Herb Chopper with Blade Guard

Goo, Tai

Born in 1957 in Phoenix Arizona, Tai began his bladesmithing career in 1978 at the age of 21, shortly after he graduated from Turley Forge school of blacksmithing. He also studied jewelry making, sculpture and blacksmithing as an undergraduate in college and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree under David Pimentel from Arizona State University, specializing in metalsmithing in 1980. Tai went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Arizona under Michael Croft, also specializing in metalsmithing in 1994. As a graduate student Tai received a cash grant for academic excellence, served as a T.A. under prof., Croft and taught classes in metalsmithing at the university. During the early 90s he also taught classes in knifemaking at the local community college. Tai was featured in the Hood's Woods video "WM9" on primitive knifemaking which went on to receive a prestigious Telly Award in the Best Instructional video competition in 2001. Through the years he has explored many types of knives including Damascus steel art knives, meteoritic knives, edged fetishes, fantasy knives, neo-tribal knives, contemporary western frontier knives, martial arts knives, wood carving knives, blacksmith knives, bush knives, kitchen knives, bowies, fighters, daggers, camp knives, neck knives, survival knives, friction folders, cleavers and more in his 45+ years as a professional bladesmith. Tai Goo's influence on today's custom knife industry and knife culture is truly far-reaching and amazing. He is known as a great innovator, mentor, teacher and a writer in the field of handmade knives. He helped open doors, overcome obstacles and blaze a trail for today's younger smiths along with other prominent smiths of his generation. As a writer, Tai is probably best known for his 6 part series in "Blade Magazine" on "How to Forge Damascus" which began at the end of 1989 and ran one in each issue for a year. This was during his "industrial phase" and before the internet took off. There wasn't a lot of quality information about damascus steel back then. He also did some writing for "Gung-Ho" in the late 80's and "Knives Illustrated" in the early 2000s. His knives have been found in the collections of numerous stars and celebrities including John and Bo Derek, Sylvester Stallone, Chris Stein (of the band "Blondie"), Bob Hill (of the band "The Godz"), Robert Haag ("The Meteorite Man") and Jason Hawk (of the History chanel's "Mountain Men"). Tai's work has received numerous awards including "Most Innovative of Show" - California Custom Knife Show in the late 80s, "Best of Show- Fantasy Knife", 1994 Knifemasters Custom Knife Show, NY and "Best Art Knife" at the Arizona Knife Collectors Association 27th annual show in 1997. His work has been featured in newspapers, magazines and books including "The Phoenix Gazette", The National Knife Collector", "Gung-Ho", "Blade Magazine", "Knives Illustrated", "Fighting Knives", "Knife" (Japan), "500 Knives", "Knives: Points of Interest IV" and "Gun Digest Book of Knives". Tai's work has also been shown in top art galleries and museums including the "Elaine Horwitch Gallery", "The Marilyn Bulter Gallery", "The Lisa Sette Gallery", "The Hand and the Spirit Gallery", "The Mind's Eye Gallery", "The Scottsdale Center for the Arts" and the "National Ornamental Metal Museum".