7Forge Knives, the shop that began as an 8th grade science experiment but has grown into a full-scale custom and semi-production outfit, co-founded by Forged in Fire winner Jessie Wipperman, has moved in exciting new directions since the last time talked to them in 2024.
One of the most difficult challenges for any growing knife shop to handle is incorporating a production element into their output. 7Forge co-founder Tim Ogg told us about plans for production projects, and since then a significant amount of headway has been made in that direction. “Growing production has been fantastic for increasing the amount of 7Forge Knives that we are making each year,” he says. “It helped us to build better systems and find out our individual strengths and weaknesses while being able to provide more knives to our customers.” Ogg also points out that the things the 7Forge team is learning as it expands its offerings has positive reverberations across their entire suite of offerings. Another added bonus to building more knives is that we have seen a jump in quality as we dial in what works.”
On a related note, 7Forge established a brand new model family over the course of 2025 and the first half of 2026: the Artemis. “What started with the Artemis Hunter has now turned into an entire platform of knives with the same handle and multiple different blades,” Ogg says. “The Artemis Handle is extremely versatile for everything from hunting to bushcraft, and I think it’s that perfect blend of comfort and usability that makes it a lot of folks’ favorite.” And, as often happens in the knife world, once success leads into ideas for new successes. “We even shrunk the Hunter down to make a smaller knife called the Artemis EDC.”
Output isn’t the only thing that 7Forge has been expanding. “We have been teaching classes since 2020, though in a very limited scope,” Ogg explains. “It was not until we moved to our new shop in February of 2024, and the fact that our shop is heated and cooled, that allowed us to expand our classes to year-round ventures.” These classes give aspiring knife makers a chance to work side-by-side with the 7Forge team and learn the ropes from a Forged in Fire champ. “We don’t see much pressure from having won Forged in Fire, though Jessie definitely has forever bragging rights as Iowa’s only Forged in Fire champ,” Ogg shares with us. “It is a very cool part of our history and it definitely adds some legitimacy to the operation!”
And where is that operation going next? “We’ve got our sights on production once again for the rest of the year,” Ogg reveals. The goal is to deliver the 7Forge experience to as many people as possible. “We plan to jump right back in to building knives that work in a quantity that allows everyone a chance at them!”
Knife in Featured Image: 7Forge Artemis Hunter
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