JD Knives (Jordan Danz)

My name is Jordan Danz and I am a grateful Christ follower, husband, and father. I have always been an avid outdoorsman and for years collected hand made custom knives. In 2018, I came to the realization that I had a drinking problem and that my life was quickly becoming unmanageable. I stepped into recovery and began my ongoing journey to sobriety. With drinking no longer consuming my time, I simply needed a new hobby. I made my first knife in 2019 out of an old rusty saw blade and a Dremel. It was ugly and looked more like a prison shank, but I was hooked. I knew in that moment that I wanted to be a knifemaker. I made several more knives with very basic tooling. I listed them for sale on Bushcraft USA which is a forum I am an active member of with a "make me an offer," price tag. Surprisingly, forum members started making me offers. I took whatever money I made and invested in better tooling. I wanted people to be able to follow along on my journey, so I started doing Instagram live feeds every weeknight so I could engage with anyone that wanted to watch. This is something I continue to do today. The years to follow were consumed with studying, watching hundreds of hours of YouTube, communicating with several other knife makers, and more than anything grinding steel. I dove head first into the science behind heat treating, steel performances, edge geometry, and design. I am constantly learning and am grateful to the many makers and people that encouraged me. Today, I continue to hone my craft, getting better with each blade. I do this in my spare time as I am also a husband and father to three amazing kids. It is much more than a business to me. It is truly a passion that was founded out of simple curiosity. More important than the product I make are the customers and other makers I have met along the way. These people have truly changed my life. It is my hope that my story will inspire others to try something creative and not allow the lack of knowledge hold them back.