Meet Jason Redick

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Redick.

Hi Jason, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve always been a hobby-oriented person I’ve fly-fished and tied my own flies since I was 5. When I was young, I spent a lot of time with my grandfather. He made fishing lures and fishing rods. I developed my love of working with my hands very young. I made my first knife when I was around 9 or so. Over the years I kept making knives here and there but nothing to the extent I do now. I worked in the injection molding industry for many years I got laid off in 2008. I had some close friends that really pushed me to sell my blades more aggressively. I was also doing some woodturning at the time so I got into a local market and started selling soon I gained a reputation for building extremely tough knives that hold amazing edges. In 2010 I started taking blacksmith classes at Blue ridge community college that’s when my work really took off instead of just knives I now made all kinds of things like fireplace sets, bottle openers, camp tools, cooking tools, and all sorts of other things. In 2015, I was lucky enough to get on forged in fire on the history channel I competed against a local smith in Charleston Mr. Josh A Weston. I was able to win against Josh which really helped with sales and Josh and I are still friends afterwards. Nowadays, I split my time between North and South Carolina offering forging experiences where people of all ages can see what it’s like to make a hand-forged item. They can make simple things like oyster shuckers, grill tools, bottle openers, as well as knife options. Customers walk away with a unique item that they made themselves it’s hugely popular. I love interacting with the people and answering questions, the experience also lets people curious about blacksmithing an opportunity to do it without spending hundreds of dollars on equipment. Come forge with us. You’ll have a great time

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been smooth I struggled week to week paying bills and providing for my daughters their wasn’t much to go around most of the time but we made it through. I always made sure my girls were ok

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
The forging experiences are what I’m most known for. As far as my work I guess I specialize in bladesmithing I make tough blades for tough use. My chefs knives are what I’m most proud of as far as my wrk goes it takes a lot of skill to forge a thin light sharp blade that can be used for hours with no problems. What sets me apart is that I have great patience and take my time with every customer and make sure they are completely satisfied.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I didn’t use to take risks I always played it safe. Trying to make a living selling your crafts is a huge risk you can lose everything especially if you want to sell good products. There are lots of people selling crap that breaks right after it’s bought and telling people no refunds. I sell quality items that I’ve put my heart into but I put a lifetime warranty on everything I sell. I put it all out there and put all I had in. I tell my girls, sometimes you have to burn the boats and put all you have in to get the outcome you want. I’ve been lucky to have a family that believes in me.

Pricing:

• Classes start as low as 50$

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Angry Giant forge
• Facebook: Angry Giant Forge