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About Me

Hello! I'm Daniel DeGueldre and by trade I am a third generation, red seal certified, journeyman tool and die maker with well over 20 professional years in the industry. Though I have been in the metal fabrication business professionally for over 20 years, I have been in and around machinery, machine shops and steel fabrication my entire life. I literally grew up inside a machine shop - it's in my blood.

There is nothing I like more than a good challenge when on the job. With that said, after more than 11 years at the same tool and die facility, I didn't feel that I was was getting the satisfaction that I once did. That's not to say that I was unhappy with my employer - quite the contrary. I am fortunate to work for one of the best companies in Canada and I very much appreciate the incredible opportunity granted to me on a daily basis. With that said, after years of working with them I felt that my skill set had grown beyond what the company required of me and as a result I often found myself feeling unchallenged and unfulfilled after a day's work. At the advice of my father, in order to keep the spark alive I decided that I would challenge myself at home. After all, we learn and grow through challenges and new experiences and I have a deep desire to learn new things. I am one of those people who has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and I am always interested in aquiring a learn new skill. I have taught myself many things over the years. Things such as photography, website design, electroplating, knife making and many things in between. It is fair to say that my love of steel fabrication and my undying need to keep learning resides at the very core of my knife making quest.

In the early fall of 2016 I put the word out that I was looking for an antique coal forge. I had already purchased a couple of vintage hand operated drill presses and I was trying to put together a small but fully functional blacksmith display in my yard. My father had owned a blacksmith shop when I was very young and the thought of recreating that environment for others to experience was appealing to me. It didn't take long before an anvil and some blacksmithing hand tools landed in my yard. I wasted no time and quickly went to work cleaning and restoring the old forge.

I went to work on my first knife in the late fall of 2016 and during the process I had decided along the way that I was going to be a Christmas gift for my father. My father is a tool maker of incredible ability and a machinist with an immense skill set. I knew that if I were going to impress my dad then this knife was going to have to be something really special. The challenge was on!

In the end, the knife turned out beautifully and after hand making a leather sheath for it, the package was gift wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree. It turned out to be quite a hit and dad loved it. As I had hoped, he was eager to show it off to anyone who seemed interested (and some who didn’t). Of course, even before Christmas came around I had shown the finished project off to a few people myself and the feedback that I received was incredible. The entire experience was all very encouraging! People were immediately interested in buying a handmade knife and in fact, a good buddy and fellow motorcycle enthusiast insisted that he buy the second knife that I made. Apparently he felt that I was going places with my knew hobby and he wanted a knife made during my early production years. That may or may not have been the beer talking but he did buy the second knife I made. I was happy to oblige him and through simple word of mouth and the production of heirloom quality knives, knife making has become a full time hobby and labor of love.

I've kept my regular job at the tool and die shop and while I sometimes still feel unchallenged with the work there, I have found a new way to keep myself interested, challenged and on the learning curve. By challenging myself through my home based machine shop & my knife making studio I have once again been able to enjoy different challenges and overcome some new and interesting obstacles.

Being a knife maker has been very rewarding on many levels. The challenges are plentiful and the learning curve is steep but it's a hobby that I adore. I love the feedback that I receive from people when they see my knives. Just like at my day job, I take pride in my work and strive for perfection everyday and with every task. I truly do enjoy every minute of knife making. While I don't ever expect to get rich by making knives, I do foresee plenty of rewarding hours in the shop, many years of knife making and many more happy customers.

- Daniel A. DeGueldre