Ethan Kolar

I am a 21 year old maker(b.2005) from North Idaho. I started making knives really in 2023 after I graduated high school and attended Steve Koster’s hammer in.

At the event I saw some mind blowing pieces that really opened my eyes to what is possible to be made by hand. The fact that someone could make something like Bruce Bump’s Cut and Shoot pistols or Frank Edwards’ engraved folding daggers really spiked my interest in knives. At that point it became both a challenge and an art form. The challenge in the fact that it seems that there is always something to improve or could be better on every knife and in the many different constructions and styles of knives to create.

The real appeal to me in knives, however, is in the art form of them. Creating “pocket jewelry” as some call it is really my favorite aspect of knives. Making pieces with different color moods and flows along with embellishment that piques the eye and expands when you look closer is my favorite part of making knives.

So after seeing what was possible at the hammer in, I set out to making art knives. I learned how to make the different types of folding knives and mechanics as well as really everything I know about making knives from Luke Swenson over the years.

I learned to make Damascus from Steve Koster and put that in combination with my folders in 2024-2025. In early Summer 2025 I took and engraving class with Rick Eaton in conjunction with help I had engraving with Frank Edwards which allowed me to start in on the Sole-Authorship Art knives which I had been really wanting to make.

With every knife I make I try to make each one better and with my main piece art knives, make each more intricate, clean, and spectacular as the last. To me the satisfaction in making knives is when I’m done, I look at the knife and can’t believe that I really made that.