NC STATE FAIR 2026

It's that time of year again! The weather is cooling, the leaves are falling, and we're headed to the NC State Fair to sell knives and talk about Scott's craft for 11 long days (October 15-25). 

Check out some of our featured items below.

8-Inch Damascus Chef w/ Karelian Birch Handle & Black Micarta Ferrule

  

 

80CrV2 Fighter w/ African Blackwood Handle, Bronze Guard, and Bronze Spacers

 

80CrV2 Hunter in Karelian Birch w/ Dovetailed Micarta Bolsters

GKU Minis with Karelian Birch Handles and Black Micarta Ferrules

GKU=General Kitchen Utility

Damascus Sparrow Hawk w/ BB-55 Teak Handle, RWB Liners & Blk Micarta Ferrule

Teak from original deck of BB-55 - The Battleship USS North Carolina

Damascus Commanders

 

 

Option 1: Honduran Rosewood Handle w/ Karelian Birch Spacer & Blk Micarta Ferrule

 

 

 

Option 2: Grey Karelian Birch Handle w/ Natural Karelian Birch Spacer & Blk Micarta Ferrule

 

 

80CrV2 Bush Hog w/ Ito Wrap & Copper Menuki

And to commemorate 75 years of  the Village of Yesteryear sharing traditional arts at the fair:

VOY-75 Hunters in Curly Maple (Brown, Blue, Honey & Natural)

 

 

The Village of Yesteryear Artist Collective is located in the Holshouser Building (Bldg #22), and our booth is located on a inner wall this year just across from the big roll up doors. 

Any knives not sold by Monday evening (Oct 19th) will be available on the website Tuesday morning (Oct 20th). Hope to see you there! 

Guinea Hog Forge

guineahogforge@gmail.com 

WALLER-IN 2026: AUCTION STILL IN PROGRESS!

The in-person part of WALLER-IN 2026 is a wrap (we'll post more about that soon), but the AUCTION for items made at the event or donated by demonstrators and friends is still LIVE. 

 

For most items, the AUCTION ENDS TOMORROW (3/28/2026) at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time. The exception is the Gunstock War Club by Jacob King. He is still working on that item so we'll provide an update concerning the war club once available. 

All items can be viewed by going to https://GHFWallerIn2026.auctria.events and then clicking the AUCTION BUTTON, but you must be registered with Auctria to bid. Here's some items that are still available (i.e. haven't been claimed via the BUY IT NOW option). 

ITEM #1: HAND FORGED BOY'S AXE by E. Scott McGhee

 

  

ITEM #2: 80CrV2 CAMP KNIFE  by  E. Scott McGhee

 

ITEM #3: BLACKSMITH TONGS #1 by Lucas House 

 ITEM #5: COPPER REULEAUX TRIANGLE VESSEL by Brian Martens

ITEM #14: FORGED BIRD by Ethan Winskey

 

ITEM #1: DAMASCUS BOY'S AXE by E. Scott McGhee

 

ITEM #15: TWISTED RUST-BELT DAMASCUS KNIFE by Zach Tarbell

 

ITEM #16: DAMASCUS BUSH BLADE by Steve Shipley

 

ITEM #17: MASTODON BOLO TIE by Dan Dye

ITEM #19: STAINLESS SAN MAI BIRD & TROUT by Steve Shipley

 

 

 

 

ITEM #20: K-TIP DAMASCUS PETTY by Steve Shipley

ITEM #21: BRAZILIAN CHERRY TANTO (AIKIDO TRAINER) by Brian Martens

ITEM #22: DAMASCUS BOY'S AXE  by  E. Scott McGhee

ITEM #23: OAK TANTO (AIKIDO TRAINER) by Brian Martens

ITEM #24: DAMASCUS CHEF KNIFE  by Zach Tarbell

ITEM #27: KITCHEN KNIFE by Wesley Alberson

 

 

ITEM #28: FORGED BIRD & SNAKE by Ethan Winskey

 

 

ITEM #29: SPIRAL BLACKSMITH KNIFE by Wesley Alberson

 

ITEM #30: BLACKSMITHING TONGS #2  by Lucas House

 

 

Thank you again to everyone who came to the event or helped by supporting it from afar. Monetary donations go directly into our Scholarship Fund to help prospective smiths offset the cost of taking classes at Guinea Hog Forge. We'll be announcing our first recipient very soon!

 

Proceeds from Auction Purchases are split between the maker & Guinea Hog Forge. The typical split is 80% to the maker: 20% to GHF (after credit card fees & taxes), but some of our makers donated items in full or have chosen to take a lesser percentage. We are super grateful to all the makers and demonstrators. Without them & you, this event couldn't happen. 

 

Hope to see you at next year's Waller-In! 

We'll start posting videos from this year's event on social media and YouTube soon.

Lydia & Scott McGhee

2025 Guinea Hog Forge Wall'er-In

So, what in the world is a Wall'er-In? 

A hammer-in is a gathering of blacksmiths and/or bladesmiths where knowledge is shared. A Wall'er-In is a once-a-year hammer-in at Guinea Hog Forge where we wallow in a plethora of art forms in a beautiful setting with an amazing group of demonstrators and spectators.

2025 Demonstrators from left to right - Dan Dye, Lucas House, Jacob King, Lydia McGhee, E. Scott McGhee, Peggy & Ralph McGhee, Candace Martens, Eric Steinhauer, Brian Martens, Ethan Winskey, Bruce Steinhauer, and Zach Tarbell (photo by Chris Morgan).

This Instagram Video by Wesley Alberson nicely captures the essence of the 2025 Wall'er-In, and below is a brief synopsis of our March 29-30 event. 

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Chris Morgan snapped more amazing tin-type photos than I can post here.

Silversmith Dan Dye worked tirelessly for 2 days wowing the crowd with his skills.  

 

Shop Space's Lucas House expertly forged a huge intricate riveted door pull.

VIB instructor Ethan Winskey entertained the crowd while pounding out an impressive War Hammer.

Jacob King of NCABANA had a blast educating attendees while forging colonial lighting items.

E. Scott McGhee, Zach Tarbell, and Candace Martens tag-teamed the making of a gorgeous Damascus Carving Set. On Saturday, Zach forged the 4-Way Twisted Pattern-Welded Steel, Scott forged the knife, and Candy forged the fork. Then on Sunday, they all worked together to sand, mark, etch, handle and finish the set. Photo by Jocelyn Frasier.

To the delight of attendees, Brian Martens crafted a hand-tooled copper medallion for the carving set's leather wrap live on site. 

On Saturday, Bruce and Eric Steinhauer slow roasted the best pork BBQ ever on their hand-crafted rotisserie.

Peggy & Ralph McGhee (Scott's parents) cooked over the fire all weekend to make sure nobody went hungry.

On Friday, before the event began, three bladesmiths passed their Journeyman Performance Test. Congrats to Ethan Winskey, Sam Daugherty, and Zach Tarbell on this amazing accomplishment.

 

The event concluded with an auction to fund the Candace & Brian Martens GHF Scholarship Fund. The fund was established at last year's event to help those of limited means take no-cost (or low cost) classes at Guinea Hog Forge. If interested, please email guineahogforge@gmail.com for an application. 

Thank you to all who came and helped support the cause. The GHF Wall'er-In is an Invitation Only Event with limited capacity. If you are interested in attending the 2026 event, please email guineahogforge@gmail.com to get on the notification list.  

Next year's event is already in the works!

Guinea Hog Forge
guineahogforge@gmail.com