I began my blacksmithing journey in 2017, at the age of 24. I had been in the music industry for as long as I can remember and I simply had enough. I grew up as a son of a farmer and brother to a carpenter, so I guess manual labor comes fairly natural to me. I usually describe blacksmithing as something in between music and manual labor, to me it has all the creative parts of music but at the same time speaks to me as a “typical” masculine line of work. I started by trying to make swords. However I realized that it was a lot harder than I thought, so I moved on to knives and a lot of other things. Finally, in March 2019, I began forging axes and that has been my thing ever since.
When I first started out I thought I was the only blacksmith in my family history. On my 25th birthday my uncle gave me a really old anvil that apparently had once belonged to my great great grandfather. I was blown away: that moment fueled my amazement to the craft and I felt honored to carry the torch. And yes, I’m self taught.
Unlike what SAS says, Scandinavians have a very strong culture. Axes and tools have been something that blacksmiths have made for thousands of years. Say what you will about the viking age tools, but even later in the 16th,17th,18th,19th and 20th century, the north has been very productive when it comes to tools.I try my best to respect the traditions of my country and I try to implement it as much as I can in work!
I have always been amazed by people with years and years of experience, in any craft really. The humbleness and expertise is truly something I strive towards.
I want to see where this can take me. I’m not so focused on the end goal as I am on the journey: getting to know amazing people and collaborating with others is a goal in itself.
I get inspired by watching and seeing other people work. I know it’s easy to get a little jealous and take to envy, but I find that being thankful is far more giving and inspiring!
To name a few people I’d say: Dave Delagardelle, Derek Melton, Alec Steele, Liam Hoffman, Kyle Royer, Will Stelter and Paul Krzyszkowski.
Other than forging, I love watching movies and reading great books and still play music from time to time, but something that really inspires me is History & Christianity. I really like digging in and trying to find meaning in old stories and important literature. I also have a small Bible collection.
Nils Ögren
nordiska knivar 