A little history...
In the fall of 1993, I was 21 years old embarking on a career of welding! The first four years were spent going to college and working at a welding/fabrication shop.I became fully certified and gained and incredible amount of knowledge and experience in the welding/fabrication trade.
1997 became a memorable year for me as I was walking down the railway tracks on my way to work
one day when I came across a railway spike. I showed the spike to an older coworker named Gary and he told me that I could make a knife out of it! That night after work, I started collecting and purchasing some basic tools and a book on how to make knives. After some time, I transformed that railway spike into a knife! It was very basic and simple but it was what I had set out to accomplish. I showed the knife to Gary and he said "it looks good but..." Gary picked that knife apart because he knew that I could do better than that and he wanted me to do the best that I could! Over the course of that year, I made many knives and each one would be criticized by Gary until one day he brought a large Bowie knife in to show me. He had made the knife some years earlier. It was very nicely crafted with an ebony handle and silver/nickel pommel and bolster! In a bag he gave me were some slabs of exotic hardwoods from around the world. He said to keep the wood in exchange for a knife. I spent the next week in my spare time constructing a knife for Gary and when I was done I felt very humbled with my accomplishment and was hooked from then on. I continued welding for many years and became a ticketed pressure and structural welder. Throughout the years I have dreamed of owning my own welding business. Still working on knives in my spare time, continually getting better and better. Gaining experience through trial and error, researching and applying the metallurgical knowledge I have gained throughout the many years I have served in the welding trade. I have often thought about establishing a custom knife making business, I enjoy the artistic expression, original character and the useful properties of the hand crafted custom made knife.
