About

My path to becoming a bladesmith began in 2012 when I was introduced to my teacher, Paul Inman. Paul was trained directly under William F. Moran, one of the founders of the American Bladesmith Society and Rod (Caribou) Chappel, knife maker and a master of abrasives. Paul had spent more than thirty years learning his trade in Colorado, Alaska and finally settled in Washington where he owned a knife shop in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. It was there that Paul took me under his wing and I became one of his apprentices.

At a very young age I would help my father with various projects around the house, so having a hammer or any tool in my hand has always just been second nature to me. Some of the first things I learned from Paul was how to restore tool heads, specifically axe heads and hammer heads. An old rusty tool head was a great place to start in learning to work on a belt grinder learning vast types of abrasives and their applications. There was a lot of room for error with the amount of steel on those particular tools heads. I quickly learned how each grit worked and soon started working with more delicate things like knives. This is some of the most valuable training I received because it not only taught me the finishing processes of steel, but also the nature of aesthetics and symmetry.

Turning something old and no longer valued into something new and beautiful again became my art. Soon friends would ask me to restore family heirlooms such as knives, cleavers, or their father or grandfather’s boy scout knives. It still to this day is one of the most rewarding aspects of this work. When something is thought to never be brought to its original condition and now is something that they can keep or pass on to future generations is absolutely priceless. My motto and mantra has become “There is always something beautiful just below the surface.”

It was almost a year before I started forging my first blade and I’ll never forget that day. My mentor’s forge was at a friend’s workshop an hour north of the city at that time because the small shop in Ballard didn’t allow for hot work. I still have a clear image of my dear old teacher sitting in front of the anvil as myself and his two other apprentices listened to every word of what would transpire that day. We then cut bar stock from 5160 spring steel and rounded the corner slightly with a belt grinder to aid in pointing the knife. Paul taught us about steel types, hammering techniques and where to strike the steel on the anvil to obtain the greatest force and movement of the steel. We then fired up his massive four burner forge and each took turns, heating our pieces of steel and pounding the bar stock. With each pull from the forge we were guided and directed with a forceful voice until each one of us had “pointed our blades” and we had reached a stopping point. I was exhausted and exhilarated, especially being the only woman to be learning from him … and succeeding. It was a proud day for all, Paul was pleased and I still recall sitting in the back seat of his pickup a hot sweaty mess as he handed all of us one of his finest cigars and praised us with the words “you all did really well today.”

From that point on (pun intended) I caught the forging “bug”. Paul soon moved his store to Tacoma to a larger location where he expanded his business and set up a teaching facility in his home. I continued to work with him closely and expanded and honed my skill sets. Over the course of the seven years as an apprentice I learned five basic blade shapes and was required to forge three sizes of each blade, all in the style of our bladesmith grandfather Bill Moran. He sold his knife store in Tacoma in 2020 and founded a new company in his new hometown in Idaho called Vulcan Forge & Knife Co. I still travel every other month to Idaho so we can work together as I continue to grow in my trade.

It has been a long road for me working a full-time job while still finding two days to work and learn in the shop with my mentor, but my dedicated heart prevailed. I now reside on Whidbey Island where I have been building my shop and beginning my career as a full time knifemaker. This is a lifelong dream coming true for me. I am hand forging Moran blades, custom high end culinary and camp knives, offering extensive tool restoration and sharpening, leather working and as well as decorative iron work too. Most importantly, someday I plan on teaching others these ancient skills in individual or small group lessons.