When steel meets blade, and master craftsman Greg Cimms, a world-class knife results
Greg Cimms, blade smith, is a custom knife maker and chef. Here he is hard at work at his forge in Millbrook. Photo submitted​

When steel meets blade, and master craftsman Greg Cimms, a world-class knife results

MILLBROOK — Greg Cimms admits that he has always been passionate about, well, many things: cooking, art, fishing and music. Two of those things, his cooking and his art, helped to create his interest and talent in forging, and making knives that not only work, but are works of art. 

Cimms wanted to make better tools to be used in his chosen profession: the culinary arts. Cimms is a professional chef, and also a knife maker. Good tools enable a chef to enjoy good food preparation that much more.

Cimms was a chef at Charlotte’s in Millbrook for 10 years, and he still chefs there once in a while, just for the pure enjoyment of cooking. So he knows the importance of having really good knives when preparing food. That knowledge got him interested in forging, and in 2013, just seven years ago, he learned how to forge — he basically taught himself.

He started out in his dad’s garage, and in 2015 he moved to a space at Arrowsmith Forge on Route 44 in the town of Washington, where his reputation as a talented blade smith grew.

Cimms now belongs to The American Bladesmith Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the education and the revival of the art and craft of the forged blade. He is a journeyman smith going for his master’s. He is already garnering much praise for his craft, and in 2019 he won the category of Best Chef’s Knife at the Damascus Steel Invitational in Atlanta, Ga., with an Odin Heim™ Star Wars inspired knife.

While cooking and learning to forge, Cimms remained devoted to his family: his wife, Kelly, and his children, Avriana, 12, and Evelyn, 4. Having been raised in Millbrook, he is happy to see his girls attending the same schools he attended. Evelyn is a student at the Grace Church pre-school, where Cimms also went as a child.

He loves to talk about what he does.

“Any knife I make is art,” he said. 

And looking at the array of knives he has created, one would have to agree. Beautiful, but also highly functional. Both the blade and the handle start out with raw materials and are worked until they meet Cimms’ high standards. His finest work, he said, is his custom knife forged from Damascus steel, also known as patterned mosaic steel. 

Cimms said he finds the most exciting part of his creations is when he gets to the point when he can start the etching. 

“It shows me,” he said, “where each knife’s personality will come to the surface.” 

Every blade is different, one of a kind. The show room at Arrowsmith Forge is at 3788 Route 44, but Cimms’ work can be seen online. His custom-made knives are not cheap and they take four to six months to arrive, but once done, it’s a chef’s dream.

Cimms sells his knives Mondays through Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on weekends by appointment only. For more, go to www.gcknives.com or call 845-475-7220. 

 

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