How did you become a bladesmith?
It was actually because of my dad: he was a self employed machinist and engineer who made parts for vintage car engines. His workshop was on the side of our house and as a child I used to help out doing odd jobs there. All through my own years of education I thought of his skills and life.
What do you like the most about your craft?
Being a bladesmith is a wonderful mix of skills. I love the story behind the materials I use: it could be a 100-year-old wrought iron cart wheel rim, Victorian farm fencing, whiskey barrel straps, sea-buried anchor chains, antique swords, storm damaged tree limbs, sunken ships boughs, whale bones…
©Al Higgins
How do you express tradition and innovation in your work?
Working with my hands and a fire to create a knife feeds a deep connection to the smiths of the past, their skills and failures. These practices have had such a profound relationship with the development of humankind. Then, wanting to know, to understand more is what sparks innovation for me.
What is the most challenging aspect of your craft?
Using recycled materials as I do can provide some heartbreaking challenges. No matter how much you clean up a bit of old wrought iron, sometimes hidden inclusions show themselves at the very end of the process, when I am finishing a blade. The whiskey barrel straps are my nemesis: their failure rate can be agonisingly high.