time to sit back, relax and converse over a cool beer or a glass of "Vinho tinto". I have lived here for 20 years, speak Portuguese and can always give you very good tips about what to see and where to visit. Even if you have not booked your holiday with us and are staying in the area you can build your own knife on one of our knife courses. If you are interested in booking a vacation in our cottage "CASA VELHA", see: www.Goodtimealgarve.com Or contact us.