Where does the time go, been a while since Ive posted for a variety of reasons, the best of which is that I’ve been preparing with @mjderk for the imminent arrival of our first child. We’ve opted to not find out the sex for a bit of mystery to look forward to, and lucky to have the friends, family, and support available with Oregon to have our first child.
I’ll be taking PTO away from the shop to help with the first several weeks and plan to take Oregon paid leave this fall so there will be times I’m away from the day to day @acre.forge so be sure to follow the main account to stay posted on new things being rolled out this year.
I had planned to take the holidays off for posting and get back at it early January, but as I’m sure we all know by now, more pressing and horrific events are taking place back in my home state (and current state).
It hasn’t felt right to post about something as novel as a knife to sell, or work in progress before I touch on what many of you know, which is twin cities area where I’m from. I have lots of friends and family in that area, and for years, used to work a mile or two from that neighborhood and have visited many bars, restaurants, and live music in that area. I know plenty of people that fit the description of a 37 year old mother going about her business to where I needed to wait for the deceased name to be released, and although it was unlikely I would know her, still saddened and blown away by not just the actions of ICE, lack of accountability from leadership down, and slander of a domestic terrorist thrown on a mom, before her body was even cold, who was just returning home from dropping a 6 year old off at school.
Relying on IG to sell knives is weird dichotomy, in a large sense of the world, what I do is tiny and trivial, I make a tool that is meant to be used every day, and that makes cooking easier and more enjoyable, and I sell it. There’s so much more good and bad going on out there on a way larger scale, it can feel weird to interject in hopes of selling a knife in the chaos that is social media and the world we live in, but it is what I do for a living and what I need to do to pay my rent. As an introvert, putting myself out there is always a conscious effort I have to make against my inner comfort, and feel even more off during times like this. (This isn’t about me, just rambling)
Know that although I’ll be posting knives, my heart is with the people of Minnesota who just want the freedom to live a peaceful life without being brutalized.
Thank you for listening to my ramble, and stay safe out there. Support your friends, loved ones, and community, buy local and support like minded establishments and have a good MLK day all.
Today seems like a good day to feature this 9.5” AEBL slicer with a beautiful piece of fiddleback koa and evergreen and black G10 liners. The added length and narrow blade height are perfect for carving roasts and larger format food for family and friends. Happy holidays! @acre.forge
Last call for raffle entries (7 pm pacific) and will draw the winner tonight! 10$ per entry to @jamisonchoppknives on Venmo or @jamison.chopp_ !!re_email!!_gmail.com.
I wanted to speak a little about why I’ve contributed to @lynnsagebreastcancer over the years. They’ve always been research focused, and it’s always been nice seeing them send a letter indicating which doctors or study in particular the contributions have helped fund. At a time when research is being cut, the effects will not be felt in full for decades as new cures and treatments suffer the fate of funding. Had my mom faced her illness 15 to 20 years later, her fate may have been different, i hope we still are able to work towards new treatments and medicine
One reason I love using this photo with the Life magazine, it sums up a lot that I never expected when losing a parent at 20. I never had any formal grief counseling to try and understand grief, although I wish I did. You grieve the immediate loss as well as the memories from the past and it’s impossible to even comprehend anything beyond that, but you never realize that you’ll have to grieve the loss of things you’ll never share with them, or what they get to see from your life. I know she would be a huge supporter of not just what I’m doing for a living, but the changes I made to get here from a job I wasn’t fulfilled at, and the role her passing played in that. She never got to see me move west on my own to be in the mountains and new city, never got to see me become a knife maker, never got to meet Maggie or her family, never got to be at our wedding, and will never eventual meet family we’ll have together in Portland.
At the end of the day, the grief never truly goes away, it gets better, and easier, but it’s always there because it’s always changing as you experience things you’ll never share that you never could have predicted and therefore grieved previously. My heart truly goes out to those that have experienced firsthand or as a supporter, the physical and emotional toll it takes on all around. Every year not only is this an opportunity I have to do something to give back, but it’s a good exercise to think both about positives and negatives I’ve experienced through the year and grieve a little. Details for the raffle all in the post yesterday
Wanted to highlight another from the @damasteelab show Saturday, this one was my first time using musk ox horn as scales (did 1 miniature wa) I really liked how the wavy visual texture matched the Fafnir pattern, this one with unidirectional carbon fiber frame and liners with linen micarta and a large mosaic pin in the back. Available @acre.forge
New @damasteelab knives live on the @acre.forge site, including this uno reverse card of the San mai I did. This one has a Drakkar core with RWL34 cladding, and ringed gidgee with more huon pine. This one was one that started as larger billet that gave me some issues, glad I managed to salvage enough material to get a look at it. Definitely will want to give it another try down the road on a chefs knife
A couple new personal knives, one by myself and another I purchased, a paring knife by @oregongrey@acre.forge I’ve been doing a bit more cooking personally, so wanted a slicer for some bigger projects I’d like to try down the road.
Nice little petty made with the same half feather 52100 and 15n20 Damascus combo. Handle is a beautiful piece of local spalted, curly maple that I’ve been saving for a long time to use (have a couple more pieces of it saved I think). This one available online @acre.forge
Quick shot of another Damascus gyuto finished up kit long ago. Plan to make a feather or two in 2026 so did a hot cut on just some random pattern to get a feel for it and forged it out into a half feather. This one with snakewood, always a fave.
One of a few heading over to @carbonknifeco this week. This one a San mai gyuto with a 52100 core and salvaged steel from a farm tool for cladding. Handle is a favorite combo of mine, Snakewood and Holly. @acre.forge@carbonknifeco
