Meet Charlie Bridges of
Broken Anvil Knifeworks
"I spent around 5 years making knives as a hobby before I made the leap to becoming a business. I had a few years of finding my talents while teaching myself the balance of beauty and function really was.
It all started when I watched a gentleman at a renaissance fair...."
- Charlie Bridges
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I watched a gentleman at a renaissance fair working a blacksmithing stall. He made it look so effortless. I told myself, “I can do this!” After a couple weeks of putting together a few simple tools and watching hours of
how-to-videos on YouTube, I failed to realize that I could in fact, not do this. I’m a fiend for a challenge though. I tried and failed for months at hammering out a simple knife. For a while, everything I made looked like a makeshift prison weapon.
I kept failing and growing more hungry to be better.As I would become more adept with the strokes of the hammer and more in tune with hot steel, I actually had small strides in making functional hunting knives. This became a passion long before it became a trained talent.
I wanted more than anything to be able to make the knives you only ever see in magazines. After a year or so, friends began to see what I was making and they would ask me to make them something. They were most likely just being supportive but they were the fire I needed. I grew more hungry to better my work. I started purchasing more specialized tools and turning a small shed into a forge. Over a few years, I got to the point that I wasn’t just giving away shanks and was actually capable of hammering steel into functional art. Still, I knew I had to better myself and find a community where I could both grow my skills and carve out a niche for myself. It wasn’t until 2020 that I felt even close to ready to take the leap into becoming a business. I had been on tv a few times for my bladesmithing and even been a part of a few publication write ups. My wife was the biggest supporter I could have ever asked for. She made my website, she got the cards done, she photographed pieces I made. She was the brain behind me while I had the easy job of just swinging a hammer.
I started with only taking custom orders. I wanted to make customers the knives they dreamt about. (Little did I know, the customer is not always right) After a year and a half of honestly hating half of the knives I made, I decided that I would make what made me happy and it was the best decision I ever made. People across the globe wanted a piece of MY modern savagery. Blades from my perspective. These days I make what I want and if someone wants a custom piece, we have an in depth conversation about it. If we just cannot get on the same page to where I will make a piece I’m proud to ship out, I politely direct them to other Bladesmiths I know. That decision is crucial to maintaining my passion and drive in this world.
Broken Anvil Knifeworks
is a one-man knife shop. I strive to bring art into every day life. My knives are carried by people in 38 states and 7 countries around the world. I spent years carrying store bought knives that were either over complicated or unreliable. I strive to never send a knife out that can easily be forgotten in a lineup of tools. While I make hunting and tactical blades, my passion lies in chef knives. There’s something special about being able to make a knife that thin and that precise. Knowing that either a chef in a kitchen is using my blade or a mother of three is making dinner with something that I hammered into existence; that’s a whole feeling for me. I’m not a machine and most people I work with understand this. Some blades are a two week process and some blades take months. I fail just as often as I succeed, but that feeds my longing to be better.
Contact Charlie:
Website: www.brokenanvilknifeworks.com
Instagram: @broken_anvil_knife_works
Facebook: Broken Anvil Knifeworks