Soldiering Ahead: An Interview with 51 Bravo's Shawn Moulenbelt

(Image credit: Shawn Moulenbelt)

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EDITORS NOTE: Our interview with Shawn Moulenbelt was conducted in mid-Summer 2023 and features references to the Great Lakes Rendezvous, a forging event which occurred on July 22nd of the same year. The article references this as an “upcoming event”. To learn more about the event, check out 51bravo.com.

Shawn Moulenbelt is the owner of 51 Bravo Forge in Wayland, Michigan. After spending most of his life in construction, he became a full-time smith in 2020 when COVID brought his construction business to a standstill. Today, his shop is going strong, and he recently hosted his first Great Lakes Rendezvous event last month.

RELATED: FORGED IN FIRE SEASON TEN IS COMING SOON

Shawn appeared on Forged in Fire Season Seven. While he did not take home the title of Forged in Fire Champion, he walked away with good friends and positive memories. He talked to us about his background as a bladesmith and how COVID opened the door for him to become a full-time smith.

How Shawn got into forging

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

Shawn Moulenbelt: I have been a builder my whole life. My forge name, 51 Bravo, is a carpenter and mason unit in the military; that was my military occupational specialty in the army (MOS). Basically, we're glorified combat engineers. They teach you how to swing your hammer and do a little plumbing here and there, but mostly, it's mines, barbed wire, tank traps, and things that blow up. It just depends on the job and the day.

I went to junior college for one year, and it just felt like another year of high school. I was still living at home, and I needed to get out. I'm from a little town called Hopkins, and there are a thousand people on a good day. No traffic light, nothing. So, I did one year at junior college. Then I joined the military, signed up for four years, did two, and figured out that you could get an early release to go through their Green to Gold program if you had at least a year of school. So, I enrolled at Western Michigan, which is where my whole family went—all of us got our degrees from there. I did ROTC and earned my degree. I was in the National Guard in a nearby town called Battle Creek the whole time. It's called Fort Custer, and we trained over there. I was a platoon leader for a construction company in the army, and I did a total of eight years and decided to get out at that point.

“I’ve come a long way, and now the ones I make are good enough that I can charge a few dollars for them! ”

I have one younger brother, Jason, and he joined the Marines out of high school and did Marine Corps Reserve. We both have always been interested in making and building stuff. He also got his degree from Western Michigan and moved to Texas for a job. He got hooked up with a guy named Stanley Buzek, who is still making knives. Jason got hooked up with him somehow, and Stanley started showing him how to make knives. So, Jason would come home for his two weeks in summer with a handful of knives and give them to me, but he'd say, “You have got to learn to make these.”  I wasn’t really interested. Then, I don't know, maybe the third year of that occurring, the show Forged in Fire had started and was becoming popular. I started watching the show and thought maybe I could do that. So, I made one out of an old file. Looking at it now, I know it's terrible, but I thought it was pretty good as a beginner. I still have it shoved in one of my Pelican cases with a bunch of knives. I’ve come a long way, and now the ones I make are good enough that I can charge a few dollars for them!

BDF: So, are you primarily self-taught?

SM: When I began, I was watching videos by Walter Sorrells, who is a good friend of mine now. Then I was fortunate enough to train with Andy Roy at Fiddleback Forge and David McConnell at Northwoods Forge. As I mentioned, Stan Buzek trained my brother, and he has been a valuable mentor to both of us.

When I started forging on my own, we lived in a little subdivision, and I worked out of a 10x10 shop in the back of our garage. I made my first one entirely by hand. Then we bought this place. I'm on twenty acres now. I’m sitting in my upstairs forge that used to be a horse barn. I converted this space into my forge during COVID. It was my COVID project.

(Image credit: Shawn Moulenbelt)

I had worked for several residential construction companies, and then, around forty, I decided to start doing it for myself. It paid well, but everything was super stressful. Then we started having kids, and I just needed to be more flexible and not work seven days a week, so I went on my own. My wife had a good job with good benefits. So yeah, I was a builder till 2020, and knifemaking was a hobby. It was doing okay for a hobby as far as sales went. Then COVID hit.

Michigan was a little stricter than other states during the pandemic. I remember being in a person's kitchen doing a remodel, and the governor came on TV and said, “Everybody go home. You’re done.”

I went home and said, “Honey, I'm a full-time knife maker!” She helped me finish out this place. Eventually, COVID restrictions eased, and it was clear enough to have an outdoor get-together. I had an open house here, and over the day, we had 150 people stop by to see the forge. That was encouraging! It was after I had been on Forged in Fire.

Fast forward to now, I have that event coming up in two weeks called Great Lakes Rendezvous. J Nielsen's coming to my house! How crazy is that? I’m good friends with Ryan Brodbeck. We were on Forged in Fire together. It’s wild!

Shawn’s Forged in Fire Experience

BDF: How was your Forged in Fire experience? Did you enjoy it?

(Image credit: History)

SM: My experience on Forged in Fire was life-changing! The biggest reason is that the people I met while filming the show or as a result of being on the show have become great friends. As I said, I competed with Ryan Brodbeck, who has built a thriving business partly due to Forged in Fire. J. Nielson has become a great friend and a great source of knowledge when it comes to knifemaking and related items. When J says, “If you ever need anything, let me know,” he truly means it. He always takes time out of his busy day to answer my questions, talk about products, or just give each other shit (laughing). We particularly enjoy that last part!

So many wonderful people are in our knifemaking business, and Ryan and J have been a massive part of what I’ve achieved to date. 

BDF: Would you go back for another episode if they called you?

SM: I would definitely go on in a heartbeat. I have applied every season since season seven when I was on. I haven’t been selected again, but I would welcome the opportunity. Our industry owes a ton to that show. I genuinely don’t think I could survive as a full-time knife maker without the popularity that the show has given to our industry. 

Shawn organized an industry rendezvous

BDF: Regarding your event, Brodbeck Ironworks and J Nielson will be there. Can you tell me a little bit about it?

SM: We have some great guys that are coming here. Some are driving from Kentucky and Pennsylvania! There is going to be camping here around the property. My house is full!

“Everybody’s excited because we love to get together as a community! ”

Red Label Abrasives is about forty-five minutes from me, and they have sponsored a good portion of it. They sponsor me as well. Brodbeck Ironworks and Maker Material Supply are also sponsoring the event, as well as Hansen Balk Heat Treat, which is a local heat treat company that I use. Everybody's excited because we love to get together as a community!

BDF: Is this the first event like this that you've held?

SM: On this scale, yes. It's very similar to the open house I talked about earlier.

The origins of 51 Bravo

BDF: You mentioned that the name of your forge is 51 Bravo. That it is based on your military unit, correct?

(Image credit: Shawn Moulenbelt)

SM: Yes, my military occupational specialty or my MOS. In fact, I've got my little certificate on the wall from when I was 19 years old. I'm a 51B certified carpenter mason, so I decided to tie that together. This endeavor has afforded me a lot of opportunities to work with veteran organizations, and that is something that I didn't expect. As a result of that, I started teaching forging classes.

I hired a kid who was fresh out of the army, and he was an infantryman, an 11B. He came home and went to college in Grand Rapids and was part of Michigan Veterans Entrepreneurs. He encouraged me to check it out. Once a week, they bring in a financial expert who volunteers their time and teaches veterans how to start their own businesses. I thought, “I ran my own business for fifteen years. What do I need to go to this for?”

But I went and, in the end, there was a competition. They called it a pitch competition. Basically, you had three minutes to pitch your business. I took second place in that and got thirty-five hundred bucks towards the business!

Class is in session

BDF: I was reading about your classes on your website, and under frequently asked questions, it says, ‘Which class is easier, the forging class or the knife-making class?’ I am surprised that the forging class is easier!

SM: With forging, people are usually a little bit scared. You get burned here or there, but mostly, it’s smacking steel with a hammer. You really can't do it wrong because you can heat it up and do it again. The forge is more forgiving than a grinder.  So, I think from a beginner's standpoint, the forging is easier.

“You will ruin a bunch of perfectly good steel before learning to grind properly.”

The biggest reason is that with knife-making, you're working with a grinder, and you don't just pick up and start grinding beautifully. You will ruin a bunch of perfectly good steel before learning to grind properly. Recently, I met a guy who makes a tool rest that allows the user to keep your blade at the same angle so that you can grind the knife and not mess it up too badly if you're brand new. That tool has changed the game! Now, my student’s first knife looks like my second-year knife.

In addition to running my shop and teaching those classes, I also teach entry-level construction at a trade school not too far from here. I teach seniors in high school who are focusing more on vocation rather than a four-year college degree. I also teach kids who just graduated and don't necessarily know what they want to do. There's a very small portion of today's youth focusing on trades. The skilled labor gap concerns me.

I did junior college, military for your school, trade school—I pretty much did every avenue—and I still ended up swinging a hammer for a living. I didn't have to go to college to do what I do now. I'm glad I did. But there are so many avenues to get to where you want to go. Collectively, the first question out of everyone’s mouth to a new graduate is, “Where you're going to college?” Young people feel like they must go to college, and we need to end that way of thinking. There are other options!

“I didn’t have to go to college to do what I do now. I’m glad I did. But there are so many avenues to get to where you want to go.”

I'm convinced that sixty percent of us learn with our hands and through hands-on work. That's how I learned how to do everything and how a lot of kids learn.  So, maybe they don’t get good grades in the classroom, but put them out in the field in the hammer and watch what happens. On the flip side, the guy who got straight A's might not know what to do with the business end of the hammer. We need to encourage everyone to follow their own paths as much as possible.

Shawn’s Signature Style

BDF: Very true! Do you have a signature blade that you prefer?

(Image credit: Shawn Moulenbelt)

SM: The one I have been working on recently and like is what I have called a Rancher. I did private label about forty of them for a company called The Hero Company, and they sell stuff to raise money for veterans who need companion animals. Anyway, a buddy of mine who is a horse rancher came over and said he wanted a knife for daily chores. He didn’t want anything huge but wanted to carry a fixed blade. So, he helped me design the Rancher. I use wood from old Jim Beam Bourbon Barrels for the handles. I use a torch for the color so they are not stained.

I also designed a front pocket sheath so the knife can go right in your pocket like a wallet. You don't have this big knife dangling off your belt; it’s in your pocket. That's what I've been doing lately.

But I do all kinds of stuff. I like to challenge, but I like function before form. If it works well, then I can make it look cool. The term “brute de forge” probably applies to me because I'm less refined. But I think that's one of the fun parts of our community. There are dudes out there who make the most insanely intricate, beautiful, super frilly, expensive knives, and they’re so cool, but I could never do it. I would never make it, but it's still awesome.

Shawn’s advice to aspiring bladesmiths

BDF: Do you have any advice for aspiring bladesmiths?

SM: I didn't start my own thing until I was forty. I always felt I had to work for someone else because it was secure. I was too scared to have all my eggs in one basket with me holding the basket. But I should have just worked it out a long time ago.

At the same time, don't be in a hurry to monetize what you're doing because that'll turn into a job, too. Just because somebody orders fifty of the same knives doesn't mean you want to sit there and make them all, especially by hand. So don't be in a hurry to monetize. Take your time and learn to make your knives. Don't be in a hurry. It’s all part of the process.

“Just because somebody orders fifty of the same knives doesn’t mean you want to sit there and make them all, especially by hand.”

Also, find a mentor. In this community, it isn't a problem. Seek out someone and listen to them.  I don’t know who said it, but we have two ears and one mouth for a reason; we should listen twice as much as we talk. This may go without saying, but it’s essential to network with people, share information, and share your craft. We need to encourage young people.

To see more work from Shawn Moulenbelt, like his Facebook page at 51 Bravo, and follow him on Instagram @51bravo. Be sure to check his website 51bravo.com for information on his next Great Lakes Rendezvous Event!

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