We were lucky to catch up with Charlie Ellis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Charlie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

My hope is that the work I do will far outlast me. Not just the care I put into the knives I make, trying to design and build them to still be elegant and functional 100 years from now but also in raising my children, to be thoughtful and kind and not be afraid of hard work or challenges. Because something beautiful can be on the other side of it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a bladesmith, basically I take bars of steel and hammer them until it mostly looks like a knife then spend a tremendous amount of time machining, heat treating, grinding and polishing until it’s a fully functioning tool. I mostly focus on culinary knives in pattern welded steel. Pattern welded steel, or also called Damascus, is done by taking 2 or more different types of steel and heating them to near melting temps to forge weld them together and then by manipulating that material through forging and grinding there’s all kinds of interesting patterns that can be revealed in the steel once polished and etched to bring out the contrast of the steels.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I don’t know if I’d really call it a side hustle but I knew I wanted to be a bladesmith since I was a kid. First started forging when I was 14 and it’s been a long road to being full time self employed. The biggest leap was of course going full time. At the time I’d been working for another blacksmith for 5 years part time and trying to make up the rest in my own work. Dividing my time just wasn’t working anymore, wasn’t making enough to live off of and support my family at the other job, and didn’t have enough time to get my own work done fast enough to make up the difference. Had to either quit and get a “real” full time job or make the leap and see if I could make it work going full time self employed. First couple of years had some real squeaking by times and heck it still gets hairy 5 years later, but I love what I do and it gets the bills paid.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Social media has been a great help, using it to advertise and also to share the process. It greatly reduces the “why is it so expensive” comments when you share what the journey took over the last month of making it. Also by collaborating with other well established makers and by working with reputable dealers. You can do the best you can to accurately present your work online, but at the end of the day it’s a physical object and a tool that needs to feel right and work right. Doing good work, and being associated with others also doing good work gives customers confidence to invest in what you make.

Contact Info:

• Website: Charleslionheart.com
• Instagram: Charleslionheart
• Facebook: Charles Lionheart

Image Credits
Eatingtools Sharps by Coop