Carpenter, Charles (Big River Forge)

With a long family history of blacksmithing, Charles began his personal journey into bladesmithing in 2013. He joined the American Bladesmith Society in the summer of 2015, and started focusing solely on refining the Art of bladesmithing. After presenting his blades at the blade show in Atlanta, he earned his Journeyman Smith ranking from the ABS in 2019. While he does use a few pieces of modern equipment like forging presses and belt grinders for specific tasks, Charles’ primary focus has remained on perfecting the art of the traditionally hand forged blade by using a one hundred plus year old coal forge, anvil, and hand hammers to forge every blade that leaves Big River Forge.