You know introductions are always a weird thing to type out, I feal thy are much better done in person. Anyways my name is Jarod Todd or just JT as a lot of people call me and I have been playing the knife game for a little while. I started like alot of you I'm sure as a young boy in his dads shop grinding mistery metal into pointy objects. Little did I know that this pointy object craft would stay with me and become a huge part of my life. I made my first knife back in the very early 1990s (1990-1992) I was 10-12 years old if I remember correctly. Back then I was on my own and learned as I progressed. I would read any book I could find on blacksmithing/metal working at the local library. I kept going this way for quite some time and tried to improve each knife I made according to what I felt needed improving. somewhere around this time I was exposed to the internet and was instantly hooked. I was shocked to the shear amount of information at my finger tips.

Around this time (2001) is when I located and ordered the VHS "Forging Damascus" by Jim Hrisoulas. I must have watched this video a thousand times and that's when I relized I was addicted. I acquired all the things I thought I needed to try and make Damascus. After much effort and propane I came away with a Damascus knife I was quite proud of. I still have this knife to this day and love to look at it. This knife was the turning point in my life when I relized that bladesmithing is what I wanted to do and I might be able to pull it off. A few years after this blade I moved to Utah and was able to get a job as a machinist. I fell in love with this career and working with metal to this deg of precision. This addiction with perfection really pushed me in my knife making to up my game with my fit and finish. I was a full time machinist for quite some time up to just a few years ago. My wife and I decided to move back to my home town in washingtion state where I made my first knife but jobs up here are not as abundant. I was offered a position to run the boiler for a lumber mill in town with the chance to move to there machine shop once there current machinist retires.

This job has been a huge blessing for the wife and I and we where able to buy our first house on 3.25 acres just 3 months ago. The only issue with the place was it did not have a shop. We had our building permit in our hands a week after we signed on the house and started building a shop. The knife shop is still under construction but it's getting close. I'm really lucky to have a wife that knows how important bladesmithing is to me and fully supports my direction. We had a discussion the other day about where I want to go with my bladesmithing and this is what brings me here. Once the new shop is finished I'm going full steam ahead, working towards my goal of journeyman and master smith. The funny thing is I first joined the ABS back in 2009 and still have my apprentice membership card. But life, work and dating got in the way and I let my membership lap. So I am back with even more drive then befor and I hope to become a valuable member of the ABS and help others enjoy this amazing craft like I have.

I will post some pictures of my current work in the photo area, but here is the current state of the shop. It's 20x40 with more plunges then I know what to do with and all LED lighting.