Like Podcasts?

Here is a podcast I was interviewed on a while back.

How It All Began…

I got interested in knifemaking as an idea around the end of 2017/beginning of 2018. At that time I got really, really into History Channel’s Forged in Fire. I was TiVo’ing reruns and watching each episode multiple times. At one point I thought to myself, “You know…that doesn’t look THAT hard….I could probably do it.” That was the proverbial first step on my thousand mile journey in knifemaking. The binging of Forged in Fire turned into gorging myself on YouTube videos. It was through watching video after video that I found out about ‘stock removal’ knifemaking. That’s what I do. Rather than heat and hammer a bar of steel into shape. I take a bar of steel and grind away material until it is the shape I want.

I started making my first knife in March 2018. That knife, and the few that followed it, I made by removing the material with hacksaws, files, and sandpaper. That is completely doable. You can buy a couple files for 20 bucks, watch a couple videos on YouTube, and get to work, but it takes time, and is murder on your elbows. Regardless of the effort I was hooked. By the time I finished three or four knives it became clear that if I was going to progress I ‘d need better gear. I spent several month piecing together parts to build my own 2x72 belt grinder (the 2x72 is the workhorse of a knife shop). The good news was…the grinder worked, the bad news was…the treadmill motor I’d scavenged overheated with prolonged use. I was, needless to say, very upset. This was a critical turning point, because I went to my wife and asked her if I could spend $1500.00 on an actual grinder. She gave me the green light. I’ve got to pause here to say…I couldn’t do this without the support of my amazing wife. I am gone for work 50 hours a week, and I use a lot of my time at home to work on knives. It just wouldn’t be possible without her love and support.

A little over a year from starting my first knife, April 2019, I got my business license and officially started North Mountain Knives LLC. Since then my focus has been on improving my knives through improving my ability as a knifemaker, and getting better equipment. What does the future hold? Who knows? Maybe I will be the perpetual hobbyist. Maybe NMK will take off and I’ll go full time. All I know is I have a whole lot left to learn, and I look forward to learning it.