The Beginning of a Vision
I worked in a foundry for 25 years that made brass and ductile iron pipe fittings as a millwright / welder. The company came up with a weekend maintenance shift that worked Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, giving me four days off a week. So, I started a tool grinding shop in the basement of my home, re-working carbide tipped drill bits. On Thanksgiving Day my wife's 1st cous
in that was getting a divorce said her husband wouldn’t let her get her things out of the house. While moving her sofa I ruptured two disks in my back. The doctors told me the disks were ruptured to the inside of my spine and it would be a really bad surgery with only 65% chance of being as good or better after surgery. Being out of work for one year while doing physical therapy with no income, the company started to buy drills made in China that were cheaper than we could buy the carbide tips to rebuild them. Since I chose therapy over surgery the doctors would not clear me to go back to work. Being dead broke and wondering how I was going to feed my family, I broke down to prayer and asked God to show me the way to make a living. I didn't want to be rich, just make a living and while he was at it, I wanted my workers to make a living also. That day, right after my prayer, my cousin came over and suggested that I start making Damascus Steel. He explained how and what it was made of. His wife worked at Bear and Son Cutlery and they wanted their Damascus made in the USA. I had a Little Giant Hammer, so the next day I set it up and my cousin and his son came over. We made a billet of Damascus to show Ken Griffie of Bear and Sons Cutlery. He said the Damascus was great but he wanted it bigger in size, which was impossible to do with the equipment that I had. He suggested that I check on the old shop Fain Edwards that had been closed down for several years. I found the shop that was presently owned by Jeff Shelton and he offered to rent it to me. I told him my story and told him I didn't have one dime to rent it from him. He told me to knock the locks off the doors and use it like it was my own. He said that we could talk money when I had it up and running. After several years, we now own the shop and make a living, thanks to the Grace of God.
