I was watching Forged in Fire the Hollywood Edition which aired on September 12, 2018. Instead of forging their signature blade in round 1 they had to forge a survival knife based on Rambo. the knife they used of inspiration was the Gil Hibben knife that he made for Rambo 3. I was disappointed that he wasn’t given credit. However this gave me thought about who my inspirations were in knife making and bladesmithing.
I think the first time I was aware of how knives were made was when I was 16 and snuck into see Conan The Barbarian because it was rated R. Even though the sword making scene was complete fantasy it ignited a fire in me. It took me about 7 years later to make that dream a reality. I met a smith, Thomas Powers at a reenactment event and after conniving him to let me try it out I was hooked.
From Thomas I met Tom Maranger who had the cleanest grind lines I’ve ever seen. He also introduced me to The Complete Bladesmith by Jim Hrisoulas which gave me a text book of sorts to work on my own.
The next big influence was taking a damascus forging class from Hugh Bartrug. I learned more that week from an experienced smith than I was able to learn from books and my own feeble attempts at smithing on my own.
Master Smith Don Fogg. was another huge eyeopener for me. I knew him by reputation and from on line via The Bladesmiths Forum. He was always willing to share his knowledge and help out other smiths. I met him at a hammer in at Larry Harley’s. He forged a blade out of some bloomery steel made by Ric Furrer on site. Don forges better than I grind. His hammer control is unbelievable. Meeting Ric, Kevin Cashen and Rick Barrett just added to the experience over the weekend.
To list a few more in no particular order:
JRR Tolkien, Robert E Howard, King Arthur, Robin Hood, Beowulf, Viking Sagas, and countless museums, history and sci-fi and fantasy stories. Organizations like Artists Blacksmiths of North America (ABANA), American Bladesmith Society (ABS) and Southern Ohio Forge and Anvil (SOFA). Finally all the people who have taken the time to teach demo and talk shop over the years like all
Never stop learning and forging
Who are your influences?
Adlai
Photo By Sarah Elizabeth Photography