Video: I’ve seen a lot of knife-making videos, but none with quite this much ennui.
Niels Provos is uniquely skilled in that his talent as a blacksmith is only matched by his ability to be dryly funny. Some creators would languish in the beauty of forging, while Provos comments flatly on the “completely irrelevant” effect slow-motion has on the flickering overhead fluorescents.
Heating the recycled wrought iron doesn’t quite go as planned. Neither does shaping the handle. But still, with a dour wit and total lack of emotional attachment, he moves ahead, creating a beautiful knife all the same.
There’s something to be learned from his way of life: among other things, collect more wagon wheels.