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I’m Mike Peterson, a professional bladesmith out of Aurora, Utah. I create custom tactical and kitchen knives with handles made from synthetic handles and other cool wood burls. I have been doing this for years and I'm currently working out of my dad's (Chris Peterson) original shop.
My family supports what I do and my daughter, Daisy, REALLY enjoyed watching me hammering out a new knife when she was younger.
As she entered her teens, she really liked the idea of knife making. Its in our blood. My own history with blades started with watching my dad make knives from the time I could walk . I started forging when I was about 4 years old. Probably burnt myself more times then I actually made anything.
When I was 10 years old I really stepped thing up and started to learn to make knives, and was hooked after that. By the time I was 13 years I was making and selling knives locally and at knife shows. At 16 years old I was invited to the Tulsa, Oklahoma Gun Show where I was a special guest star maker . I was then published in the world's biggest gun show magazine!
One surprising event was being chosen to be on the History Channel. The Forged in Fire series put my company, Mike’s Damascus Knives LLC on the map and I was actively competing against other skilled bladesmiths in a timed competition. I am forever grateful for the History Channel to give me that opportunity. I met a lot of other amazing people in industry as well.
My daughter started off small at the age of 10 years old. We had to teach her safety practices first, then how to maintain a hot fire, material gathering, and finally the actual art of making a knife. Her favorite parts were being able to forge a knife from raw steel, finishing it and making money from selling it off. Fast forward a couple years, she really enjoys meeting other bladesmiths & blacksmiths, learning new techniques, and getting a chance to work with them in their shops.
Her best creation so far was a cable damascus hunter with a blue and purple stained stabilized box elder burl handle scales. Which she sold at Blade Show 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. That knife was featured in the 2023 Knives catalog where she is listed as a bladesmith, probably the youngest ever to be listed in it. During the 2021 Blade Show Daisy was the first to sell a knife out of seven other excellent bladesmiths at the Forged in Fire Alumni booth during the show.
I'm hoping as she gets older she takes up the family tradition and carries it on has said that she wants to and hopefully passes this family tradition on to her children as well . So far she enjoys the creation process, especially especially earning money from her hard work. She often sketches out knife designs that she plans to make at some point as her skill level grows.
Visit Mike and Daisy at the Damascus Knives Page: https://www.facebook.com/mikedknives
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