KNIVES OUT

A few years ago, Clay Beckwith was working in the City Grocery kitchen when his unexpected journey with knife-making began.

Not completely content with the cutlery in the restaurant’s kitchen, Beckwith ordered a pair of his own high-carbon steel knives from Dreck Metal, at that time in Arkansas, now in Kentucky.

“They were amazing knives,” Beckwith said. “I fell in love with them.”

He was so enamored, he wondered if he might try his hand at making one or two. That Beckwith, 31, was connecting with his creative nature should have surprised no one who knows his lineage. Beckwith’s father, Bill Beckwith, is a well-known Mississippi sculptor. The Greenville-born artist has done countless sculptures of famous folks, including the beloved bronze piece of the knees-crossed William Faulkner, seated on a bench just outside Oxford’s city hall.

“Because of my dad, I’d had all this equipment and all these tools around me all my life,” Clay Beckwith said. “When I asked him if I could use some of them, Dad let me run wild. I’d work all night in his shop in Taylor and then go back to City Grocery for my job.”

Six months later, he sold his first knife, and mostly by word of mouth, people became aware of his work, which was high quality, well made and beautiful. Orders started rolling in. He’s now sold knives locally, out of state, and even internationally.

“Matter of fact, I’ve sent 23 knives to a guy in Germany,” said Beckwith, who lives in Sherman with girlfriend, Megan Mooneyhan. “I never clock in for anyone anymore. Doing what I do now is the most gratifying, satisfying feeling. It never feels like work.”

The handles affixed to the high-carbon steel knife blades are all made by hand. Beckwith even harvests his own burls, often used in the handles, from the woods that are part of the family’s 40 acres. Most of his knives are made for chefs, but he has done custom orders for hunters, too. He has also made cutting and charcuterie boards, bottle openers and wooden spoons out of reclaimed barn wood.

He enjoys being his own boss and the head of SLAG Studios in Taylor, his one-man artistic knife-making endeavor. After much thought, Beckwith decided on SLAG, one-word for his business that he said is a nod to his dad, who, for a decade in the ’70s and ’80s, owned and operated Vulcan Studios & Foundry, Mississippi’s first commercial, fine arts bronze foundry. For the non-metallurgists, slag is the leftovers from forging steel and is often looked upon as undesirable scrap. Beckwith, however, has learned byproducts like slag can be recycled — new use, new opportunities.

He has been making knives since 2019, mostly learning his craft through reading and research, some trial and error, and a whole lot of practice. And he remains smitten with the making of knives.

“I don’t think people find happiness until they make a living contributing to something they have a hand in or something that’s actually a part of them,” he said. “Life is good.”

Check out Beckwith’s work on Instagram @slag_studios or at facebook.com/slagstudios.

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