One of my earliest memories I have is from helping my dad make pens. He had a stool set up by the lathe and my job was to rub the stick of polish on when it was time. I feel like that was when I first developed a love for making things!

From there, I started into woodworking. I made little carvings and helped out with different projects that needed to be built around the house. Although I wasn’t very good at a lot of these projects, I really liked using nice wood. This has carried on into my knife making, so I enjoy picking out good wood for handles. The better materials you start out with, the better the final product is gonna be. And I’ve gotten much better than I used to be!

When I was, I think 7, I got my first pocket knife at a yard sale. They had a whole box of junky ones, and they were selling them $5 a piece. Dad said, “You have $5, so you can go buy one if you want.” And I did. It was a terrible knife, but I really enjoyed having it. I’d whittle and cut things. But when that wasn’t enough I decided to try making my own knives. I was 12 or 13 when I first decided to use some scrap metal and start making knives, and luckily, I’ve steadily improved since then!

I kept practicing, and I got decent at making knives. I have a problem though, where I’m never quite happy with what I’m currently doing. So I tried my hand at damascus. I was hooked from the very first time! That’s mostly what I make now. There’s just something about the big pattern reveal after all the hours of hard work that makes me want to keep making more!