When Halcyon set out to buy an anvil in early 2021, she didn't expect it to end up changing the course of her life. The search for a reasonably priced anvil during COVID-era pricing led her to a chance meeting at a coffeeshop with a teacher/bladesmith who was working at TVF, who recognized her skills and suggested she reach out. No stranger to metalworking, Halcyon has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in bronze casting and sculpture. One interview later, and Halcyon was part of the team.
Halcyon started her tenure by teaching our sculpture/welding courses, as well as doing machine maintenence and other workshop tasks. As time went on, she began to develop a passion for knifemaking. Specifically, she says that "Once I learned what damascus steel was, I was hooked". Within a year, she'd learned enough to begin teaching bladesmithing courses to students.
These days, Halcyon continues to teach all manner of courses. Most recently, she's started teaching our new framelock flipper knife course. However, she says she doesn't actually have a favorite course to teach. "For me, it's not so much about what we're making, but more about the engagement with the students. Being able to make them see something about themselves that they might not have been able to see before is really rewarding".
What advice would you have for new knifemakers?
"Start basic, and do repetitive work until you're confident with the basic stuff. There's no point in jumping into high specialty steels when you've only made two knives and can barely forge three. The biggest downfall of beginner knifemakers I've seen is them spending thousands of dollars on equipment and materials while not being able to forge a knife straight. Start basic, and stay basic until you've mastered the basics of knifemaking."