About

“There are two men inside the artist, the poet and the craftsmen. One is born a poet. One becomes a craftsman” - Emile Zola

WHAT I OFFER

Nothing beats a small business that does not want to get rich and famous.  Don’t get me wrong I would like money.  More importantly I want to enjoy life, family, and have a great time producing quality crafts and services at a fair price.  If you can dream it, I will do my best to make it a reality.

Craft: an activity involving skill in making things by hand.

I practice all kinds of crafts; blacksmithing, woodcraft, leather-craft, fieldcraft, firecraft, bushcraft, survival craft and more. 

MY MISSION

Provide quality hand made goods and services at affordable prices. It is my goal that you are happy to pass your item down from generation to generation, and would be my honor to help provide you with such an item.

MY VALUES

I will ensure you the best customer service possible with transparency and communication. I do want your business and will work with you to make your item to your specifications.

A LITTLE ABOUT ME

Feel free to read this interview I did for Canvas Rebel Magazine, a magazine which supports the independent artists, makers and small business owners who make communities amazing places to live and work. Article from Canvas Rebel

I am a hobbyist blacksmith and owner of Heavy Crown Forge and Crafts.  I am also a Curriculum Developer for Old World Alliance, and Curriculum Manager for Campcraft Outdoors Field Schools.  I have enjoyed camping, hiking, and fishing from a young age and those experiences solidified my love of the outdoors.  I'm a retired United States Marine Corps Master Sergeant after 20 years of faithful service.  Throughout those years I deployed multiple times and am a veteran of both the Afghanistan and Iraq Campaigns and served in many other areas of operations, gaining real world experience in nearly every capacity at the Strategic, Operational and Tactical levels. To be clear, I'm not an Operator, SF or anything like that, I was a conventional Air Winger. Most notably I was assigned as a Contingency Mission Planner for the President of the United States.  After that I was assigned to the Second Marine Aircraft Wing Commanding General’s Staff as the Assistant Wing Operations Chief and Commanding Generals Inspection team member.  I finished out my career as the Operations Chief for Marine Corps Air Station New River, NC.  This was one of the most dynamic jobs I had undertaken, as you are basically responsible for ensuring the smooth operations of a small city.  During my time in service I have personally trained, taught, and developed programs for thousands of Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Foreign Service Members and Civilians.  It was one of the most rewarding chapters of my life.  My goal is to bring all of that readiness, planning, and preparedness experience to all of the organizations, or classes I'm privileged to be able to teach.  

My background has led me down the personal path of individual and family preparedness.  I noticed over the years how all of the knowledge and skill sets overlap and can form a symbiotic relationship with one another.  My experiences have provided ample knowledge of both safety and preparedness which encompass nearly every subject one can think of.  You can see a little of the vast training and education I have received, as well as some qualifications and certifications I picked up along the way.  This is not a total list:

In 2018 I attended a blacksmith workshop for Military, Law Enforcement and First Responders at Black Horse Forge in Stafford, VA, now located in Fredericksburg, VA.  After attending that workshop my desire to forge and create grew into what is now Heavy Crown Forge and Crafts and I started a small hobby/blacksmith business in 2021.  Blacksmithing brings me joy and is a therapy if you will for me.  I have been working on this craft and participating is many demonstrations, and events to showcase blacksmithing as often as I can.  Literally people are watching me grow in skill as I teach and learn at the same time. I am eager to learn more techniques and perfect those I already have a good understanding of so I can share them with others to help them. I view blacksmithing as a constant learning environment.  The variables that change always keep me on my toes and I enjoy that.  I strive to get the consistency.  There are so many facets to the craft that it will take a life time and then some to fully understand them all.  To share this passion I decided to take my forge on the road.  In my local area I offer classes where I bring the forge to the student so all they have to do is be ready to learn some basics and have a great time.  Here are some of the events you can catch me at, or that I have participated in:    

2024 Bushcraft, Homestead, and Preparedness Expo in Hindman, KY

2024 Havelock Farmer's Market (Seasonal) in Havelock, NC

2024 Veteran's Showcase in Havelock, NC 

2024 Havelock Chili Festival in Havelock, NC

2025 Bushcraft, Homestead and Preparedness Expo in London, KY

2025 Mountain Readiness Expo in Harmony, NC