My name is Salko Safic, founder of “The Lost Scrolls of HANDWORK” magazine. Husband, father of five, three boys and two girls. I live and work wood in Australia on the Gold Coast in sunny Queensland and am a third-generation woodworker working wood with hand tools.
Third Generation Woodworker
My name is Salko Safic, founder of “The Lost Scrolls of HANDWORK” magazine. Husband, father of five, three boys and two girls. I live and work wood in Australia on the Gold Coast in sunny Queensland and am a third-generation woodworker working wood with hand tools.
I was first introduced to the craft by my father at seven. He was a toy maker who made rocking horses, cradles and other childrens’ toys for retail outlets. I worked with him on weekends and built my first cradle a few weeks later. I hadn’t realised then I had been bitten by the woodworking bug, and have been infected with the joy of working wood ever since.
I began making clocks professionally in 1998 and ceased operations in 2017 to spend more time with my family. This also freed me to explore other areas of the craft. I have a deep-rooted passion to build 18th century style furniture. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time, but never had the time to do it.
Somewhere along the way I decided to write about my journey in the craft. It started with the blog, then keeping a journal for my future generation and now this magazine. I’ve always felt that there was a need for a magazine that would cater to hand tool enthusiasts like myself. Since I’ve always worked with hand tools and ran a successful business using mostly hand tools, I was confident that there would be other like-minded craftsmen who would appreciate such a magazine. So, I took it upon myself to begin this magazine knowing full well just how challenging it would be, especially since my writing skills are not quite up there with the rest; just ask my editor Matt McGrane how he got those greys.
Many times, I wanted to throw in the towel; the challenge is enormous. But if I did, there’s currently no one out there willing to shoulder this enormous responsibility due to it not being “profitable” enough. I feel it’s my moral obligation to keep this magazine alive in order to reintroduce skill into the hands of those who want it so that those skills can be passed on to our future generations.
In a nutshell, I’m just a regular guy who is trying to do his part for humanity and the craft I love so dearly.
