Come Forge A Memory With Fan-Favorite Bladesmith Robby Bowman

(Image credit: Robby Bowman)

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As our readers know, over the last year and a half, we have done our best to publish one weekly interview highlighting a bladesmith or blacksmith in the community. I have spoken with a lot of you, and during those conversations, the names of other smiths are often mentioned to me for various reasons, but always in positive ways. But one name has been mentioned by smiths from all over the country: Robby Bowman.

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Robby owns and operates Iron Mountain Metal Craft in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. He has touched the lives of countless people—children and adults alike—across the country with his Forge a Memory trademark, and his passion for educating the masses came through with every word he spoke.

How Robby got his start

BRUTE de FORGE: Tell me how you got into forging and bladesmithing.

Robby Bowman: When I was young, my grandfather was a blacksmith. He never made knives, but I used to play in the shop quite regularly. My dad was an ironworker and a welder; that was his part of the metal business. Anyway, I had always fooled around trying to make knives here and there throughout my life, but nothing too serious had ever come of it. Then I had a life-changing injury and almost died and almost lost my right arm. After that, I was trying to survive because I was out of work for six months; I was trying to make knives to take to the flea markets and yard sales or anywhere to sell them.

“It wasn’t about the money. I was having fun forging memories with fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and brothers and sisters.”

(Image credit: Robby Bowman)

So, I actually started my bladesmithing as a way to survive. I had to pay the light bill and stuff. Then, I started gaining momentum because my knives were sought after. I joined a group of other makers at Smoky Mountain Knife Works—the largest knife store in the world—and we had a little shop out in the parking lot. I still had stitches in my arm and was trying to put food on the table when I started working with them. Our goal was to get as much money out of somebody's pocket as we could. We would let customers come into the shop and let them make something, and we would charge them for it—and it was all about the money.

But I started enjoying the interaction between me and the people I was working with. After a while, it wasn't about the money. I was having fun forging memories with fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and brothers and sisters. That's when the Forge a Memory trademark was born. I called what I was doing Forging a Memory, and when you work with me, believe me, you ain't gonna to forget it. Then it started snowballing. Now I'm in downtown Pigeon Forge, and I've got three shops here. It's been good for me.

BDF: So, you've been around smithing your whole life.

RB: I have. Even as a young child, working metal with a fire was always cool to do. Then you start getting serious with it and moving the metal to make different objects and to make different things that somebody else might want.

When I was at that other shop, Smokey Mountain Knife Works, I started forging memories on the porch, and there was a man who took notice because he had never seen anything like what I was doing. He was a blacksmith and studied at the John C. Campbell Folk School. A couple of months later, he came back to me. He said, “Robby if I built you a place downtown, near the old mill restaurant, would you be interested? I've never seen this before. You could change forging in the United States if we could just get your name out there.” He spent a quarter of a million dollars to build it, and he gave me the keys. He said, “Change forging in the United States, Robby.” He did that at no cost to me whatsoever. So, keep doing the best you can because somebody might take notice, and it will change your life. 

A worthwhile investment

BDF: I would say that you’ve made his investment well worth it. I can confidently say you have touched the lives of many people and many smiths that I have talked to.

(Image credit: Robby Bowman)

RB: [Laughing] There are a couple of them out there that don’t like me. But it's all good. We work with the Wounded Warriors. That is another place that I put a lot of time into. They'll give me like fifteen or twenty wounded warriors who will come here every year, and I'll teach them how to make knives and interact with them. I’ve been doing that for several years now. The last time they came, a few months ago, they brought me a poster, and they all signed it.

BDF: Do all three of your shops offer Forge a Memory?

RB: Yes, all three of my shops. You can come in if you're at least five years old. I'll throw a paper 2000 and green metal in front of you and tell you to hit it. Here at my main shop, we're seeing about one hundred customers a day. My other shops are seeing about fifty a day. Every customer's making knives, and we're still turning away about as many.

Forging memories everywhere

BDF: And other smiths can operate a Forge a Memory experience as well, correct?

RB: Forge a Memory is my registered trademark, and it stands for education. If somebody wants to become a member of the Forge a Memory family, they will pay me five hundred dollars a year, and I train them to do what I do here so they can go out and make the most money they can and have a good time doing it. I use the money they pay me for more education opportunities and putting together classes. For example, I did a casting class and a class where people made their own axes. So, the money from the Forge a Memory family is all about education.

BDF: You do a lot of teaching and education.

RB: Yes, I don't get a lot of smiths where they can create all these great, beautiful works of art. I'm more of an entertainer with my customers. I like being out there on the forge floor with them, having fun, and forging memories of a lifetime.  

BDF: What is it about the interactions that drew you to the education platform?

(Image credit: Robby Bowman)

RB: I did it one time—nineteen or twenty years ago—and a father and son got to make a knife with me, and the father broke down and said, “Where else in the United States can you do this?” I said, “There ain't none. I'm the first person to create this business.” He almost cried; he got so much out of it being able to do it with his son. That's important.

Guy Fieri walked into my shop once, and he and his son made a knife with me. It lit a fire under that man! By the time he left my shop, he was calling California, saying, “Guess what we’re fixin’ to build?” He thanked me, and he asked where else a father and son forge a memory together that they're never going to forget. I told him I had a few shops set up and that I started this business twenty years ago. Then, he commissioned me to furnish his shop in California and spent a lot of his money to do it! Me and my wife drove out there, and we kicked our feet under his table; we had supper, and I worked with him for three days in the shop, teaching him how to use equipment and make knives. The man was just over the moon.

BDF: Can you tell me about your shop?

RB: My shop is called Iron Mountain Metal Craft, and I have three of them. I started Forging a Memory between seventeen and twenty years ago in this town, and each shop I just called Forge a Memory because we do so many knives.

Robby’s passion for teaching

BDF: You also teach at Turtle Island Preserve. How did you get involved in that?

(Image credit: Robby Bowman)

RB: There used to be a gentleman over there named Raleigh Avery. He was on the show with Eustace, and he met me here in my shop. He said, “You know, we need some help teaching things, and I'll pay you three hundred and fifty dollars a day to teach.” He said it's the old-timey way with a coal forge and no electricity. We will forge a knife out, walk down to the creek, sharpen it on the sandstone, and go hunting with it.

I started going over there and told them I didn't care about the money. I teach a lot of kids during the summer. They have a twelve and under kid camp and then a thirteen and up kid camp; all kinds of camps for these kids. Adults can learn hide tanning and how to make their own vinegar and stuff like that. The money they would have paid me goes back into a scholarship fund, which pays for the underprivileged kids in that area to go there and learn.

I've been doing that now for about eight years or so—I don't know exactly; it's been a while. I teach every spring, and I teach every fall over there. Eustice and me got to be close friends.

BDF: It has to be fulfilling working with all the kids that come through there and teaching the next generation.

(Image credit: Robby Bowman)

RB: It is. I like working with beginners because when that knife is completed, and they see it, that's the only time in your life you can see the reaction on their faces. That reaction, their first time doing something, that's what I like. I like to see that reaction in that moment.

Over the years, I’ve had several different families talk to me about how I inspired their children or inspired this troubled child, and they straightened up. I've got numerous stories people have told me about how I've inspired people over the years. I believe I've made a knife with one person from every city in the United States.

“That reaction, their first time doing something, that’s what I like. I like to see that reaction in that moment.”

So that’s my life mission: promoting the Forge a Memory trademark and education. That show Forged in Fire helped the industry. Several more people could do what I do in their own hometown, out in the backyard in our garage; they can forge memories with other people! That's what I'm trying to encourage.

Robby’s turn on the forge floor

BDF: How did you get on Forge in Fire initially?

RB: Well, at first, they were calling knifemakers all over the United States and trying to get them to come on the show, but nobody would do it. I didn't get a call. But when the first show aired, every knifemaker in the United States was trying to apply. I wasn't sure if I was interested or not, but I applied, and I got to go. My attitude on that first show and the way I carried myself went a long way because I was happy all the way through it, even though I was the first one out. Then they put something online that asked fans who they would want to see come back, and I was the number one vote. That's how I went back as a fan favorite.

(Image credit: History)

BDF: How did it feel to be called back as a fan favorite?

RB: It was great. You know, I meet so many people here in my shop, especially during the busy season when we'll have over one thousand people a day, and I'm talking to them and giving them advice and pointers, and it's so cool.

BDF: Did you enjoy your experience on the show?

RB: Yeah, I enjoyed it.  I enjoyed seeing just how they do it. I didn't know it took three days to film that one hour. They took good care of us, though. It was downtown New York City back then, and I didn't care much for that. It's in Stanford, Connecticut, now.

The Forged in Fire Influence

BDF: What are some of the changes you've seen in the industry since Forged in Fire began?

I've been making knives for a long time, and I’ll be honest with you: knives weren't that cool. I ain’t gonna lie to you. People didn't want to buy the Damascus because they didn't understand it. They didn't want to buy the high-dollar knives; they didn't understand it. But what I got to see, and I sat back and watched this and wrote notes; I got to watch a TV show completely change America's thinking toward knives. Now I've got people coming in and using a language I've never heard before! “Oh, that's raindrop Damascus! Oh, that’s san-mai!” I had never in my life heard that before. So, I got to watch these people get retrained from that show. Now, knives are cool, and people have a lot more respect and understanding.

“I got to watch a TV show completely change America’s thinking toward knives.”

So, I'm truly thankful that the show got to teach people a little bit about our lives. Education is what it was: education about our lives. Now, they appreciate the Damascus knives in the san-mai. So, the educational part that to show gave the United States means everything to us.

Robby holds a grudge

BDF: You also host Forged in Fire Grudges Matches once a year. How did those start?

RB: I was the first one to try to build something from the show. I called them a grudge match because Ray Kirk and I were on the show together, and I told him I believed I could beat him. He didn’t think I could. So, we both picked up hammers, and we were looking at one another dead in the eyes, and I said, “I'm going to challenge you to a grudge match.” So, that's how it was born.

(Image credit: Robby Bowman)

So, I hosted an event here in Pigeon Forge. You know, here's a town called Pigeon Forge, in Forge Plaza, having a forging contest with smiths from all over the United States. I put up a big stage, and we'll get on stage and go at it with one another, trying to make something in less than thirty minutes. Whoever gets the most cheers when we're done is declared the winner. Then, we give away everything we made to the crowd. Everybody gets free tickets, and we give everything away. We're trying to give back to the customers and the fans. That’s what it is about. We get as many Forged in Fire people together at one time, and people can come and talk to them and sit with them.

It's gained momentum, and I've gained a lot of momentum. I'm trying to teach other smiths how to do it. I have sponsors, and I've got people who want to pay me just to hang up a banner or to give away their magazine. Many sponsors pay me a lot of money, and I don't think there's ever been a smith before that was sponsored. I'll do commercials for Jantz Knife Supplies—one of my number one sponsors—Brad Vice, Alabama Damascus, Cain and Son, Blacksmiths Depot, North Carolina Tool, and Big Blue Power Hammers are all sponsors. If your shop has a lot of people, you can get a sponsor. I’m trying to teach people how to do that.

When I have grudge matches, all of my sponsors are here and support me. It's a big event. Next year is going to be even bigger because Smoky Mountain Knife Works has become a sponsor of mine. They host a rep weekend, and they want my event to piggyback off of their event. So, it will be at the world's largest knife store this year, with probably ten thousand people there.

Robby’s bladesmithing advice

BDF: Do you have any advice for aspiring bladesmiths?

RB: I tell people that if your kid wants to do this, you need to make it as easy as possible for them. That way, they're more likely to succeed. If you make it hard for that child, they’re going to get aggravated and quit. So, my suggestion to every customer that comes in here is when you go to set this child up, or you want to set yourself up, buy the good equipment first. Go ahead and buy the more expensive or better equipment, and if you don't like it, everybody in America will buy that from you. But if you buy that cheap stuff, and if you don't like it, you're stuck with it. That advice has helped a lot of people get started. Try to buy the better equipment first and try to join a local guild. Every state in the United States has knife-making guilds. People don't know about them, but Google them and see where the nearest guild is. They're probably going to find one within a reasonable hour's drive.

To learn more about Robby, his Forge a Memory trademark, and his work with Wounded Warriors, check him out on Instagram, Facebook, or visit his website at ironmountainmetalcraft.com.

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