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Mattias Styrefors was born in the northern part of Sweden in 1974. He lives in a small village near the Arctic Circle close to the Finnish border with his wife Katrine and his children Isidor and Lovis. He started making knives in 1992 and has always used materials from nature for his craft. The local materials used are reindeer antler bone and burls from Arctic woods. Mattias also uses exotic foreign materials like mammoth, sperm whale tooth, and fossil walrus oosic (penile bone), as well as gold, silver, and Damascus on his art knives. He works in both stabilized and natural woods. Color, shape, and a harmonious design have always been important elements in Mattias’ knife making, but finding new technical solutions and experimenting with new ideas are equally important. Because of his need to find his own path in knife making, it was natural for Mattias to want to forge his own blades. A licensed child care worker, Mattias got his chance in 1997 when he enrolled in a 2-year practical arts college course. He established contact with one of the most skilled art knife makers in the world, Conny Persson of Sweden. Conny taught Mattias the basics in Damascus making. After a while, Mattias’ desire to create sophisticated mosaic Damascus took over and it became his specialty. Today, Mattias sells high end mosaic Damascus and Damascus bars and finished blades to makers all over the world. In order to create sharp contrasts in the mosaic patterns, he uses different kinds of carbon steel, iron, and nickel. His blades are usually made in UHB 15N20 and 20C with contrasts in pure nickel and 15N20 with a hardness of HCR 58. There are no limits except time and talent to the kinds of patterns that can be created and this is what drives him and it is the kind of challenge he loves. Mattias does not use any electronic or digital aid in creating his patterns. The mosaic patterns are 100% built by hand – a time consuming process that takes more time than forging and finishing the product and something which is increasingly rare in the knife world. Mattias is a fulltime master smith and knife maker since 2001. He can’t even imagine a different profession today. Every day is a new learning opportunity and a new challenge. He rents a former military forgery to which he has added state-of-the-art machinery over the last few years. His home is nearby and he built a shop for the finishing work there. This arrangement allows him time to see his two young children grow up. Selling blades takes up most of his time since he is in high demand but Mattias makes fixed blade Nordic Hunters, folders, and swords on a regular basis as well. For the past 18 months, the internationally well-known Swedish knifemaker and engraver Jonny Walker Nilsson has been his apprentice. Jonny did not forge his own blades since engraving in reindeer antler took so much of his time and he only made his sought-after art knives on his spare time until 18 months ago. His fulltime job was to make knives for a Swedish company but they were simpler knives for export. Since he had a hard time keeping up with demand, Jonny decided to make art knives fulltime and to realize his old dream of having full control over the entire process. Mattias taught him the art of building exquisite mosaic patterns and the forging of Damascus and shared all his secrets and experience. The two men have become close friends and today cooperate on both knife projects and blade projects. They have for instance made laminated mosaic Damascus blades where one side has been created by Mattias and has his stamp on the blade, and the other side (different pattern) has been built by Jonny with his stamp, a unique concept that has become very popular and which currently is in high demand in Scandinavia. The job of forging, heat treating, hardening, etching, blueing (coloring), grinding, sharpening, polishing, etc, has been shared equally. They both won first prize for best Damascus blades in the Norwegian Championships in Elverum this summer, a competition where knife makers and smiths from all five Nordic countries submit blades and knives. Their collaboration knives with collaboration blades also received a lot of praise and attention at the prestigious Solvang Invitational Knife Show in April 2006 where Jonny is a yearly exhibitor. Another specialty of Mattias’ is leather tooling. His hand tooled and hand stitched leather sheaths are pieces of art as well. Mattias will exhibit at the Chicago Custom Art Knife Show in September 2007. |
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