We love to share the stories of our daily grind. Ha! Get it? Really, though, Instagram is an incredible platform to share what we love - knives, dogs, ponds, partners, friends, and stories... Click on each image for the story.
It’s time for the annual chefs knife raffle and I’m excited to announce the arrival of new Heartwood Forge artwork from an old neighbor, Kyle Key. Be sure to check out this Georgia-based artist - he’s an awesome dude and very talented artist that designs board games from the ground up. This year’s round of shirts are only available as raffle entries and are being sold as preorders. 1 shirt = 1 entry, so get your whole family outfitted and don’t forget those Aunts & Uncles! A winner will be drawn and announced on June 16th. Shirts will ship around July 4th.
ABOUT THE KNIFE: This hand forged petty (or small chefs knife) is made from 28 layers of contrasting carbon steel that have been forge welded together (1084 & 15n20). The full tang handle is dressed in Blue Smoke Maple Burl with an Ironwood bolster and micarta pins. This knife is covered by my lifetime guarantee just as though you purchased it as a custom order or from my newsletter.
11" overall length
6" blade length
124 grams
Includes HWF soft zippered case
Includes domestic shipping
Includes lifetime guarantee
HOW TO ENTER: Simple, purchase any quantity of the following new shirts:
1984 Mad Forge Shirt (<click link)
2019 Heartwood Shirt (<click link)
ABOUT THE SHIRTS Printed using water based ink on American grown, certified organic cotton that has been milled, cut, sewn and dyed domestically. These are my favorite shirts; they are ethically, environmentally sound and they get better with age. Once they're gone, they're gone so get your order in before June 15. Color of shirt is black. Domestic shipping included.
OFFICIAL RULES: Enter as many times as you like. Each shirt ordered counts as an entry.
WHEN IS THE WINNER DRAWN? I’ll draw a winner on June 16th and the winner will be contacted via email or phone once selected. Raffle closes at noon on June 15th. Drawing will be held on June 16th, 2019.
WHEN DO YOU SHIP THE SHIRTS? Shirts will ship when they are back from the print house - who is estimating July 4th.
As I prepare knives for a long awaited newsletter, I often wonder about who is or isn't being served by my work. Who gets to indulge in the hand made world? There was a point in history that we were all afforded the right to own handmade objects - as they were the only option. We live in a world where I believe the real national deficit is human connection. What connects me to anything else? My food? My land? My animals? It's the human touch. I believe fulfillment is found in this connection and I want to give people the opportunity to NOT go to a box store to purchase their next do-all knife.
It has always been my intention to make knives by hand from recycled materials that many people can afford and as I've been enjoying my journey in knife making, pushing myself to whatever next level is calling, I am finally in a place to distinguish between different finishes, build qualities, materials and processes. This line of knives takes inspiration from my earliest work, and by stripping down the process, I can sell them for a fraction of the price of my current custom work.
As I will use scraps from around my shop for the blades and handles, I will not be accepting orders for these knives as they will exist as time and materials allow and they will be available as they are completed. Drawing on the idea that one day our civilization will be judged based on what we throw out and what we do with our trash, the Heritage Series strives to make resourcefulness a part of our Heritage. What would future generations think about some of our habits? Let me know your thoughts on this whole idea... drop me email: will@heartwoodforge.com
In celebration Spring, combined with the opening of the new studio space in Jonesborough, TN and the arrival of new HWF art from beloved Georgia based artist, Margot Ecke, the 2018 Giveaway is underway! Scroll all the way down for details! Check out recent blog post on the new space here!
ABOUT THE KNIFE:
This knife up for grabs is a hand forged petty, or small chefs knife (pictured above) made from shop made san mai (three layers of steel forge welded together). The hard steel in the middle is 52100 ball bearing steel and the soft protective cladding is 304 stainless steel. The handle is a simple full tang dressed in African Blackwood from a Parisian clarinet factory with burlap laminate and red G10 liners/spacers w/ black micarta pins.
HOW TO ENTER:
Purchase a print ($13 = 1 entry), homestead tee ($26 = 2 entries), ladies tank ($36 = 3 entries) or the smith hammered tee ($36 = 3 entries) <<click links : Price includes domestic shipping. Once they're gone, they're gone.
this print gets your name entered once (1x)
this shirt gets your name entered twice (2x)
this shirt gets your name entered thrice (3x)
this shirt gets your name entered thrice (3x)
OFFICIAL RULES:
Enter as many times as you like. Each print ordered counts as one entry, each homestead tee counts as two entries & each hammer forged tee or ladies tank counts as three entries.
WHEN WILL I BE NOTIFIED?
The winner will be contacted via email or phone once we have selected the winner. Drawing will be held on Monday, May 14, 2018 at 3pm EST (day after Mother's Day!).
I can guess why early Spring is so amazing - is it the newness of life, that thawing of winter and the arrival of the much needed warmth, sun and vegetation? Or is something bigger happening? I don't know, but it will always be a vibrant awakening from dormancy in our household. Consequently, early spring is when Lee and I got married and is the season immediately following the making "official" of Heartwood Forge on Valentines Day back in 2013...
Fast forward to now... It has been a long winter, spent primarily alone in Georgia as I awaited the imminent relocation to TN (my lovely wife took a job as director of the Mountain Harvest Kitchen in beautiful Unicoi, TN). The ever-looming, never-ending, ever-expensive new shop build took forever and a day it seems, as we fell in love with an old small bungalow on Main Street with no shop but plenty of space for one. I naively took our contractor's word that it would take a month... 8 months later... I spent the better half of 2017 at the old shop outside of Athens, GA chomping at the bit to move on with my life, move in with my wife and get to work in the new location. Roots are big for me and the sooner I get transplanted the better off I am... I was anxious and ready and despite the shop not being any where near finished, I moved up just before Christmas and had plenty of cold wet nastiness awaiting me in Tennessee. It was a hard winter but it's great to be back in the same place as my wife and dogs.
Without boring you too much, it's too bad someone as talented as Lee couldn't find satisfying work in a great town like Athens, GA - despite having a Masters degree, it was the restaurant world or nothing for a food scientist. Like all major life events, the relocation was a blessing in disguise as we settled upon a great little community, Jonesborough, TN - the oldest city in the whole state and we're just an hour north of Asheville. The country is beautiful, full of rolling hills that transform into the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. The people are great too, we're surrounded by a small town that is focused on community, craft, food, farming and neighbors - it's a big change from our secluded piece of heaven in Jefferson, GA but it's a great change. At any given minute I am surrounded by talented folks who are ready to drop what they're doing and give me a hand.
It also happens that a quarter mile down the road toward town (we live on Main Street) is the shop of Curtis Buchanan - the world famous chair maker who my dad studied with in 1992. He's a philosophical force and turning into a great friend. It's a full circle feeling of knowing my own father better by befriending a man I heard about so often from my father growing up. More on that later.
The new shop is finally done. While any creative space is always a work in progress, for all intensive purposes, it's done. I have my speakers in there and all my shop equipment in. Give me 5 more years and it will be even more complete, but Spring is here, the shop is done and it's time for the annual spring chefs knife giveaway. Read more about that on an upcoming post.
The shop was designed by my good friend Alex, former college roommate and childhood bud from Tallahassee. He's now an architect/designer/builder in Yellow Springs, OH, but he came down one weekend to help me flesh out the idea of the new space. Check his company out if you are into well built homes and unique, thoughtful designs of spaces.
