(ominous music) (metal clanks) - My name is Jed Anderson and I'm a full-time bladesmith.

(dramatic music) (fire crackles) (metal clanks) We're in my shop in Knoll, North Dakota, and we're about an hour from Fargo.

When I was 11 years old, I was at a county fair up in Northern Minnesota and I saw a blacksmith.

And I stood there for an hour and a half watching them, just amazed at what he was doing.

And then in 2016, I was on a seasonal layoff and curiosity, I had nothing else to do because it was too early in the year to hop on the Harley and go somewhere.

And I built myself a forage.

And then six months later I made my first knife and I was on a full body high afterwards.

I knew then that's what I wanted to do.

Been in this garage for about a year now.

It's not a lot of fancy stuff.

The forge that I have, I've got $50 into that, made it out of an old oil drum.

My press, I built that out of an old wood splitter.

The most fancy piece of gear I have are my bell grinders.

Other than that, I don't have anything fancy because I like to be able to, you know, use my hands to make it.

I've done swords, daggers, filet knives, chef's knives, hunting knives.

Basically anything that's sharp and pointy, I can make.

What I try and make are pieces that are gonna be used, that are practical.

All right, heat that area one more time.

Still got a little bit of meat in there.

Functional art is what my stuff has been described as.

The process, it's kind of basic, you know, doing a mono steel blade out of like a leaf spring or something like that.

You heat the steel, you hammer it out the shape and thickness, and then you take it over to the belt grinder, clean it up, heat treat it, and then do the handle.

With Damascus pattern welded steel, it's a little bit more involved, a lot more timely, but it's kind of the same process.

Heat the steel, get it to forge well together, and then you just kind of start manipulating the steel to get the certain patterns that you want.

And being able to manipulate the steel to get certain patterns just comes from practice and experience.

All right, it's centered.

Now we just gotta get it straightened out.

I am self-taught.

A lot of trial and error.

A lot of good days, a lot of bad days.

So when you're going to make something and it doesn't work out, there's always a way to salvage it.

Even through failure, you can find some form of success.

One of the first proverbs I learned about bladesmithing is that bladesmiths don't make mistakes.

We only make smaller knives.

This is gonna get a little bit more flexible when we move up to the next grit, but it's getting... Oh, what happened?

That's perfect.

That it's nice and smooth, looks like sugar.

That's a good heat treat.

Just I was flexing it too much before it was ready and it snaps.

And so what I'm gonna do with this, I'm gonna grind down right in this area and give about two and a half, three inches for a hidden tang.

And then I'm gonna turn this into a nice little pairing knife.

It's not gonna be the filet knife I wanted, but I can at least make something out of this.

When you figure out what that means, it makes the learning a lot easier.

(dramatic music) With every heat, every round of hammering you do, you can see more and more of what it's gonna be.

(metal clanks) (dramatic music) I love a good story.

Making things from older pieces, that knife already has a story behind it.

You know, for custom orders, I've had people send me pieces of material from, you know, their grandfather's farm, a car that they were rebuilding with their father.

And that adds even more to the knife.

Every knife that I make, I want to have a story behind it.

I was in the Marine Corps from 2004 to 2009, got out as a corporal, and this year it was the 250th birthday of the Marine Corps.

And so that's why I made the Marine Corps NCO Sword.

And so the blade is 250 layers Damascus.

My grandfather was a Pacific War Marine.

He was Guadalcanal, Simon Islands.

He's one of the reasons why I became a Marine.

80 years later, I was in the same division as him.

And so it was something that I've been wanting to do for a long time and figured this year, this was a year to do it.

Most of the responses I've had with my knives are, "damn, that's sharp."

And that encourages me to keep on doing what I'm doing because, you know, people seem to like what I do.

Being able to make a living doing this, I love it.

I love coming out to the shop and being able to create things, and the fact that people are willing to pay for what I make, it makes me feel awesome.

If you do what you love, you never work a day in your life.

It's cliche, but it's true.

You know, doing this, it's, you know, "okay, what do I want to make today?"

And even if I'm feeling a little bit sluggish and not feeling too motivated or creative, there's other things I can come out and do in the shop, keep myself busy until I get that spark.

I love being able to do what I love and be able to live off of it.

I'm not gonna get rich doing it, but as long as I can keep the lights on and food in my belly, I'm gonna keep on doing it.

(upbeat music)