Exclusive Interview with Master Bladesmith Jason Knight

Jason Knight is a Master Bladesmith residing in East Tennessee. While some people may recognize him as a judge from the early seasons of Forged In Fire, Jason’s real passion lies in the art of knife-making. He is a full-time bladesmith dedicated to teaching and helping other bladesmiths improve their skills and master the art.

The Early Days

BRUTE de FORGE: How did you get into forging, Jason?

Jason Knight: Well, I got into knife-making a long time ago in the 80s, probably 1989, I think. I wanted to forge, but no one really did that, or at least I didn't know anyone who did. I would look at knife magazines because, back in those days, that's how you saw knives and what was happening in the world. There was no Instagram, Facebook, or any of that. But it was fascinating to me. I was an artist already. I was really interested in the old Lord of the Rings, Tolkien stuff. Star Wars kind of ruined my life, too. My dad would read Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard to me. I knew this was what I wanted to do.

I was always interested in making swords. I made them out of wood when I was younger. But I didn't learn how to forge until 2001. That's when I technically learned how to forge. I went to the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing. I think it was the only one in the world at the time. Bill Moran was still alive then but did not teach the class. Master Smith Jay Hendrickson taught the class. Jay taught us how to light the fire and taught us that you shape metal by hitting it with a hammer. From there, he let us go. Looking back now, I call it two weeks of metal-mashing mayhem. I would draw a knife that I wanted to forge, and I would forge that knife right onto that drawing. I met this guy in the class, and he was like, “Hey, man, how are you doing that?” I said, “I don't know. I'm just an artist. I guess I understand that it goes this way.” So that's what I did. And then his was all smooth, and I asked him how he was making them so smooth. He and I got to be good friends after that. We have shared information back and forth over the years. But, mostly, it's self-taught. Outside of the basics, everything's self-taught.

From there, I went home and added to my woodcarving studio because I was also into wood carving at the time. I just started forging and making knives, like I had learned to do in class. I went to Blade Show in Atlanta, and I took around 20 knives, and I sold all of them.

Forging with Style

BDF: Do you have a specific style that you consider yours?

JK: I developed my style very early on. It is designated by these raised clips—people call it a shark fin—with a dropped handle. I was influenced by Filipino knives, Kukris, and styles like that. I developed that style very early on. Everybody does it now; it's influenced the modern movement of bladesmithing to this point.

BDF: When did you become a Master Bladesmith?

JK: I got my masters in 2007, which basically just means I have the basic knowledge to make stuff. If you are a Master Smith, you should be able to make anything at that point. I've been doing all kinds of crazy stuff since then!

Here is a question for you: do you know who brought the term ‘brute de forge’ to bladesmiths in America?

BDF: No, I don’t know.

JK: Joe Keeslar. Joe Keeslar is a Master Bladesmith out of Kentucky, and his wife was a French teacher. They have a house in France. They go live in France six months out of the year. But that style was popularized by Daniel Winkler. So Keeslar was doing it some—leaving the forging on the blade—and they call that brute de forge in France. So, Joe started saying, brute de forge.

Adam DesRosiers and I called it an ‘adventure-grade finish.’ We were trying to figure out how to upsell our pieces. There was this company that made axes with the forging still on, which we thought was beautiful. We were like, let's make some that just have forged finishes and not do anything but sharpen them. We called that ‘adventure grade.’ Then we had safari grade and exhibition grade.

But the guy who brought that to share with American knife makers was Joe Keeslar.

What it takes to be a Master Smith

BDF: I had no idea! What goes into earning the title of Master Smith? What is the process like?

JK: A lot of hours. I don't know how many hours it took me to get there. Right now, we calculate we're at about 35,000 to 40,000 hours making knives. A crazy amount!

There are a lot of other kinds of Master Bladesmiths. The American Bladesmith Society (ABS) might tell you that they are the only ones, but you know, the Japanese sword smiths have been making knives and blades in a tradition for a 1,000 years. I would say they are definitely among the masters.

But in the ABS, you join, and you're an apprentice, and you remain an apprentice for three years minimum unless you go to their school. After three years, you can make a knife. Your physical test would be—these are the maximum parameters, by the way—ten-inch-long blade, fifteen inches overall, two inches wide. It must be able to shave, cut a one-inch rope, cut a two-by-four in half twice, still shave, and then be bent 90 degrees without breaking. That’s just the parameters for your physical test.

For a journeyman, you would present five knives to a panel of your peers, which are also Master Bladesmiths, and they will decide if your work is journeyman smith-quality work. From there, you go on to level up.

Most people will stop there, to be honest. There are still only about 100, maybe 110 of us, living. Maybe less than that! Most of the current Master Smiths are old. I think Steve Schwarzer is 75. He has had his rating the longest. He is still doing stuff; he's still an innovator and sharing with the community worldwide.

Then, after two years, you can test for your master's. You have to do the same test, but it must be with a Damascus blade with at least 300 layers. One of the pieces has to be a European Quillon Dagger, and then four other knives of your choice. Then, you must present the pieces to the judges.

RELATED: THE DAMASCUS FORGE WELDING TECHNIQUE EXPLAINED

When you pass that, you have all the basics and can really start learning. Some people attain the rank of Master and think they know all there is to know. Personally, I don't propose that I know anything except how to do simple things, which allows me to make whatever I want. I like to share information and continue to learn. I'm a perpetual student.

Rising from the Ashes

BDF: Are you a full-time bladesmith?

JK: Yes, I've been making knives full-time since 2001. We have a school called Knight Forge Studio or The Makers Forge Studio. We started that in 2018. That is the building that caught fire and burned up, but we're recovering. I got the big equipment out. I have to move to a new location, which is in the process of being renovated. But we're getting things back to work. It is going to take some time and some money, but we're getting back on track.

I want to say that I'm very grateful for the community and friendships I've made over the last 20 years. When our shop burned down, it was on December 24th, and I really didn't know what to do. It is something that could happen to anybody. It didn't have anything to do with us making knives, so that was great. No one got hurt, so that was great. We were not there when it happened; otherwise, we would have been injured trying to put it out. So, I'm glad we weren't there. The only things that were damaged were stuff. Now the problem is that it is our livelihood, our business. That's everything we've built for 20-plus years, and it's gone. The bad thing is that the insurance company isn’t paying for anything. The cool thing is, our friends, people we don't know, and people we haven't heard from in years have been coming out, saying, “Hey, I want to help you do this, or I want to share this with you. I want to send you a tool. Whatever you need!”

“I want to say that I’m very grateful for the community and friendships I’ve made over the last 20 years. ”

Microtech is a great company. I really love what they do. They were one of the first people to say, “Hey, we want to help you get back on track.” It is really beautiful. I'm overwhelmed by it, actually. I'm very grateful and very thankful. My friends put together a hammer-in event where we had a “Battle of the Bladesmiths”, but we did not forge any knives. We had to spin a wheel and see what comes up. For example, you might land on a bottle opener with a tentacle. Or a spatula. Then you have to make a spatula.

I'm just grateful to the community and thankful to God because it could have been worse. It could have been terrible, but things we can replace. So, we will be back up and operating within a couple of months!

More than just making knives

BDF: Before you became a bladesmith, you mentioned you were an artist. What kind of art were you creating? Do you still pursue it?

JK: Now my art is knife making. I've designed knives that have influenced the culture of knife-making since I started doing it. I really want to inspire people to be makers. I want to inspire people to make, not necessarily knives, but make something.

For my woodcarvings, I like to carve native faces. I did a really cool one that was Sitting Bull. I had a picture of his face and went from the side. But I couldn’t even give those things away. People love them, but you could work 40 hours on this carving and not make 100 bucks.

So, when I got into knives, I made knifemaking my art. We do blacksmithing, and I worked as a blacksmith for two years at a place called Middleton Place, which is down in Charleston. It's the oldest landscape gardens in America.

But I did that. Then, as I got busier making knives, I just transitioned into making knives all the time and really focused on my style. The shape draws you in, and it's functional, usable, and beautiful. Over the last four years, my art has been focused on forging things to be done, which is the whole mindset of brute de forge. So, I say forged to sharp, forged to finish, and that's been something I enjoyed and explored. Now I’m shifting over to another thing.

“The shape draws you in, and it’s functional, usable, and beautiful.”

I want to make some more daggers, Quillon daggers, and stuff like that. It's a tricky one to make, but it's a beautiful thing to make as art itself. I don't mean embellishments because I'm really not a big fan of that. For example, a couple of years ago, we were judging two new guys testing for their masters. One of the daggers was so beautiful. It was quantum Damascus. I say quantum, it was just mosaic, inside mosaic, inside mosaic, and it was almost too busy to look at. It had gold engraving and black sealant with ivory and gold wrap. It was just crazy. I don't know if you know who Liberace was, but it was like the Liberace of knives. But it was good! It was beautiful. Then there was the other one, a classic Merovingian pattern Damascus. It looked like ‘see it and die.’ That piece, the shape, brought you into the details. There was steel, and then the handle was African Blackwood. It won the award for best work presented by a group of master’s students. That's the thing I'm most interested in. You can take something conceptually and, with little embellishment, when you see it, it’s like, “Wow, that is incredible. That's art!” The art part is not laying it with gold. The art part is not engraving it. That's okay; it enhances it, sure, but it doesn't always make it better.

But lately, I've been making some folders. I have another company called Knight Elements, where I take my designs and make them accessible to everyone. It's fun, and that has been successful. We just did a Kickstarter for a little teeny, cute knife. It’s a two-inch blade. Anybody can carry one, and no one will be offended when you pull that out and start cutting up stuff. I'm going to do another one that is a little bit bigger. I'll probably keep bringing it up in size until it's a normal knife size.

BDF: Perusing your Instagram, you seem to be a fan of Frank Frazetta. I have always loved his work, and I rarely find someone else who knows him.

JK: Oh, big time. He’s probably one of the biggest influences on my style of knife. He was able to put together this voluptuous action and motion. Like death and life all bound up. He has been my favorite ever since as a kid.

Jason’s Words of Wisdom

BDF: What advice do you have for aspiring bladesmiths?

JK: Take a class. Learn and study the Masters. Study the old masters, know who they are, and learn where your craft came from. There's a good modern history to flow and follow. Then, practice. Be disciplined in studying forging, grinding, and the shape for whatever it is you want to make. Then, make sure you learn it.

There's no money to be made in knifemaking. It sounds crazy, but it's very difficult to learn to be good enough to make a piece and sell it. Then, once you get some pieces made and you can sell them, you have to decide whether or not you’re doing it for the love of it, which is what you should do it for. If you can't decide, you need to figure out how to make it a living. I'm one of the rare full-time knife makers. That's all we do; we make knives for a living. And videos.

“Be disciplined in studying forging, grinding, and the shape for whatever it is you want to make. Then, make sure you learn it.”

I have a whole video series. I am the producer and director of two of my videos and produced or helped produce all the others. They teach others how to forge a brute de forge chopper that we call The Elemental. It featured Steve Schwarzer making a mosaic canister Damascus the right way with liquid paper. Not with ball bearings. And then I did one on an Integral Chef Knife. This is a Heritage Knife [holds up a knife example]. I made it bigger because when you make a video, you need to make it a little bit bigger. But I do these videos because I want to share them with the community. When I wanted to know how to make something, there was no one that could show me and help me. So, I decided to show people.

BDF: Before I sign off, what are the knives on the wall behind you?

JK: These are kitchen knives in the background. These are all chef knives. I guess I collect kitchen knives. People will bring them up to me and give me one. There’s a lot of students' work displayed up there. [He grabs one off the wall] This is early, Neil Kamimura! He's one of my favorites because he went from not really knowing how to make knives to being really, really good at it. He's a great example of discipline. We hit it off and got to be good friends.

BDF: Thank you, Jason, for taking the time to talk with us; we appreciate it.

JK: Absolutely, it was great. Glad we could do this!

How to connect with Jason

To see more of Jason Knight’s work, visit his site at www.knightforgestudio.com and follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. If you want to learn from the Master, check out his YouTube channel.