Isasmedjan

This week’s interview takes us to Sweden and the Ice Forge, the literal translation of Isasmedjan. This maker creates works of art, that are still deeply rooted in rustic practicality. His personality is at turns confident and self-deprecating. His humor also jumps off the page, his approach to life and craft really resonates with me, and I am very pleased to share it with you.

To start off, please tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Jonas Johnsson, forty years old with my wife and two kids ages eleven and thirteen. I live in a small rural village in the South of Sweden. A bit fat, bearded, and ugly. I love food, and good wine, lately I have also been very much into shotput after a twenty-five-year break (it’s never too late to start again, right?)

What sparked your interest in knives?

That’s a good question, I think I’ve always been interested in knives and swords and such, I was a huge fantasy fan when I was younger, I still am of course but rarely find the time to read these days…But how I got into making knives evolved quite organically, I think, I was gifted a five-day basic blacksmithing course from my dad when I turned twenty-five. The interest in forging has always been there, but that definitely gave me the desire to learn more.
When we bought our house eleven years ago, I bought a small gas-forge, an anvil and a hammer and started making some blacksmith thingies like candleholders, etc. But yeah… somewhere around there I started making knife blanks and tried to sell them pretty early on, mostly hunters and things like that, I had a big interest in cooking though, and Robin Dalman was a huge inspiration so the step to begin making kitchen knives wasn’t that big.

What inspired you to do this and how did you learn?

I’m self-taught, watching others and trial and error was my way of learning and eventually finding my own way and style. As I said Robin Dalman was someone that a lot of makers watched and his success and way of making things was a huge inspiration.

When did you start making knives?

Eight or nine years ago, something like that, I have been making fulltime for seven years now.

What did you make your first knife with?

Oof, I don’t remember, I probably have it somewhere in a drawer or something, but it was probably some simple carbon steel with a simple wood handle.

Do you have a favorite knife you made, tell me about it?

Not as such, I’m never happy with anything I make, it’s only good enough, ha-ha, but the knives I’m mostly proud of are the collabs I’ve done, I love those, I think the Damasteel collab I did with Myojin is definitely up there, that was a challenge for us both, I’ve learned that Japanese makers don’t like integrals…

What is the most important aspect of a well-made knife?

That is a good question… I would say that it suits the task that it’s made for is the most important, a Gyuto shouldn’t be a Deba and vice versa, there are always nuances of course.

What keeps you going?

Yeah…I ask myself that question all the time ha-ha, I think the most important thing is to have fun and take pride in what you do.
Learning new techniques, etc, is also a huge thing for me.

Biggest struggle?

To make a living out of this and still keep the passion for making.
Earning Money, ha-ha, definitely don’t go into this thinking you’ll be a millionaire.

What kinds of knives do you make?

Everything between heaven and Earth, but 99% chef knives of different shapes and models.

How did your background affect your approach to knives?

I was a car body repairman and painter in my former life. I to worked both practical, on the floor, and as a manager. I think it helped me think about efficiency when I went fulltime, you need to have a production/streamlining kind of thinking.

Who helped you early on?

I learned pretty much on my own, but a couple of retailers in the business that are not around anymore definitely helped.
In terms of making Dalman was a good source, my buddy Patrik Carlvik and I also worked on things together, he was my Heat Treat guru in the beginning.

Who are your influences?

Japanese, but also Scandinavian traditions, there have always been a big community here of knifemakers, not so much kitchen knives though, although that has grown in recent years. We have a lot of really, really, good blacksmiths and bladesmiths here.

What other knife makers out there impress you these days? Do you take inspiration from anyone else in the field?

Too many to write down, but to name a few…Kamon for his futuristic designs, Yanick for his flawless blades, Birgersson for his drive to push his craft, I mean I could name every freaking maker out there. The ones who find ways to stay in the business whether it is with really good knives or good business strategy always impress me. I think to conclude, the ones that keep learning and push their craft impress me the most, innovation is good.

Any specific breakthroughs or revelations in your knife making journey?

Hmm, it’s hard to pinpoint something specific, but I’ve had a lot of help from people over the years, starting to work with Modern cooking and Birch & Bevel gave me a new perspective on
production work and how to approach that, Peter has also helped me reach a wider audience with my own work. I think my journey has evolved and grown quite organically which I think is a good thing in the long run.

What is the perfect knife?

Is there such a thing? Ha-ha.

How do you approach knife testing?

Since I make kitchen knives I test as much as I can on produce – carrots, potatoes, etc. I don’t test each and every knife, over time you get a pretty good sense of what will cut and what will not, but it’s good to have carrots at hand because we’re still human and mistakes can be made, it’s good not to be too confident…
I don’t eat paper towels, rolls, brass pins, etc so no need to test on that…(hot take ha-ha).

How do you develop a design, select a steel, and fine-tune a heat treatment?

I usually stick to the basics, so designs are mostly Japanese inspired. I like to use a wide variety of steels, I have a few favourites, but mostly I go on what the customer wants.
Heat treatment is a big chapter, some of the better steels like Damasteel and Apex Ultra have a good “factory” heat treat with no real need to make big tweaks, but usually when I get a new steel I haven’t used before, I go through the different steps I normally do like forge welding, forging, normalization, annealing, cold-forging, etc, and try out different temperatures when quenching to see where i end up, overtime you learn how a certain alloy will behave in heat treat so you get an idea just by looking at the components in the steel.

Do you have any favorite steels?

I like everything to a certain point, they all have advantages and disadvantages. I like 100cr6 for its stability and edge holding but the chrome content makes it a bit tricky to forge weld. I love Damasteel for its simple and straightforward approach in all the making steps, but the price is a disadvantage, it is worth it though, in my opinion.

How has the knife world changed since you started?

A lot, I’ve seen a lot of makers come and go, some of them that were before me are still around and killing it, and a lot of the ones that came after are long gone. I think a lot of people try to go fulltime too soon there is some kind of romanticism around
going fulltime, but it’s not easy. I was lucky and to be honest in a place where I had the choice to give it a try or probably die from a heart attack, ha-ha. I’m really grateful for the support over the years, it has been amazing, I was also lucky to be
able to use social media to grow as well as KKF that was really supportive to new makers back then (the forum in itself I mean, it was so nice with the sub-forums, etc, that the makers
could have without being financially ruined, (another hot take I guess…) Nowadays there’s not the same reach with social media, my newsletter has been really good for me, it’s a very nice group of friendly and supportive followers. A big change is also that a lot of people have turned away from Japan and more towards
western makers, not only enthusiasts but also in general, I think people have understand that we need to make more long lasting products rather than use crap that you use once and then
throw away.

What’s up next for you? Any exciting new projects to tell us about?

At the moment I’m just trying to cope with everything, it has been a tough year so far personally with close family members passing away and dealing with everything around that, as a result
I’ve fallen behind schedule pretty bad but I’m starting to catch up again. A big coming project is that I’m planning to move my shop again, it has been my plan all along, but initially I intended to stay at my current location for at least one or two more years but I want to cut costs to be able to survive long term and I’m currently rebuilding my workshop at home to be able to have most of the operation there. Another thing I’m very much looking forward to is finishing up the Modern Cooking – Hado collab with Damasteel blades, they are currently at Hado getting ground and finished, I’ve forged and heat treated the blades and will put handles on them when they get back, these kinds of projects are really fun. I have a bunch of custom projects that I’m really looking forward to finishing also, but I think I’ll keep quiet about what it is, keep a lookout on my IG.

To keep up to date with Jonas and see more of his work, check out his website https://www.isasmedjan.com/ and follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/isasmedjan/