We recently connected with Eric Hemker and have shared our conversation below.
Eric, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
After 6.5 years of making knives, the number one contributor to learning this craft is the community. I started pretty slow, like a lot of people probably do, but over time I have been lucky enough to meet so many amazing people who are so willing to share their knowledge. YouTube was my first avenue for gathering the know how and inspiration to get started making knives but that only got me so far. At the time, there were quite a few knifemakers posting videos of knifemaking but it was a bit difficult to boil down the content to understand what was really important to be able to do this semi-successfully. Thankfully, I was able to take a class with some, now, very good friends to learn how to properly forge hot steel and that set me countless months ahead of where I would have been if I had tried to learn it by trial and error. Then after attending a few events and joining a couple local and national organizations I have been very fortunate to become good friends and acquaintances with some very high caliber craftspeople in the knifemaking and bladesmithing community. because of these friends i have been able to draw inspiration and gain knowledge from them to excel my own work at an exponential rate. If I could start over, my first step would be to seek out the community and start making connections. You’d be very surprised how willing, even the best in the craft, are willing to take the time to talk to you. Social media is easily one of our most powerful tools for finding like minded people and making connections.
If I had to pinpoint what slowed my progress in the beginning it would have been my naivety and being too timid. I thought I had learned everything I ever needed to know from a few YouTube videos. If I had realized much earlier that there was such a depth of knowledge to this craft that I had barely even scratched the surface then maybe I would have sought more information much earlier. And by the time I started to realize I didn’t know everything, I was too timid to reach out because I felt I wasn’t good enough to pester someone like a mastersmith with petty beginner questions. Now I will say, do your own due diligence first. Don’t just start berating an expert level craftsman without even giving it a go on your own. Also don’t expect an expert in the craft to give away the farm just because you ask, it has likely taken them years to perfect what they do. But by all means, just ask! The worst thing that can happen is they don’t respond or they say no. Then ask someone else. I have kicked myself so many times for not approaching someone to introduce myself at an event just because I thought they were on some other social level. Just ask.
Eric, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Eric Hemker and I the owner and one man show behind Hemker Blacksmithing LLC. I create one of a kind custom cutlery and ironwork and I also teach classes at my shop in Armada, Michigan. I got my start on the back patio of a friends apartment after we watched a few youtube videos and we thought “let’s try it!” Six and a half years and one Forged In Fire Champion title later I own a small business creating world class knives from premium materials and I get to pass my knowledge onto others interested in the craft. Every knife that come out of my shop is proudly made 100% by my hands. Every process from forging the steel to putting the final edge on the blade before it gets packaged and shipped is done by me. For anyone interested in seeing my work or inquiring about buying options, please do so through my website, hemkerblacksmithing.com, and my social media pages @hemker_blacksmithing on facebook and Instagram.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
First is, obviously, buy something from them! But I know as well as anyone that custom work is not cheap. If you follow them on social media commenting on their posts can be a huge confidence boost for the maker. Everyone likes to get positive feedback but for a craftsperson, who is usually their own worst critic, it can make a huge difference to that makers confidence and passion for the craft. Also, share their content on your own pages as much as you can. You can help them get exposure to a larger audience and if even one person from your page finds the work interesting and follows the maker then it was a success.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
To be vague, make the best knives I possibly can. But a more tangible goal would be to earn the title of Journeyman bladesmith and then Mastersmith title from the American Bladesmith Society. But even beyond earning the titles, continue to produce the best knives I can while continuing to learn new techniques and developing my own way of doing things in hopes that I can eventually have something to share and give back to the community that has given so much to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: hemkerblacksmithing.com
- Instagram: @hemker_blacksmithing
- Facebook: @hemker_blacksmithing
Image Credits
Jim Cooper