Who Is Jakob The Red?

 Who is Jakob the Red?

 

“No Viking believed he could change his destiny, ordained as it was by the Norns who wove the fates of gods and men alike but, for all that, the way in which he lived his life was up to him.”

 – Kevin Crossley-Holland

So where do I start? 

Where is it that I begin?

Who am I?

What is it that I'm on here for?

I am Jakob The Red.

But first and foremost I am a father,

a craftsman, a blacksmith, a creator, a small business owner, a pagan, and a modern Viking.

I live in central Pennsylvania.

I didn't set out to have my own business but here I am.

I didn't intend to even start building this at all. but its as if the Norns "fates" had other plans.

It mainly started with my daughter years ago.

Her and I started watching Forged In Fire the tv show on the history channel. We were hooked on it and watched it all the time. My daughter then asked one day if we could try and build our own knife. I told her we could try but I had never done that before.

So, like everyone else I got on to YouTube. watched some videos, got a book from barns and nobles, went home and got to work. we just took three descent sized rocks and set them up around a shallow hole I had made and use the rocks to block the wind and hold in the heat. We used heat from charcoals that I would normally use for my grill. We then took a small piece of rebar and came out with a little butter knife. It was a learning experience to say the least, but it was fun and that's all that matters. 

But then it happened,

My brain searched for a way to do it better. my daughter wanted to make a better knife, so I got to work building an actual forge. nothing grand. siting on the ground over charcoals just wasn't cutting it. So, I found an old grill and set it up. Now anyone who knows about forging knows that you need air to give your fire more heat. So, with a few rigging jobs I set up a hair dryer to push in air to the bed of coals. 

More trial and error would come.

New forge designs, more research, more YouTube videos, more talks with people on Facebook. and then on the seventh forge setup we had a rhythm going. 

I will admit that even when we broke knives or got hot trying to make these creations, we were having a lot of fun.

To be fair I have always loved building and creating new things. or just learning a new skill and being able to say " yeah, I did that".

but at some point, along the way we started making more things and I started expanding our little work area. with building knives comes building the handles. so that means wood. time to build a little lumber area. but now we want to try leather with them to hold the knives. time to make a crafting bench.

With every step came a new aspect to the now shop. and at this point I had a few people ask if I could make them a knife. or I got asked " you're really creative could you make me a necklace?", "Could you make me a bookcase?", "could you make me a hair pin?"

the lists would come and go. new ideas would come about. and then one day it was brought up "why don't you make this a business?"

Me?

what in the world do I know about running a business?

I work third shift, when am I going to find the time?

who is going to want to buy this?

Plus,

My taste ranges goes from gothic, Nordic, country, primitive, Halloween cosplay.  

Who in the world is going to match with any of this?

Well as the saying goes, as and you shall receive, I slowly started getting that answer. i started a little Facebook page. I started building a few odds and ends. came up with a few things that I thought would be interesting, and pretty much things that I would look for myself. Like I said before, it's as if the Norns had stitched this path for me long ago. one project led to another, which led to a TikTok page, which led to a website, which led to showing at a few stores, that brought us to here.

And where is that you might ask?

well I still work out of my little shop.

I have my forge.

I have a welding bench.

             

I have a leather bench. 

                

I have a saw mill.

               

I have a Lazer engraver.

And I have the main hub crafting bench.

               

I don't do this all alone. I have had some teachers along the way to give me some tips and pointers to help guide me on my journey, and my daughter still comes out to help with a project or two. other than that, it is all me.

now yes my style varies. one minute ill be working on a Viking long boat or a medieval lamp, then the next I'm making cutting boards with the wood fracturing. or I might make a spin and start working on some Star Wars decor. the point is, I just like being out here in my shop. i love the creating, building, working, and just being able to bring to life these ideas an thoughts, and then being able to share them with others.

so where is this all going?

that is the million-dollar question, where is this going? 

what do I plan on doing with all of this.

Why even have this blog?

Well to be honest I have to learn how this is going to operate. I want to be able to keep coming out here to my shop and be able to keep creating. But, to do that I need to sell some of my treasures so I can make more. 

now I said I had teachers, which I am forever grateful for, and these teachers have guiding me to not only start the Facebook page, but also a web site. now the site has been up for two years and I have done some rebranding and redesigning. And with a lot of help I think the site is really coming along. 

I get the odd order or two. but I want to keep this alive. I want it to keep moving forward. every week I have the thought come in, "is this stable? or should I pack it up?" every time I seem to have that thought something comes along to push it forward saying "no!! your not done yet." So I keep going. I wont lie some weeks are harder then others. but every time I finish a project I cant believe how much joy that it brings me to see it built and know I was the one that brought it together. 

So why than this blog?

Well to be honest, to share.

I have a TikTok and Instagram, and the Facebook page, but I thought this would be a good place to come and just share and spread the word. 

It takes a few seconds to post a video, and they are great don't get me wrong, but there is something about taking the time to write and read that makes us stop and think, and helps us wonder our selves.

So here is what I plan to do,

I will do my best to post as often as I can on here. But I want to be able to post substantial material. I don't want this to become just a dump. I want this to be a place to share my shop and ideas with you. 

I'd like to post a project and walk through how I build it and what inspired me to make it. Now I don't know if it will be once a week or every other week or how that will play out. that is still up in the air. 

I'll even post the web site so you can buy the project I'm working on or you can try it yourself.

I might even try like "coffee with a Viking". Just sit and talk while I have my cup of tea before I start my projects for the day.

We will see where it leads. This is just the start.

The only thing I could ask from you is this. 

Enjoy the ride and share.

Enjoy the post, enjoy the photos, enjoy the creations. 

And Share, please share what you find and help me keep the fires burning and keep me in this shop doing what I love.

If you want to find me Ill leave my links.

I am on both 

Instagram

TikTok

Facebook

And there is the web site itself 

www.TearsofTyrforging.com

 

Here is to many miles and days ahead.

Skal

Jakob-The-Red

"A torch is lit by another and burns till its burned out;

a fire is kindled by another fire.

a man becomes wise by speaking with other men,

but foolish by keeping to himself."

-The Havamal