This bladesmith forges custom knives with 'soul,' even after Eaton fire burned his home

Four weeks aft the Eaton occurrence claimed his home, bladesmith Nicholas Berkofsky was backmost astatine enactment successful his East Los Angeles studio. His archetypal project? A hand-forged pizza cutter to payment his vicinity pizzeria, Pizza Venice, which was destroyed successful the occurrence that swept done Altadena.

As helium walked backmost and distant betwixt the propane-fueled forge and a gangly hydraulic tyre press, Berkofsky exuded calm contempt the caller upheaval successful his life.

“Being backmost successful the workplace helps springiness maine a consciousness of normalcy,” Berkofsky said arsenic helium hammered the red-hot Damascus alloy connected an anvil. “I don’t cognize what I would person done if I had mislaid my tools.”

In this series, we item autarkic makers and artists, from glassblowers to fibre artists, who are creating archetypal products successful Los Angeles.

While Berkofsky finds comfortableness successful resuming his mundane routine, his customized knives are thing but ordinary.

What makes them unsocial successful an epoch of mass-produced goods and casual entree to big-name brands you tin find online?

“They person much soul,” Berkofsky said of his patterned carbon-steel knives, which diagnostic elegant handles helium has sculpted successful uncommon wood specified arsenic charred Osage orange, achromatic ash burl and unrecorded borderline double-dyed maple.

One look astatine the knives successful his workplace shows that nary 2 are the same. “With forging, I tin taper the thickness of the leaf from precise heavy astatine the bottommost to ace bladed toward the tip, making for a precise unique-feeling leaf successful the mode it cuts and the equilibrium betwixt leaf and handle,” Berkofsky said.

Berkofsky, 30, was calved successful England and moved to Los Angeles erstwhile helium was 10. Over the years helium has lived successful Hollywood, Silver Lake, Highland Park and yet Altadena, wherever he, his wife, Chelsea Munoz, and their 2-year-old son, Julian, person lived successful a rental location for the past six years.

“I perfectly loved Altadena,” Berkofsky said quietly. “Our landlord was talking astir selling the location successful the fall, and each we could deliberation astir was however overmuch we wanted to enactment there.”

As helium watched the occurrence creep implicit Eaton Canyon connected Jan. 7, Berkofsky said helium was reminded of his archetypal forge. “As soon arsenic you instrumentality the aerial disconnected the fire, the furnace explodes successful flames,” helium said. “All of a sudden, that’s what happened connected the mountain. I could archer the embers were getting hotter and hotter, and eventually, the upland blew up successful flames.”

Although residents of occidental Altadena did not person evacuation orders until 3:25 a.m., arsenic reported by The Times, the mates packed up Julian, their 3 cats and their canine astir midnight erstwhile their location began to capable with smoke.

“I grabbed the passports and jewelry, but determination were truthful galore things I should person grabbed,” helium added, referring to everything they near behind, including photographs by his father, Mike Berkofsky, who took a celebrated photograph of Jimi Hendrix.

From top: a Gyuto chef’s knife, a wood carving weapon and a inferior weapon made by Nicholas Berkofsky.

A charred brace of knives, created by Nicholas Berkofsky, that helium recovered from his destroyed location successful Altadena. He hopes to repurpose them into caller knives.

But similar truthful galore radical who evacuated that night, Berkofsky presumed they would instrumentality to find their location and vicinity inactive standing.

The pursuing time helium went back, but what helium encountered crushed him. “Our location was connected fire,” helium said. In an enactment of kindness helium said helium wouldn’t forget, 1 of the firefighters retrieved Julian’s artifact occurrence motortruck successful the backyard. “It was truly saccharine of him,” the bladesmith said. “He couldn’t prevention the location but helium saved the occurrence truck. It was the lone happening that wasn’t connected fire.”

For Berkofsky, puerility possessions clasp heavy meaning. His gramps nurtured his emotion for knives, often giving them to him opening erstwhile helium was 9 years old.

As a child, Nicholas Berkofsky’s emotion for knives was much than a hobby — it was a passionateness that would signifier his future.

(From Nicholas Berkofsky)

“I don’t cognize what I would person done if I mislaid my tools,” Berkofsky said, referring to the nonaccomplishment of his location successful the Eaton fire.

His travel to becoming a bladesmith and crafting specialty knives, including inferior and carving knives, began with his puerility fascination with phantasy and humanities films similar “The Lord of the Rings.”

Later, arsenic helium grew older and enjoyed camping, wood carving, increasing vegetables and cooking, his involvement expanded to room knives, “especially arsenic they are the astir often utilized knives some by myself and the bulk of the world,” helium said.

While moving arsenic a scenery decorator focusing connected edibles and autochthonal plants, Berkofsky started carving woody spoons during his escaped time. “I was beauteous young and didn’t person a batch of clients,” helium explained, smiling.

Self-taught bladesmith Nicholas Berkofsky, who mislaid everything successful the Eaton occurrence successful Altadena, feels fortunate to inactive person his studio.

Watching YouTube videos helped him advancement rapidly from wood carving to weapon making. “I acceptable up a makeshift charcoal forge successful the backyard and utilized my mother’s hairdryer arsenic a forge blower,” helium said.

When helium took an introductory people astatine Adam’s Forge, a blacksmithing schoolhouse successful Simi Valley, helium realized helium had already taught himself the basics.

“I had galore failures,” helium admitted, “but slowly, I figured it out.”

In 2017, his mother, Cleobelle Pollock, encouraged him to be the Echo Park Craft Fair, wherever she planned to merchantability Indian Kantha quilts and textiles. Although helium felt sheepish astir selling his rehabbed vintage knives among the works of much established artists, his parent encouraged him to “give it a try.”

His knives sold out, and Fell Knives was born. (“Berkofsky Knives didn’t dependable great,” helium said erstwhile asked astir his branding, which references fallen trees.)

Inspired by his success, Berkofsky started rehabbing vintage knives and past moved into banal removal, successful which a weapon is developed by “cutting it, grinding it and putting a grip connected it.” After 3 months helium started forging, which helium explains arsenic “when you commencement with a rectangle of steel, enactment it successful the forge, bring it up to 1,800 degrees and hammer it to signifier alternatively of conscionable cutting it into signifier similar banal removal.”

Today, astir of his inventory consists of customized orders and things helium enjoys making, specified arsenic knives with mixed-media metallic and Japanese-style wood alleviation handles. “I person built my concern astir room knives [which tin outgo arsenic overmuch arsenic $1,000 apiece], but I bask making showpiece knives similar swords and daggers,” helium said. “A batch of bladesmiths volition bash agelong projects wherever they spot distant astatine thing magnificent, but I’m a struggling creator successful L.A. and request to get my orders out.”

“The mode Nick forges his metals is special,” said Kevin Napoli, who purchased 2 of Berkofsky’s room knives and a brace of cremation lockets for him and his lad to transportation his father’s ashes. “I similar that helium does everything himself and does not bargain premade Damascus. I’m a builder and similar to enactment radical who marque things with their hands. Nick is not your mean maker; helium has an artist’s eye.”

Nicholas Berkofsky holds blocks of dyed wood, hybrid wood and resin with turquoise. “Creating the handles is decidedly 1 of the funnest parts of making a knife,” helium said.

Although helium feels fortunate to person recovered a workplace flat for his household successful Echo Park, their rent has increased. “When it’s good, it’s good,” helium said of moving for himself, “but determination are immoderate stressful months.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, helium recalled however his room knives took disconnected portion radical were sheltering astatine location and cooking more. “I sold 20 knives a week,” helium said wistfully, adding that he’s “not large astatine moving for different people.”

Recently, Berkofsky started making jewelry utilizing recycled precious metals that helium hammers, fuses oregon casts from hand-carved wax molds.

A signet ringing formed successful sterling silver, left, and 14K golden rings by Nicholas Berkofsky of Fell Knives. (Nicholas Berkofsky )

Looking ahead, helium would similar to “spend fractional his clip making room knives and the different expanding my crafts, learning much skills and incorporating exotic and beauteous materials.”

He’s arrogant that each weapon helium forges, hammers, grinds and polishes — sometimes taking him much than 3 days — “feels bully successful the hand.” The aforesaid is existent of his jewelry. “I effort to marque my pieces creaseless and comfortable,” helium said, holding a signet ringing formed successful sterling metallic that helium etched with a Japanese crest of a lotus flower.

Capitalizing connected each that helium has learned, Berkofsky besides teaches workshops connected bladesmithing, including an introductory people that is simply a prerequisite for much precocious courses. In this class, helium covers the basics of forging a elemental inferior paring knife, including heating the grip, grinding and finishing the blade.

The completed pizza cutter, hand-forged by Nicholas Berkofsky.

(Nicholas Berkofsky)

As a child, Berkofsky’s emotion for knives was much than a hobby — it was a passionateness that would signifier his future. Now, arsenic a full-time bladesmith, helium shares not lone his appreciation for an age-old process but the anticipation his enactment offers. A caller sojourn to his workplace revealed that his knives are much than conscionable tools. The pizza cutter, for instance, is simply a awesome of goodwill that serves arsenic a reminder that contempt the corporate nonaccomplishment to upwind and wildfires, the Altadena assemblage is inactive standing.