Wenger, Dave

"I first became interested in knives … swords actually as a boy in the late 80's early 90's. I grew up with a fascination in medieval arms and armor. One day I decided to try my hand at making some of my own weapons. I flattened out metal conduit that my dad had lying around his shop, cut a tip on it with a hacksaw and used a couple of rolls of athletic tape on the handle and viola, I was transformed into a feudal Japanese samurai. It didn't take long (fencing with my younger brother in the back yard) to realize that these “swords” would need frequent straitening and replacement. Thus my dad was faced with one of two choices... Talk my grandpa, a long time blacksmith, into making me a proper forge and anvil or risk losing all of the copper in his house to my “copper age” weaponry. My grandpa was happy to oblige and I was off. Fast forward 18 years and many hammerins later in June of 2012 I got serious and earned my Journeyman Smith rating with the American Bladesmith Society. In January of 2013 I founded Wenger Blades."