Journal

  There is quite a bit of repetitive motion in the knife shop. Forging can be fun but grinding and hand sanding are the real time sinks in knife making. Grinding the bevels on a knife can be the hardest part to get right and your brain can really get in the way. I actually listen to music or podcasts while grinding because I find that being slightly preoccupied helps me grind more consistently. I suppose I could just be alone with my thoughts but that doesn’t always work out so well. When I am grinding knives, I want to...

Chaos is clearly the natural state of my knife shop. There is a constant battle against clutter, dust, spills, and general disarray in the shop that I feel like I am always losing. Every day that I sweep the floor, I get a sizable pile of dirt and trash. How does this happen? No one is making the floor dirty or throwing trash down intentionally. The bearings on the grinder wheels regularly go bad and the aluminum wheels themselves wear down. Motors burn out, hammer handles break or get loose, bits and blades seem to last for only minutes before...

Many knifemakers have a workspace where they can go be alone. It’s a refuge from the stressful elements of their life where they can put on music or a podcast and be creative. They have their shop just like they like it, whether meticulously organized or a total disaster area. We have a community instead. We find our refuge in others as well as in the setting and the work. It is harder to share a space than to have one to yourself but it is better to share. The chance to work in an environment with other creatives who...

As I sit in my tiny cubicle trailer on the Forged in Fire set between Doug Marcida's "Keel" test with the other contestant I can't help but think back on how I got here.  I was only seriously making knives a couple years before being called to participate on season 2 of Forged in Fire. Ben Abbott won that competition and went on to win other episodes and eventually become a judge on the show. I'm back after 5 years to try again, but with greater experience comes a much greater challenge. This isn't a regular FIF episode, it is...