We recently connected with Joshua O’Crowley and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Joshua, thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Years ago when we enlisted in the Army I was in an infantry squad of oversized humans, I was the runt in our squad and yet I was bigger than the rest of the platoon. Our 1SG took to calling us his Ogre squad. Over time the rest of my squad had left the Army or had been transferred to other units and I was the last man standing. Our 1SG just kept calling me Ogre and it stuck, it followed me to my next duty station and when we were looking for what to name our business it just seemed to fit.

Joshua, 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?

After serving several deployments overseas in Iraq I was stationed at Ft Benning, Ga. While there I struggled with PTSD, I spent time with several Drs. and finally met with one that encouraged me to do something active and creative to help deal with my mental issues. I found a book in one of the book stores we frequented by Bob Loveless called “How to Make Knives” and after reading a bit of it in the store I thought to myself that I could do this. I started with simple files, sand paper, hand held drill, four fire bricks, and a small propane torch and I made knives. They were rough at first and that was ok because the side effect was that I dwelt less on my past experiences overseas and more on what I was building. I started drawing designs and buying more books, I tried new techniques, and I got better at making knives,. As a side effect I also started to get better mentally though I didn’t see it at the time. We had moved to another duty station, went on another deployment, this time to Afghanistan. After being home for a few months I was approached by a woman who wanted to know if her father could come make a knife with me. At first I was offended because this was my place, my place of peace, I didn’t want to share it with anyone however, for unknown reasons I said yes. Over the course of weeks while we worked on his knife we shared stories, he was a Vietnam vet with several tours, he shared with me how he had struggled with PTSD and how he used creative works to overcome it. He told me that what we did in the creation of a knife from raw materials is the positive that balances the negative that PTSD causes in our minds. That conversation resonated with me for years afterwards. My wife and I opened our shop to others that wanted the experience of making their own knives but it wasn’t until we were at yet another duty station that what we were doing became clear to us. We had a Soldier in our shop that had just returned from a deployment to Afghanistan and was struggling with his own demons. We had forged a knife, heat treated it and he was at the hand sanding point, it was quiet in the shop he was working on his knife and I was working on mine when he suddenly looked up at me and said “this is relaxing, I haven’t felt this relaxed in years”. The conversation I had had years before with that Vietnam vet slammed into my mind, and I knew that this was something we had to share with more individuals, especially those who had PTSD, not just Soldiers, but police officers, prison guards, all first responders, and anyone else that had experienced a traumatic event. That is when we officially began “Open Shop”. We have divided it and refined it into several more formal teaching events, so that those coming to the shop have an understanding of the equipment and techniques involved. We produce beautiful knives that are first and foremost a functioning tool, but we also provide a place for those who are seeking peace to come and work with their hands to create their own beautiful, heirloom quality knife.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Customers walk into our shop and always comment on the amount of equipment that we have, this gives the false assumption that to do what we do you need a lot of capitol and equipment. Being in the Army we didn’t have a lot of money to invest in a business, nor did we have the skills at the time to manage everything we have now. We started small, very small. Our initial investment was under $100, we had bought four fire bricks wired them together and used a propane torch for soldering as our burner, hand cut and filed our knives, and hand sanded the handles. Each year after that we would purchase one large piece of equipment and two smaller ones. In this way we were able to slowly build our business, without going into debt. We learned how to build many of the tools we use and experiment with new designs on current tools we had. It also gave us the opportunity to learn the skills needed to be good at what we do and how to teach them to others. After retirement from the Army we had all the tools we needed to manage our business fulltime and provide the opportunity for multiple individuals to be in the shop working on their own projects.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My wife Robyn is my cofounder and business partner and she has encouraged this from the start. When I started making knives in my garage I would make them and give them away or sell them for a pittance. She looked at what I was doing and knew I wanted to do more and there would be financial repercussions so she suggested that we do it as a small business. I did the labor and she managed the office work. The problem we ran into was that I would work all day for the Army and spend my evenings in the shop. She didn’t get to spend much time with me but, she didn’t want to discourage me as she knew what it did for me mentally. So as the old adage goes, if you can’t beat them join them, she found a way to be in the shop and join in the creation process. Handles are half of what we create, its hard to have a knife without a handle. Robyn did the research, found the equipment, and began stabilizing handle material. She would source raw materials, cut them to bring out the best figure, dye them or leave them their natural color, then stabilize them. This provided us the opportunity to work side by side on our business and opened up another product and service for our business.

Contact Info:

• Website: theogresforge.com
• Instagram: theogres.forge
• Facebook: The Ogre’s Forge
• Youtube: The Ogre’s Forge

Image Credits
All images are property of The Ogre’s Forge