Freedom Fighter
Hand Forged by Jeff Royer, Journeyman Smith
Before it had a name, this knife had a soul.
I started with old vintage distressed wrought iron for the “S” guard and handle spacer. Iron from America’s gritty building years, pulled from massive turnbuckles like the ones used on trestle bridge struts, spanning waterways, railroads and highways. My best guess is that this wrought iron was made sometime in the mid 1800s.
That old iron had carried real weight. It had joined what was separated. It had helped hold something together and refused to quit.
Seemed like the right stuff for a knife called Freedom Fighter and I wanted America in the bones of it.
The blade is a 10” tile-welded “Star-Spangled” Mosaic Damascus. Stars forged into the steel, born in fire, pressure and hard work. Many pieces brought together and hammered into one strong, beautiful whole.
That is how Damascus is made.
That is how this country was meant to come together.
For the handle, I chose a stunning piece of dyed and stabilized box elder burl that hits you with deep, rich reds and blues straight out of our national flag. But the longer you look, the more that wood opens up and surprises you. Running right through the heart of it is a majestic purple mountain, like a line from America the Beautiful was drawn into the handle by the hand of God Himself.
I wanted to build this in a classic Bowie-Fighter style because that form fit the name. It has beauty in the lines, but fight in its bones. And that is the truth of our story, this country was born in a fight for God-given liberty and we have had to keep fighting to hold onto it, even today.
God gets the glory for all of it, the skill, the materials, the country and the liberties we still stand for. I just got to swing the hammer and put the pieces together.
This one is for America’s Semiquincentennial: her 250th birthday!
Two hundred and fifty years of building, fighting, praying, standing, falling, rising and holding fast.
Freedom Fighter is a one-of-one tribute piece, built to be used, collected, gifted and passed down.
Stars in the steel. Flag in the wood. Old bridge iron in the guard. And a fighter ready to stand.
Freedom Fighter.
Some things are still worth fighting for.
Freedom Fighter
Hand Forged by Jeff Royer, Journeyman Smith
Before it had a name, this knife had a soul.
I started with old vintage distressed wrought iron for the “S” guard and handle spacer. Iron from America’s gritty building years, pulled from massive turnbuckles like the ones used on trestle bridge struts, spanning waterways, railroads and highways. My best guess is that this wrought iron was made sometime in the mid 1800s.
That old iron had carried real weight. It had joined what was separated. It had helped hold something together and refused to quit.
Seemed like the right stuff for a knife called Freedom Fighter and I wanted America in the bones of it.
The blade is a 10” tile-welded “Star-Spangled” Mosaic Damascus. Stars forged into the steel, born in fire, pressure and hard work. Many pieces brought together and hammered into one strong, beautiful whole.
That is how Damascus is made.
That is how this country was meant to come together.
For the handle, I chose a stunning piece of dyed and stabilized box elder burl that hits you with deep, rich reds and blues straight out of our national flag. But the longer you look, the more that wood opens up and surprises you. Running right through the heart of it is a majestic purple mountain, like a line from America the Beautiful was drawn into the handle by the hand of God Himself.
I wanted to build this in a classic Bowie-Fighter style because that form fit the name. It has beauty in the lines, but fight in its bones. And that is the truth of our story, this country was born in a fight for God-given liberty and we have had to keep fighting to hold onto it, even today.
God gets the glory for all of it, the skill, the materials, the country and the liberties we still stand for. I just got to swing the hammer and put the pieces together.
This one is for America’s Semiquincentennial: her 250th birthday!
Two hundred and fifty years of building, fighting, praying, standing, falling, rising and holding fast.
Freedom Fighter is a one-of-one tribute piece, built to be used, collected, gifted and passed down.
Stars in the steel. Flag in the wood. Old bridge iron in the guard. And a fighter ready to stand.
Freedom Fighter.
Some things are still worth fighting for.
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