Inspired by his grandfather, a carpenter, Tristan Dare of Idaho began his odyssey into craft at the age of 11, carving and shaping wood. Creating sculpture, and even competing (and winning) against other wood carvers, Tristan's passion led him to first work with metal because of his need to make the chisels he used in his woodwork. This was a turning point, and one which set him on a path from which there was no turning back. Still a teenager, Tristan progressed quickly, first building a couple of tools for his own shop, then with the creation of his first knife, and no sooner, dedicating his creative energies entirely to the shaping of metal into edged objects of untold beauty.

By the time he joined our family at just 19 years old, Tristan has made a name for himself and the striking, unique objects which he forges at his one-man studio. Specializing in rare and exotic materials, it is meteorite that he is best known for. Making his own pattern welded steel, wootz steel using meteorite iron, or finishing a one-of-a-kind piece of edged art with 24k gold and ancient wooly mammoth, each object is a study in the history of the natural world and human's ability to harness the incredible materials available to us. Tristan is one of only a handful of artists in the world who has successfully revealed the beautiful, eight-sided molecular structure witnessed within ancient octahedrite meteorites while also incorporating the material into a tool forged by heat and pressure. That is just one accomplishment of this young artisan, and we can’t wait to see what boundaries he pushes next. We're honored to represent Tristan and his work here on Eatingtools.com