Eric Schweig on Knife Making, Recycled Steel and Craftsmanship

A Conversation About Reclaimed Steel, Discipline, and Craft

In this Friends United interview, Eric Schweig speaks with Rolf Bouman about how he began making knives from recycled car and truck spring steel. What starts as a conversation about metalwork becomes a wider reflection on patience, discipline, apprenticeship, and the value of learning through direct experience.

Eric explains how his interest in Japanese martial arts, especially Iaido, helped inspire his move from carving and woodwork into bladesmithing. With simple tools, an old anvil, a homemade forge, and steel reclaimed from vehicles, he began shaping knives by hand, learning through trial, error, repetition, and persistence.

From Masks to Metalwork

Rolf begins by connecting this conversation to Eric’s earlier work with masks and woodcarving. He describes how Eric first asked about a junkyard, anvils, vises, and hammers before revealing that he was working with leaf springs from cars and trucks.

Eric explains that the process began with curiosity. He had already been repairing and customizing parts of his Japanese martial arts equipment and became interested in making a tanto-style knife. His first handmade knife was created from spring steel and later given as a gift.

Japanese Martial Arts and Personal Memory

Eric connects his interest in Japanese sword forms to his study of kendo and Iaido. He describes how Japanese martial arts became meaningful to him after the loss of his Japanese girlfriend, Kat, in 2010. Taking up these practices became one way to honour her memory while also following an interest he had carried since childhood.

The conversation touches on the influence of his Iaido teacher, Kenny Senbokuya, and the discipline of learning forms, paying attention to detail, and respecting tradition.

Making Knives with Simple Tools

A central part of the interview is Eric’s explanation of how he works with reclaimed spring steel. He describes heating, hammering, flattening, grinding, polishing, and shaping the metal into functional blades.

The process is not presented as easy or romanticized. Eric talks about the frustration, repetition, noise, mistakes, and physical effort involved. He also explains why starting with difficult steel and basic tools taught him important lessons about patience and control.

Gifts, Youth, and Inspiration

Rolf and Eric also speak about the knives Eric made as gifts for David and Lucas. Rolf reflects on how meaningful those gifts were and how Eric’s way of creating things can inspire young people.

The conversation fits strongly within the Friends United context because it shows craft not only as an object-making process, but as a way to encourage curiosity, confidence, and resilience in younger generations.

Apprenticeship, Humility, and Learning from Others

Eric reflects on apprenticeship and the importance of listening to people who know their craft. He speaks about learning from carvers, respecting teachers, and doing the work without ego.

This part of the conversation connects knife making to a broader life lesson: skill develops through patience, humility, repetition, and the willingness to be guided by people with deeper experience.