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Proud of my son!!!

Newhunter1

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2018
Messages
1,791
I wanted to share what my son made me for my 50th birthday. It’s a tad long...blade is 13.5” long and the entire knife is almost 20”.

Two summers ago when he was just 13, he went to scout camp and forged what looked like a knife out of a railroad spike. He was hooked. He started looking at different forges and a place to put a gas forge in the backyard. Well there was zero chance his mom and I were putting a forge in the hands of a 13 year old.

Enter Tom Kinder who was on forged in fire and lived a mile from me. Tom took him under his wing and he made this knife.
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The knife above was made out of D2 and one of my deer antlers. Very nice for a then 14 year old to make.

He then asked me what I wanted and I said a nice hunting knife. So this is what I got. Took him 10 months to complete it while only working on it one day a week and sometimes missing days due to camps or other stuff.

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Remember, this is made by a 14 year old...he did the heating, hand hammering, tempering, fit and finish. Tom was there to provide guidance and to assist in the more dangerous work of forging.


Not the best pictures to showcase the beauty of this knife. 14” in spear point Bowie knife with a S guard and bocote handle. Tom Kinder has been so awesome to share his time and resources; teaching Aslan the fine art of black smithing. Aslan has been working on this for 9 months as a gift for Paul Merioles.

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That.

Is.

Awesome.

I kinda want to build a forge in my yard and start monkeying around with stuff, but I have too many ambitions already! Maybe if I finish finishing my basement. Lol.

Your kid is awesome!

Thank you...now he wants to make a damacus camp/kitchen knife for his mom. I cannot wait...he is a great young man.
 
That’s super cool!! It’s great feeling pride for your kids accomplishment/ambition!!!! Great job all around!
 
That's awesome. My 10 yr old son loves the show forged in fire and has wanted to get into forging. I keep telling him when he "gets older". I meant a lot older then 13. You should be proud.
 
That's awesome. My 10 yr old son loves the show forged in fire and has wanted to get into forging. I keep telling him when he "gets older". I meant a lot older then 13. You should be proud.
I have a cousin that was on forged in fire. Sandflat Knife Works is his Facebook page where he sells his stuff. Cool guy. I never watched the show until i learned he was on it.
 
That's awesome. My 10 yr old son loves the show forged in fire and has wanted to get into forging. I keep telling him when he "gets older". I meant a lot older then 13. You should be proud.

Honestly I was very worried about letting him near a forge at 13 years old...over protective dad in me. However after meeting Tom and seeing how much he generally cares to pass on his craft then I got I more comfortable. My wife and I usually sit in the car and wait, or sit in the shop in a corner and take it in. I'll be putting up a collage of when he started and when he finished.

I am super proud of this kid, but not because of the knife...but because he is seeing things through. Honestly, if you can find someone who takes the time to share their knowledge then I'd jump on it for your son. You never know...college is expensive.
 
That is a really nice knife. He did an excellent job!!! Anything made by any of your kids is better than anything off the shelf. I'm always happy when they make me something.

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I really hope my two sons are creative and driven like that when they are older. Its amazing when people find somethign they are truly interested and excited about and run wiht it. That is something for you and him to be incredible proud of.
 
You better go stick a hog with that thing now and make him proud!!!

My wife is unfortunately a nurse and has watched ole' yellow one to many times. Plus she has taken care of guys who thought they could take on a hog. I will however have to sneak in a hog hunt...maybe if I can get to the Saddlepalooza.
 
How cool is that! It takes time and dedication to do something like that. Something for the whole family to get behind and to be proud of. Great to see the younger generation working with an old craft.
 
Very nice. I would steer him towards a trade. If he’s got that in him at his age he’ll make a fine tradesmen at whatever he’s inclined to. So many people go into enormous debt for a degree that can’t make them a living. I’m a contractor and I’m here to tell you there’s plenty money to be made in the trades and I believe that it’s only going to be better in the future. People don’t want to do physical work anymore.


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