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. 

.

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 

Happy Holidays 2024

2024 was a busy year at Guinea Hog Forge. After making the big move from southeastern NC to the middle of the state in 2022, we finally completed the new shop by firing up the forge in late January of this year. It was really nice to put the hot side of our operations back to work and see Scott forging on his home turf again. To celebrate, we invited friends and family out for an event on the property and had a blast forging, grinding, eating, sitting around the fire, and simply enjoying each other's company.  

 

 We plan hold another hammer-in in 2025 so stay-tuned for details.

 

While Scott continues to teach at various schools around the country (the Virginia Institute of Blacksmithing in Waynesboro VA, Arc and Flame in Rochester NY, and at Shop Space in Raleigh NC), he also started teaching 1-2 person classes at our shop in Franklinton, NC this year, so check our website for class descriptions and dates. If you don't see a class that works for you, email us and we can design a class to meet your needs and works with your schedule.  

 

To end the year, Scott recently finished two knives. A Rover Blackout was made alongside a student during a custom class at our home shop in December. This stock removal version of our popular Rover design was ground out of 1075. Scott tapered the tang to better balance the knife, Parkerized the steel to protect it from corrosion, marked in with our McGhee Knives stock removal mark, and then dressed it in a vintage Micarta handle which contrasts nicely against the black blade. 

Rover Elite Blackout

Earlier this year, Scott forged an all-steel Giblet Knife in an offsite class and then finished in the shop this month. Scott hand-forges knives out of steel giblets to show students that you are not limited by the amount of steel you have, but only by your forging skills and imagination. This wicked little all steel blade was hand-forged out of 80CRv2, has a rustic hammer-marked steel handle, and is a cutting machine. 

All Steel Giblet Knife

Both knives come with leather pocket sheaths with Discreet Carry Concept hip-clips and a wooden display box with our logo. They were available on the website when this blog was written. To view all available items and there specifications please go HERE.

We hope you had a wonderful 2024. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours, and we hope to see or hear from you in 2025. Thanks! 

Lydia & Scott McGhee

Guinea Hog Forge

guineahogforge@gmail.com

2024 NC STATE FAIR

Fall is in the air and that means Scott is busy making knives for the NC State Fair in Raleigh, NC - October 17-27th. We've been selling knives and talking about the art of the forged blade in the Village of Yesteryear (an artist village on the traditional side of the fairgrounds) since 2016. It's always a good time, but this year Scott will also be demonstrating his skills live at Heritage Forge (just down from the VOY building) where talented blacksmiths forge all day long. Scott will demonstrate his knife forging skills at Heritage Forge from 1-3pm on Tuesday & Thursday, Oct 22nd & 24th. We plan to video and hopefully live-stream during those times, so stay tuned for content from that opportunity.

 

Below are examples of some of the knives we'll have available at the fairgrounds - Damascus Piranhas and XOs. These blades will be available to fair attendees ONLY from Oct 17-22nd. Any knives NOT  purchased by fair-goers by Tuesday evening (Oct 22nd) will be made available online to the general public on Wednesday, Oct 23rd.

 

DAMASCUS PIRANHA 

Steel: 1095/15n20 Pattern Welded

Finish: Hand-sanded/hammer-marked

Overall Length: 6.125 inches

Blade Length: 2.75 inches

Sheath: Leather front pocket

We will have several hand-forged Damascus Piranhas available at the NC State Fair. The Piranha above is dressed in vintage Micarta and the one below has an African Blackwood handle. All Piranhas come with a leather front pocket sheath and wooden display box.

DAMASCUS XO (Executive Officer)

Steel: 1095/15n20 Pattern Welded

Finish: Hand-sanded/Hammer Marked

Overall Length: 8.5 inches

Blade Length: 3.5 inches

Sheath: Leather Hip

 

The XO (executive officer) is a bit larger than the Piranha but is also a great everyday carry that can handle a wide variety of jobs. The XO above is dressed in curly Koa, while the one below has an English walnut handle with black Micarta bolsters and black Micarta liners. All XOs come with a leather hip sheath and wooden display box. 

We'll post more pictures and videos as we get closer to the start of the NC State Fair. Scott has a couple of kitchen knives in the works, as well as one spectacular Damascus fighter. If you can, please come visit us and our fellow artisans in the Village of Yesteryear. The Village is full of talented folks that do a wide variety of crafts at a very high level. Some of our members were impacted by Hurricane Helene so please come and show those folks some extra special love. And if you can't make it to the NC State Fair, stay tuned for available knives to post online Wednesday the 23rd. You can also email us if you see something you like as Scott will have some time after the fair to make a few more blades prior to Christmas. 

Thanks for looking.

Guinea Hog Forge

guineahogforge@gmail.com

Brut de Forge in a Brand New Box

This Brut de Forge fighter was forged by hand in Scott's January Intro to Bladesmithing Class at the Virginia Institute of Blacksmithing. This week (in between working on the F350 engine rebuild) he marked it, made a sheath for it, placed it in one of our new Guinea Hog Forge presentation boxes, and asked me to find a home for it.

Brut de Forge Fighter

Steel: 1075

Finish: Rustic

Overall Length: 14.375 inches

Blade Length: 8.5 inches

Handle: Maroon Micarta

Sheath: Leather with IWB strap

This knife features a fully sharpened clip and tapered tang.

It's light, fast and wicked sharp - like a fighter should be. 

The knife comes with an E. Scott McGhee handmade leather sheath featuring an inside the waistband strap for crossdraw or backside carry.

 This package is SOLD.

Thanks for looking.

Guinea Hog Forge

guineahogforge@gmail.com