Digital Social Hour
Made in USA: How One Startup is Reshaping Manufacturing | Josh Smith DSH #1177
Wed, 12 Feb 2025
Step inside the American manufacturing renaissance as we explore how Montana Knife Company is reshaping the industry through quality, craftsmanship, and dedication to Made in USA production. Join Josh Smith, founder and Master Smith, as he shares his remarkable journey from making knives in his garage to building an 80-employee company that's become a symbol of American manufacturing excellence. 🇺🇸 Discover how this innovative startup is bringing manufacturing jobs back to America while creating premium knives that last a lifetime. From custom Damascus steel blades to their popular production line, learn how Montana Knife Company maintains exceptional quality while scaling their business. Josh reveals fascinating insights about their manufacturing process, commitment to American-made materials, and how they've built a passionate community around their brand. Get an inside look at how this company grew from a two-car garage operation to a thriving business that's revitalizing American manufacturing. Whether you're interested in entrepreneurship, American-made products, or quality craftsmanship, this conversation offers valuable insights into building a successful manufacturing business while staying true to your values. 🔪 #knifeaddict #forgedinfire #customhandmadeknives #montanaknifecompany #survivalknife CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - How Josh Became a Master Smith 04:58 - Today's Sponsor: Specialized Recruiting Group 08:19 - The Impact of American Manufacturing 11:17 - Growing Up in a Small Town 12:38 - Importance of Community 14:56 - Archery Rifle Challenge 17:51 - Trump's Cabinet Picks 20:58 - Hunting for Conservation 22:41 - Hunting as a Failure Sport 25:50 - Grizzly Bear Guarding Moose Carcass 31:00 - Most Challenging Animal to Hunt 32:30 - Masking Scent While Hunting 35:35 - What Goes into Hunting 37:27 - Best Meat to Eat 41:06 - Favorite Weapon to Use 42:55 - Suppressors in Hunting 47:39 - Where to Find Josh’s Knives 49:35 - The American Dream 49:58 - Thanks for Watching APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [email protected] GUEST: Josh Smith https://www.instagram.com/joshsmithknives/ https://www.instagram.com/montanaknifecompany/ https://www.montanaknifecompany.com/ SPONSORS: Specialized Recruiting Group: https://www.srgpros.com/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/
Chapter 1: How did Josh Smith become a Master Smith at a young age?
All right, guys, Josh Smith from Montana Knife Co. Thanks for coming on today, man. Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, first Master Smith I've had on the show. Yeah, yeah, I appreciate it. No joke getting that title.
Yeah, no, that was a pretty cool thing to attain for sure. You got it at a young age. Yeah, especially at that age. Yeah, I became the youngest in the world when I was 19. I'm definitely not 19 anymore with all this gray hair, but yeah, it was quite the accomplishment for sure.
What's the process for that for people that have no idea what that even is?
yeah i uh i started making knives when i was 11 and um you have to become an apprentice which basically you just join the american bladesmith society and so for a couple years you're just apprenticing and then you can test for first you have to test for your journeyman and that involves actually making a performance blade that you have to be able to chop a one inch rope in half
Chapter 2: What is the process of making a high-quality knife?
And then chop two 2x4s in half as many chops as you want to take, but then it still has to shave hair when you're done. And then you have to bend that blade 90 degrees in a vice without breaking it. Whoa. Yeah, it's legit. So that proves that you have a knowledge of heat treating steel and edge geometry and a lot of those things.
And then you take five knives and you present them to a panel of judges, Master Smith judges in Atlanta at the Blade Show. And they judge fit and finish and how good of a maker you are kind of across your five knives. And so I did that when I was 15 and was the youngest to do that. And then you have to be a journeyman two years and then you're allowed to test for your master.
And it's the same test, but it's with Damascus steel blades. So that's steel, that's layers of steel forged together. Most people kind of know that as like the way that like the samurais used to do it. it's quite a process but it's the same test but with that Damascus steel blade and I did that when I was 19 and there's about 120 or 30 in the world now.
So it's, it's pretty prestigious thing to do. It's like being a sommelier for, for drinking. Yeah. Yeah.
There's not many of those guys. Right. Oh, crap. And you were doing it super young. So what compelled you at that age to get in a knife?
Yeah. My, my little league baseball coach, Rick Dunkerley, he started, um, he would bring his knives to practice and show the parents. He was kind of learning honestly at that point. And, uh, I think being an 11 year old little boy, I was just thought knives were cool. And, uh, uh, he invited me to a shop to make one. And I, I think I was a pretty responsible kid and he could tell.
And, um, so I made a couple and then he was like, well, if you want to be a knife maker, you have to have your own shop, which I think was his way of, you know, getting me out of his shop. And, uh, but I had a lawn mowing business and I was earning money doing that. And so I bought a belt grinder and I, I like, honestly, I was just a pretty driven kid. And so
Um, I started buying more equipment and then finally my dad kind of booted me out of his shop. I was making a mess and he enclosed the lean to kind of shed that we had. And I made knives before school, after school weekends.
And, and then I started going to knife shows all over the country when I was about 14 and everywhere I was when I, when I, when I was around other masters, I was just asking them lots of questions. How do you do this and that? And they were a very sharing community. And, uh,
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Chapter 3: How is Montana Knife Company contributing to American manufacturing?
I have my custom stuff, which is what I did for years. And then I started Montana Knife Company in 2020. And that's a production knife. So I started, and I started very small, I mean, in my two-car garage.
and what we've built that into now if you buy a montana knife company knife it's uh semi-production like the machines and all that and then like they're hand sharpened on a belt shout out to today's sponsor specialized recruiting group navigating the professional job search is hard you know the perfect job is out there but you're not sure how to find it
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cleaned by hand um packaged all by hand but but we have cnc machines and some stuff so i don't want to compare those to a truly handmade knife um but uh but there's a lot more handwork in those than maybe this like knife stamped out in china right you know and is there a massive like quality difference between just a regular kitchen set and montana knives
yeah i mean there really is i mean the knives that we build even though they're kind of we produce them uh we're trying to produce them on scale we're producing them at a level of quality that i uh would expect like in a custom knife so steel selection not not using like cheap junky steel i mean we're using the best steel that we can possibly use for a blade
heat treatment so that those skills that i learned young with those heat treating tests and stuff i've applied that stuff to our our production knife company and so when you buy a blade the edge geometry which is like how thick the blade is how it's sharpened how it's heat treated all those things that i did in my custom knife you're getting that in a production knife
And so our knives aren't the cheapest, you know, Montana knife company chef said, isn't the cheapest. It's, you know, that, that whole set of knives is 1300 bucks. So, you know, it's not cheap, but we also sharpen those, uh, for life for free. Oh, really? Yeah. So if once a year, twice a year, you want to send them in, we'll sharpen them up. We'll send them back to you for free.
If you never have to buy another knife set the rest of your life,
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Chapter 4: Why is community important in small towns?
He's like, it's just so nice to know that even if you're not around your kid, you know that maybe someone that knows your kid's looking out for him.
That's cool. Yeah, I hope to one day live in that atmosphere. Right now with the podcast, it's a little tougher. I kind of got to be in a major city, but I go to like a Whole Foods now. I don't recognize anyone.
Yeah.
Like in Vegas.
Yeah. Yeah. If you came and visited me, you'd be, uh, you know, we'd go down to the grocery store and, you know, I'd say hi to four or five people just walking through there. And that's great, man.
When you, when you look at these blue zones and people live long, their community is a big part of it.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And, but it, you know, has its drawbacks. Like you say, when you're running a podcast, um, you know, I have a podcast that it's not, uh, It's not something I push or whatever. I just do it because I really like people. And with my business, I've really come to get to meet really neat people.
But I was telling some of your folks out there, it's hard because I only do them in person. And when you're in Vegas, there's always somebody... cool coming to town that you could interview. But when you're in Montana in the winter, uh, it's like, well, who's going to be around? That's interesting to talk to, you know, it's not quite like, yeah, you probably get a ton of snow out there, huh? Yeah.
Yeah. We get quite a bit. We don't get any out here. Yeah, no, it's, um, it's been unseasonably kind of dry and warm right now. It's been in the thirties during the day. Um, maybe 40, maybe, um,
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Chapter 5: What was the Archery Rifle Challenge with Tulsi Gabbard?
Yeah, 100%. It's a numbers game. He has to fill, what, 10,000 positions? Something crazy. So not every single person is going to be
the best person exactly i don't think trump's exactly sitting there reading 10 000 resumes at night you know and then you'll see the media cancel them for one higher right exactly that happened last term and it's yeah pete hegseth another guy i know that's really good guy um um and uh you know i really give trump credit because like an rfk a tulsi people that haven't been lifelong republicans you know i don't really see the other side doing that bringing in
people from the other side. Clearly, Trump and RFK don't agree on everything. He's like, I'm going to keep him out of the environmental stuff. But he does respect RFK for what he is an expert in with the health stuff. Which is cool. I don't see the other side doing that at all. How many seven-year-olds do you see doing that many push-ups and pull-ups?
Not on that side.
That's what the guy in charge of our health should look like.
Yeah, 100%. Do you try to separate the politics from the business?
We do, yeah. I mean, you know, I think it's kind of known how we feel. But you know what? Democrats buy knives too, right? And I have absolute respect for the other side. Like, we can have a healthy debate. I have friends that are Democrats or liberal, and we disagree on certain topics and stuff. But, you know, I...
If you're respectful and we want to have a good debate and agree to disagree, I'm fine with that. But I kind of want our Instagram page and our website and some of that to be a little bit of maybe a break from the storm. It's like you see that stuff everywhere. It's on everything. And a few times I made my voice known during the election because I felt like
I mean, if Trump's willing to take a bullet in the ear, I should be willing to stand up, maybe lose a few followers, but say what I believe. And we can either agree to disagree or you can stop following us. But I try to not hit the politics stuff too hard with the company page.
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Chapter 6: How does hunting contribute to conservation efforts?
it is you know just grounding barefoot on the grass it is and and you have to do something hard and and a lot of times you fail you know you try stalking on an animal or you're not enough good enough shape you don't get up there in time and the animals are gone and uh and then there's something really rewarding once you you work that hard for that many days and you take down an animal
If you have some leftovers on your plate, you don't throw it away. You know, you appreciate your food. And, you know, even here at home, you know, people who go buy beef or chicken or whatever, I mean, all you're doing really is outsourcing your murder to somebody else, right? That animal's still being put down and feeding you. And so when you're a part of the process, you really...
you're really thankful for one living in a free country to be able to do it you're thankful for the environment that provided that animal a place to live you're thankful to the landowner that maybe let you go hunt there um and and their conservation and whatnot and then you're thankful just for the animal for the meat and the
food that it provides absolutely it's really not to mention all of this the connection with the people that you're with yeah that's awesome so it took you guys days to get a moose out there yeah we're out there 10 days and it took 10 full 10 days to get one well he got one in uh four days and then we hunted for the next six days hard hiked miles and uh we never got it never saw another bull moose wow so that that's the other thing like hunters generally go out and fail
I mean, it's a, it's a failure sport. Um, you hunt a lot of times you go out in the woods and you're on a more even playing field with those animals and they have all their senses and the terrain's hard and, uh, generally you fail, but that's what makes the success feel so good. And then also, again, I can go out and see some elk or deer or whatever, and maybe it doesn't work out.
And I go home and I haven't shot something and I had the best day. You know, you, you got to see animals in their environment. You know, we watched... We saw two different grizzly bears up there. Damn. Are you allowed to shoot those? Not in British Columbia. You can in Alaska. You can in the Yukon. Okay. Where we are... We weren't, so we just watched him.
Actually, Hank's bear, my son Hank, or his moose, after we... you know dressed all that moose out and got all the meat out yeah uh you know the bones and the carcass are left there and the next day the grizzly bear got on it i have videos afterwards i'll show you in pictures but that grizzly bear buried that entire carcass and then he sat on it for the next five days while we were in there
Holy crap. Guarding it from the wolves and the other bears. Oh, so he wanted to save it for hibernation. Yeah. Well, he's saving it and he'll, he'll eat on it up until hibernation. But yeah, he, that's a prize, right? Like that's, that's a big deal to that bear. And that's the other thing too, is like even that gut pile and some of that stuff that's left over from us taking the meat out.
um that bear is gonna clean that completely up and that's gonna provide him you know that sustenance to get through the winter wow you know and so he's gonna guard that with his life uh you know because that's a big deal for that bear you know for a bear to go take down a moose or something he could get injured expend a lot of energy maybe not get it yeah so he basically hop happened along a free meal that's cool you ever have any sketchy incidents where like the animal got a little too close for your comfort
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