Make a Great Story
This story begins with William Wallace’s sword.
In 2007, I received a replica of this famous sword from my Father, as a part of my initiation into manhood. This was a tradition for all of the men in my family; receiving a sword as a symbol of the burden of manhood: to be a warrior, a protector, a provider, and a promoter of our wives and children.
Fast forward to 2015. My beautiful wife, Kaelyn, and I had been married for less than a year and moved to Southern Colorado to help my grandparents on their 80-acre ranch. After discovering that I had a knack for working with my hands, I found some discarded steel and wood in the workshop. I began to tinker, to create, and to explore.
The first knives I made were for the men that had poured into me in my earlier years. My Father, my grandfather, my uncles, and cousins; those men on whose shoulders I now stood.
Truth be told, I knew nothing about knife-making, I didn’t know that steel could be hardened, or even that it needed to be hardened; all I knew was that I wanted to commemorate the legacy before me, and give each man a knife as a symbol of our brotherhood. On each knife I engraved the same verse: “As iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another” (Proverbs 27:17) and I continue to do this as a reminder that we are only as good as the people we surround ourselves with, and that we have the opportunity to bring the best out of others.
A few months later my grandfather introduced me to Joe O’Neill, a professional knife-maker who had moved into the nearby town. Joe taught me the art of knife-making. Shortly thereafter I made my first real knife, then found my first real customer; a man seeking knives to commemorate the story that he was building with his own sons. The legacy was continuing.
Each knife is made and designed with the desire to create functional art. I would never sell something that doesn’t function as it is intended, and I aim to bring beauty to that function. I strive for perfection with every piece, every part of my work is thought out, purposeful, and done to the best of my ability. Every piece takes anywhere from around 60 to sometimes over 500 hours to make. Handmade means that each piece will be a little different from everything else, and that each piece carries the blood, sweat and sometimes tears that go into it. I put my heart and soul into everything I make.
As I was deciding on a name for this work, I was struck by the Greek myth of Icarus, the boy who flew too close to the sun. This story is about a boy who wanted to push the boundaries (something I surely embrace), and it is a lesson in the importance of humility, which is something I greatly admire and always need more of. However, it is also a story of a father, a master craftsman, teaching his son how to fly; and in doing so they rescue each other from the labyrinth of the world.
This brings us to the next chapter in the Icarus Forge story; committed to using the art of knife-making to impact the lives of those that will come after, just as our lives have been impacted by those before us. Through father-son initiation programs and thoughtful engagement, I aim to provide opportunities to equip the next generation of men to put on the burden of manhood.
Sincerely,
Pearce Richardson
