KNIVES
Bridgetown Forge specializes in forging Japanese-style, performance-oriented culinary knives. Our goal is creating the kind of tool your hand will automatically reach for when you need to prepare a meal. Everything we do, from design to steel selection to forging and heat-treating to sharpening, is harnessed to this goal.
TOOLS
Bridgetown Forge produces a line of forging hammers for the blacksmith and the metal worker. Featuring true ergonomic design, these balanced, carefully forged and heat-treated hammers are designed to move and shape metal efficiently and with minimum effort.
CLASSES
Bridgetown Forge offers a variety of classes for both the beginner and the experienced smith. The guiding principle is teaching efficient, ergonomic methods of shaping hot steel with hammer and anvil. Subjects covered include knife-making, tool-making, practical metallurgy, heat-treatment, and power hammer work. Each student has their own work station, anvil, continuous access to a forge, and an unlimited amount of material to practice with.
Bridgetown Forge designs and makes a variety of forged steelwork, striving for simplicity, quality and integrity.
1
Western Chef’s Knife 9″
Double-bevel Western-style chef’s knife forged from high-carbon steel. Differentially hardened, which results in a tough, flexible spine and a very hard, keen, long-lasting edge. Very light and tough. Suitable for almost all tasks in the kitchen. 9-inch blade.
2
Western Chef’s Knife 8″
Double-bevel Western-style chef’s knife forged from high-carbon steel. Differentially hardened, which results in a tough, flexible spine and a very hard, keen, long-lasting edge. Very light and tough. Suitable for almost all tasks in the kitchen. 8-inch blade.
3
Kitchen all-task Cleaver 8″
This double-bevel cleaver is forged from 1/4″ high-carbon tool steel, and is differentially hardened for a tough spine and a hard, long-lasting edge. A progressive grind, with a thicker blade at the heel and fine, thin edge closer to the tip makes this into a very versatile tools in the kitchen: tough enough at the heel to cut through chicken or pork bones, fine enough further up the blade to slice through a ripe tomato. This aggressive, no-nonsense knife will chop, cut, and slice through meat, fish, veg, dried herbs, and bones.
4
8″ Bunka
This knife is designed to perform multiple tasks in the kitchen, much like the Santoku knife, but with an aggressive tip for cutting meat or fish, and forged from heavier steel to create the thumb rest — a unique element in Bridgetown Forge knives. Features differentially treated high-carbon steel, a scorched hickory handle, and a stainless steel ferrule.
5
Santoku Chef’s Knife, 8″
Forged from Swedish carbon steel. Diffrerentially hardened, very light and tough. This knife particularly excels at slicing and chopping vegetables, but performs other kitchen task without hesitation. Try it on a fresh baguette — you’ll never use your bread knife again! 8-inch blade.
6
VLB – Paring/Deboning Knife, 3.5″
This versatile, robust and extremely sharp knife is forged from a single bar of ball-bearing steel. It’s suitable for a variety of tasks: cutting chicken and fish, de-veining and peeling shrimp, and peeling fruit and vegetables. In use, blade is pinched between thumb and forefinger, and the rest of the fingers wrap around the short handle. The blade is about 3.5” long; nicknamed VLB, for ‘Vicious Little Bugger’.
1
3.5 lb. Rounding Hammer
This is a heavier hammer, meant to move a lot of steel rapidly, or to forge heavy stock or drive chisels, punches and mandrels. The rounded face allows it to create curved surfaces with ease, and to facilitate aggressive forging against the rounded edge of the anvil or the anvil horn. The square face allows for driving tools, smoothing of steel, and usage of the edges as fullers. Forged from 1045 steel, and hardened and tempered for maximum toughness, at the same time avoiding excessive hardness which can lead to chipped edges and dings on your anvil.
2
3.25 lb. Hofi-style Hammer
Combined with Uri Hofi’s ergonomic forging method, this hammer allows for very versatile, accurate, rapid, and effortless forging. This is a serious hammer for the professional smith, meant to move a lot of hot steel in a precise and speedy fashion. Forged from 1045 steel, and hardened and tempered for maximum toughness, at the same time avoiding excessive hardness which can lead to chipped edges and dings on your anvil.
3
1.5 lb. Raising Hammer
Used for forging copper and other non-ferrous metals, but will perform very well on hot steel when forging delicate items such as vessels, spoons, flowers, and decorative elements. Features a round and a flat peen, this versatile hammer allows for sinking, raising, texturing, and forming metal over a stake. Forged from 1045 carbon steel, this hammer is very tough and long-wearing, yet can be easily re-polished as needed.
4
2.5 lb. Japanese Knifemakers Hammer
Also known as a dog’s head hammer in the West, this style of hammer is used by bladesmiths in Japan for moving steel quickly and efficiently. Knifemakers, chiselmakers, and swordmakers use this type of hammer extensively. It allows for rapid and accurate forming of the edge. The narrow face is very aggressive, even on hard tool steels, while allowing for forging your edge thin without hitting the anvil. Forged from 1045 steel, and hardened and tempered for maximum toughness, at the same time avoiding excessive hardness which can lead to chipped edges and dings on your anvil.
5
The Axe Maker
This robust and no-nonsense design is our take on the classical Japanese knife-maker’s hammer. It’s designed to move a lot of steel quickly and efficiently, with minimal effort, and is made with larger projects in mind: axes, hatchets, and swords. Weighing around 3.5lb, this hammer is very suitable for forming the edge, forge-welding, and the accurate shaping of heavy blades.
View Danner Boots recent advertisement featuring Arnon Kartmazov and Bridgetown Forge.
New! Bridgetown Forge offers OPEN FORGE.
20 Years
Since Bridgetown Forge was started in Portland, Oregon
10+ Classes
Offered yearly at Bridgetown Forge
300+ Students
who have learned to smith from Bridgetown Forge
40,000+ Hours
of smithing over the past 30 years
12 Years in Japan
training and apprentice to a knifemaker, and then a swordmaker, prior to establishing his own smithy in the hills of Northern Kyoto
Lifetime Sharpening
We provide lifetime sharpening of your Bridgetown chef knife