Tommy WRIGHT
Art is a passion. Over the years I have been a painter, luthier, a musician, and even dabbled in amplifier design.
For the last decade I have developed a love for making and modifying knives. It’s my latest, ongoing artistic outlet. I’m a self-taught knifemaker the old fashioned way: trial, error and band-aids.
By day I’m a lawyer. Yes, as odd as that may sound, I’m an attorney with over 20 years under my belt and I own my own law firm in Boynton Beach, Florida. At night, like a superhero with a secret alter-ego, I play with steel and make sharp, pointy things. It’s both a passion and an outlet.
Every knife that leaves my workbench is one of one — shaped and finished by hand - my hands. I sell them the old-fashioned way: through a conversation and an agreement.
Knife making is an art.
It doesn't pay that well — if it did, I'd quit being a lawyer. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love making them and take extreme pride in my work. Sometimes, happiness is more valuable than money.
My Approach
The road to knifemaking ran through a series of life experiences: music,lutherie, painting, mechanical and audio engineering and law. I’ve been around the block and then some. Some say I’m a true renaissance man.(My wife does). Every one of those experiences left something in my hands, and it all of it ends up in the steel. Nobody taught me this - I didn’t have a mentor. I learned it the way the work demands: slowly, honestly, one blade at a time, and with a little help from YouTube, bladesmiths kind enough to share their knowledge, and a blacksmithing school in Pompano Beach, FL called the Guild. Thanks Shaun!
BY HAND
There's no CNC machine in this building. Fit and finish happen the slow way — sandpaper, stones, eyes, and patience.
THE LINEAGE
I’m the exclusive authorized customizer for for Latama Cutlery right now — a bench I took over from the late Tank Fisher - a priviledge I don't take lightly.