History

Umbrella Forge began in the woods of Alaska. At the age of 11, Jeremiah would frequently engage in “Sword fights” with his older brother using broken hockey sticks and branches. After losing to his brother enough times he exclaimed, “Forget this! I’ll make them, you use them.” Their father overheard this comment and asked Jeremiah if he knew that it was the blacksmith who made swords, to which the boy responded, “Ok.” And passion was born.

Utilizing the ingenuity of youth and the access to many modern tools of the Alaskan oil industry, Jeremiah built his first forge and began pounding away. Working outside (because his parents wouldn’t let him work with fire in the garage) He literally worked under an umbrella for some time. Realizing that clever orientation of his initials would look like an umbrella as well, the name was born from his 12-year-old mind. Some 20 odd years later, he finally made a sale.

While attending Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Thiensville, Wisconsin, Jeremiah met Daniel Nauman of Bighorn Forge, Inc and began to learn more about the art side of the trade of the blacksmith. It was here that the passion for ironwork flared to life again and Jeremiah began his professional career.

Since his informal apprenticeship with Dan, he has been able to work on restorations all around Milwaukee as well as new creations all over the state as an assistant.

What began as a passion burning for swords and knives became a fireball in 2017 when Jeremiah competed on the History Channel’s show Forged in Fire. The episode paired all of his favorites, history, coal forges, seaxes, and axes. [Spoiler alert!] After winning the episode and becoming a Forged in Fire Champion, Jeremiah has sent blades all over North America. Some pieces are purely artistic and decorative, some designed for the extremes of dry and cold.

After the show aired, Jeremiah was approached by a professional axe thrower to design an axe just for him. After some time of tweaking, an axe was sent to Albany, New York. Which was then seen on ESPN2 as Mark Marisol won the 2021 World Axe Throwing League Championship in the Big Axe division (Cool article featuring the axe at the top photo). Since that time, Umbrella Forge Axes have been seen more than a few times on ESPN being thrown by some of the world’s best.

Jeremiah loves making axes. He actually wrote a story about it in third grade that still inspires him today. But he also loves artist/architectural work. He has helped with timber frame construction building, making the tools and binders for the wood working. He also continues to work on small household objects and teaching his sons about the value of working with your head and your hands. His favorite conversations tend to start with the phrase, “Hey, can you…” His least favorite involve “What is the ballpark of…”