Francesco Muci Knives & Damascus
Welcome to My World
Fire and steel... A passion, that has grown in me from childhood until today.
Born and raised in Morlupo, a little town in the countryside north of Rome, Italy, I often saw my father and grandfathers working with their little folders. Their knives were always in their hands or--at least, in their pockets. Becoming accustomed to this sight, I grew a love for this useful object whose concept is stemming from the dawn of Man.
My passion for making and forging of knives started while watching the movie "Conan the Barbarian". I have always been fascinated by the combining of fire with traditional, ancestral or ancient knowledge. This combination can give rise to simple ideas making them real, "living" things.
For a bladesmith even simple scraps of old rusted iron, when combined properly, generate new, high performing, pretty-looking, Damascus steel.
Growing up I discovered that the power of fire can be held in the hand of a skilled craftsman who can change the matter.
That's why I built my first forge.
That's why I make Damascus.
Who am I?
I am a now a man who likes to create things with my hands. It's a family thing. My father has the passion of growing plants, my brother is a craftsman (high level mason) and I am a craftsman too. I am a professional luthier which means I make acoustic stringed instruments. All of these jobs use knives, especially luthiers, where almost every task uses a sharp hand tool. Since my brother and I cannot let our hands rest, we started to refurbish some cheap knives we owned. First we attempted to make them more comfortable and sharper. Then we both thought: "Why don't we try to make a whole knife?"
...We built a forge to make Damascus. We hammered a lot on an improvised anvil made from tractor iron. Next, we used the steel from the rail of a railroad. Finally, we hammered on a wonderful 100 kg anvil. I will never forget our excitement when the courier showed up with our anvil in his truck...