Halcyon Forge: Finding Tenderness in Fire and Metal
How we revealed the frailty, chemistry and care inherent in blademaking with craftsman Joe Schrum.
Challenge
Tell the story of a remote forge and the reclusive artist at its helm (who would never call himself such a thing.)
Insight
For all the molten metal and power hammering, knife-making is a delicate art — and sometimes a fickle one.
Solution
Spend a day with the usually solitary knifemaker at his workshop in Hillsboro, Missouri and let the light, movement and man speak for themselves.
Joe Schrum tried to hire, once. “What one man is proud of isn’t necessarily what another man is proud of,” he explains when I ask why he hasn’t added any staff since his knifemaking business, Halcyon Forge, took off.
But Schrum isn’t motivated by growth. He’s motivated by craft.
For the last 8 years, he’s been making damascus steel knives in the woods outside of Hillsboro — gorgeous, intricately patterned blades he forges with different metals, inspired by the contrasting and repeating shapes he sees in nature.
His self-outfitted workshop feels startlingly analog. There’s an anvil, a power hammer (actually two), and, of course, a forge. Feathers, arrowheads, antlers, and other artifacts litter every corner. The only hint at modernity? The radio perpetually broadcasting KDHX.
A Lot Like Baking
Schrum makes about 100 knives a year, spending anywhere from 5 to 40 hours on each, and ships them all over the world. Many of his buyers are collectors, and with blades ranging from $500 on the low end to more than $2,000 on the high end, collecting them is a serious hobby.
Crafting his knives — which often sell before they’re even listed — is a temperamental practice that Schrum says is remarkably similar to baking in many ways. “The process involves a lot of specific temperatures and timeframes. It’s very particular.”
Check out the knives
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