I use a variety of ways to make cutlery and ceremonial pieces. For cutlery, I primarily make two types of steels, mono steel and damascus steel. For this process, I use a propane forge that reaches temperatures of 1700-2100 °F. This allows me to forge weld or hand forge the pieces to make a knife. For the handle, I primarily use wood that is shaped through carving or hand sanding. I inlay turquoise or sterling silver into the handles. I also utilize silversmithing techniques to make guards or spacers for knives. For ceremonial pieces, these include gunstock war clubs or tomahawks. The warclubs are primarily used in pow-wow dances or for ceremonies. The tomahawks are used for pow-wow as well as pipes for smoking tobacco. The warclubs are made from hardwoods such as black walnut and sometimes have inlays. The tomahawks are made from damascus or mono steel and hardwoods for the handles. The techniques I used were passed down to me by my mother and grandfather, who were Navajo woodcarvers.
