Bigfoot Forge LLC

02/04/2025

This is Ryan’s last custom knife he will make for several years. He has loved making knives for the last few years and will continue blade smithing for many more years. However, he has decided to halt his retail work. For the next few years, he will be on a pursuit of working diligently on becoming a Master Smith with the American Bladesmith Society. This will include honing his skills, learning and practicing new processes, testing, and being judged on the works submitted.
This will take several years, lots of work, and lots of shows and travel.
We will still post as much, and as often as we can, to showcase his work in this new phase of his blade smithing journey.
We thank all of y’all for your past support and for continuing to follow him in this new path forward.

12/21/2024

I think I might have posted this a while back…but I just came across again today. It’s a camp hatchet Ryan made out of a big old wrench. We were pretty surprised that is was made of really good hardened steel.
I love it more today than when Ryan created it.

11/16/2024

Ryan just finished this skinning/multi-purpose backpack knife.
It comes with the soft leather transport pouch pictured.
The 4 inch blade is 80CRV2 hand forged steel and the full tang handle is OD green Micarta scales paired with coyote g10 liners, of which, are free-hand crafted by Ryan.
This is most likely the last knife build that will be available for purchase this year.
Ryan has donated this knife to the Cedar Creek Fire District for It’s annual fundraiser that is being held today at their Fire station. The only way you can buy this knife, is to bid on it today at the silent auction. Please bid and be generous as the proceeds will be used for community fire protection services. Thanks.

11/15/2024

Good morning. This is my first Blade post in a long while. Ryan finished up delivered these museum quality hunting spears this week.
They are made with hand forged 80CRV2 steel and fastened to a 7’6” strait grain European ash Japanese martial arts Bo Staff.
They are full tang and held in place in a groove in the staff using two pins and a Bronze compression ring followed by a wet rawhide wrap.
The spear point is 18 inches from the point to the rear of the wings.
The hollow ground bevels are hand sanded and acid etched.
They are a sight to behold for sure.

11/09/2024

Good morning folks. I’m sorry for the long lapse of posts. Too much going on; a long Irish vacation, private knife builds, etc…
Starting next week, Ryan will start working on a series of knives that will be available first come first serve. I will post his progress on each build so stay tuned.
Next year he will be creating several knives to be tested and judged for his ABS Journeyman certification.
Also, the photo is Ryan and his Momma at one of the prettiest places we visited in Ireland.

06/15/2024

Here’s a sneak peak into Ryan’s brain. He makes lots of skinners and looks like he has plans for a new take on an old favorite. This is a Nesmuck style Skinner. I have asked him to make several of these to have available for this upcoming hunting season. Hopefully he can make a few of these in between his other customer requests.
I don’t normally see his knife sketches, but he left this one on the table last night… 😂

06/13/2024

This is Bob Rich. He is a professional Leather crafter and is now making all our knife and blade sheaths. His work is top quality. He also does leather wrapping for us as well.
We strongly recommend him If you need any leather work or repair. Feel free to contact him at Rich Leather goods on Facebook or call or text him at 319-538-5450.

06/13/2024

This is the guard Ryan made for the Viking sword. This is the oldest piece of hand wrought iron we could find. We didn’t have it tested but it appears to be iron made from ore mined in North Western Europe and with the process used by the Vikings. This same process was used from about 700 AD to somewhere about 1725 AD . It’s definitely what the Vikings would have used in making their swords and weapons. It’s just stunningly beautiful.

06/13/2024

Ryan is back to making some kitchen knives…his bread and butter. This one just came out of heat treating.

06/12/2024

Hello folks. I have been extremely quiet about all that Ryan has been doing for months. It’s hard to post new creations of Ryan’s when they are secret special gifts. And also we respect the wishes and confidentiality of our customers.
With that being said, Ryan has put in countless hours over the last 10 weeks on a special creation for a great customer. And now we have permission to post pictures and info on this amazing creation.
Ryan doesn’t create many swords or long blades… but he took on a very complex and difficult project: a ninth century Viking sword that is about the closest as an original Viking made sword from about 850 AD as is possible.
It took lots of time, patience, research, and hard work. But in the end, Ryan created a true work of art in the form of a real, high quality, custom Viking sword.
I won’t go into the details of how it was made or what materials were used but here are some pictures . Please feel free to message us with any questions you may have. Thanks you all for following and liking Ryan’s page and creations.

04/04/2024