Today we’d like to introduce you to Cody Myers.
Hi Cody, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I suppose my story began when I was just a little kid. My brother and I grew up out in the woods where our parents were log home builders and timber framers. We had a very hands-on lifestyle including maple syrup tapping and raising livestock such as lamas, sheep, and chickens. I worked a lot with my hands when I was younger and had a pretty healthy imagination for finding adventure with my brother in our woods. We crafted bows and arrows and wooden swords and shields so we could become Robin Hood, King Arthur, or other folk heroes. I have always taken inspiration from warriors and craftsmen from world history like the Wild West, Medieval Europe, and Feudal Japan, and spent much of my youth drawing characters from these times.
After spending years getting a college degree in Spanish language and doing a bit of traveling around to other countries I found myself back home working with school groups and troubled teens teaching them survival and outdoor skills. I developed a deep appreciation of traditional crafts and a love for the tools that made them possible. I saw a course for making Damascus steel at the North House Folk School in Gran Marais Minnesota and saved the money with some help from mama and took the course.
I immediately fell in love with the craft of taking different pieces of steel and combining them in the forge and folding the steel over and over again on itself to create beautiful, one-of-a-kind patterns on the blade. I apprenticed under the lead instructor and taught with him for five years until he retired and handed me his courses to continue teaching them. I’ve been teaching blacksmithing and knifemaking ever since and have run my company Wolf Heart Iron Works since 2012.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Bladesmithing is not easy. There is a lot to the process. A lot of tools, a lot of different skills and parts of construction, and a lot of chances for things to go wrong. Which in itself means a lot of “opportunities” to learn from your mistakes. No, it has not been a smooth road, but it has been worth it.
It has been the most challenging thing I have taken on in my life but the most rewarding. It drives me every day. I wake up excited about the possibility of creating something that I find inspiring and will hopefully excel at its given purpose and task. Hopefully, it will last for generations and serve its handler well. I haven’t known many smooth roads in life. I’ve found the bumpy ones a bit more exciting anyhow.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m mostly known for being an instructor in Blacksmithing and Bladesmithing and for my knives under my company Wolf Heart IronWorks.
I’m mostly known for making Damascus hunting knives, large choppers and kukri bushcraft blades. I love making Damascus patterned steel for my blades. That is one of the best parts of what I do. I love to see the different lines run across each blade in a unique and different way.
What makes you happy?
Hitting things with a hammer makes me happy—that and dogs. Dogs don’t need much explanation for why they make someone happy. They just embody happiness and joy.
Forging on the other hand is hard. It can hurt and it can be frustrating. It will make you sweat and ache and burn. But the sacrifice of those things gives you a chance to create the quintessential tool used by humankind since the dawn of time. So that’s pretty cool…. I guess.
It’s super fun. You get to mold and shape this incredible material. You can take it from a soft and malleable state to an incredibly hard and durable one and create amazing art and tools all in one. It’s quite fulfilling to bring something like that to life.
Contact Info:
- Website: Wolfheartironworks.com
- Instagram: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjEs5yg7rb8AhXnhYkEHdKfB2UQFnoECAgQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fwolfheartironworks%2F%3Fhl%3Den&usg=AOvVaw0LUMaxFNUkmvnM8PEVR30n
- Facebook: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjm5YDI7rb8AhU6jIkEHUvxACgQFnoECA8QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWolfheartironworks%2F&usg=AOvVaw25pGpbwFaBVPTa69XPHIRC
