I am starting this effort when my only notable income income is $926.00 / month. I am homeless, footless, and just now learning to walk again. I can stand, but not long. I can walk but not far.I stay in a leaky old camper on someone else’s land. Each day I can, I get in my wheel chair n roll out to the forge. I do this because I will not give up.
Did I mention the moderate traumatic brain injury? I have been rode hard, put away wet, and then pissed on by someone who drank entirely too much Southern Comfort. If it were Janis Joplin I might of enjoyed it. It was not Janis Joplin. Hopefully that is all I will say about what was done to me and how I got to this state.
My plan is simple. I will continue to live on next to nothing until June of 2021. This way, I can put every penny into knife making and forging supplies., build inventor and turn a hobby business into something that will get me off of disability or at least supplement my income enough to provide a home. I will offer my knives, swords, and other creations on June 5, 2021 during the opening day and following weekends of the Kentucky Renaissance Festival. On opening day, I will lay out a full year of my work. Patrons will then decide if I can move forward with plans to buy property or continue to live off disability and charity.
Once the season runs its course, I will offer what is left online here at Bad Attitude Blades. If successful, I will offer all knew creations first at each year’s Kentucky Renaissance Festival and only online once the festival is complete. The young folk tell me this is called a ‘product drop’.
Gifts / Donations – If I had the choice, I would not ask for a thing. But I am not ashamed to ask. When I wrote for a living I was paid to write. When I perform I often receive tips. Is a web site any different? I hope to produce a web site more useful to the blade smith than most books. If you would like to help me share that knowledge with a gift here there, great.
Send to: A.J. Drew
955 Elm Street
Eminence, KY 40019
Food From Amazon – When I say I was abandoned in a camp ground, I am not exaggerating. No food, no money, no car. Being in a wheel chair, I could not even get to the food bank. Although I now have social security disability coming in monthly anything extra will help.
Work Related – Food keeps my body alive. Work keeps my soul alive. If I am going to get enough inventory built to get this new business on the road, a few work related gifts will go a long way.
Extreme Gifting
12 Ton Mini Press
– Years ago, I built my first forging press. When I became homeless, I gave it to a friend because it weighed more than the floor of my current smithy could support. Today, I use hammer and anvil to forge weld. I found a bench top mini press I feel would do the job n give my arm a break. Challenge being, the thing costs about $3,000.00 and I am homeless. if the 2021 season goes well, this will be the first addition to my smithy. But if Knife Maker’s Santa is out there, this would really help make it a good season.