Matt Sicard lives in Matheson, a small town in northeastern Ontario. After several years of working in gold mining Matt launched into full-time knifemaking turning his longtime hobby into his livelihood. Matt’s parents were both self-employed in mining supply. Matt frequently helped them clear trails on their property, mostly with machetes and axes and got to understand these tools and their functionality. His Dad also had a Black Belt in Martial Arts and owned a couple of Chinese broadswords.
In the early 2000’s, Japanese swords were featured in cartoons such as Samurai Jack. Matt was only 7-8 at the time but he became fascinated and wanted to learn more. He found a History Channel sword-making video series, Walter Sorrells’ channel in the early days of YouTube, and then saw a blacksmith forge in an antique village. At 9 years old, Matt used the garage stove, an anvil, a 4 lb. hammer, and an 8” bench stone and made his first knife. It took a couple of years to finish, but by that time his love of blacksmithing was fully ingrained. As he entered adulthood, he picked up the hobby again.
By 2021, Matt had worked 3 years in the mining industry and after sustaining cumulative injury he was left out of a job with limited finances. Luckily he’d recently purchased a forging press, steel, and a large quantity of belts and decided to try monetizing his hobby. He set some goals for himself and got to work, but it was a huge learning curve. He started by following the ABS (American Bladesmith Society) standards of what a good knife should be, for example, a blade that shaved arm hair and had 90-degree flexibility. But when he placed his knives on the KKF (Kitchen Knife Forum) Forum and one knife was “passed around” to 24-30 knifemakers he got direct feedback on design, sharpness, and look and feel. He combined his input with information from the Forum and customer feedback, learning an enormous amount in his first 3-6 months.
Matt sets high standards for himself in everything he does and especially in the performance of his knives. He can make EDC, machetes, filets, and swords but, he has specialized in Japanese style kitchen knives. He says “I need to focus on the demands of my customer base and that is predominantly Japanese style kitchen knives”. The thinner the edge the better they are for precise food cutting and the grind can have a long term impact of the blade’s performance.” His kitchen knives typically have an edge thickness of less than 2/10 mm or <.008”th 1mm (.040”) above the edge. That’s less than the equivalent to two sheets of printer paper. Matt says, “The blade geometry dictates how the knife will perform, and optimal performance can vary depending on the intended use of the knife and the expectations of the user. Consequently, when I make a knife, I balance the variables between the intended use, the limitations of the steel and advise my customers accordingly on design, steel selection, and handle material.”
Matt strives to be open and honest with his customers and give them exactly what they want. He believes that it’s best when the customer is precisely informed and can set their expectations accordingly. He provides extensive information about steel on his website and other information through is FAQ section. He highly recommends information from Larrin Thomas, Knife Steel Nerds. Matt says “Larrin is a professional metallurgist he holds a PhD, and has access to excellent equipment. His is the most extensive and reliable that we have access to at present. Matt generally recommends that his customers buy diamond sharpening stones because they work on all steels, including high vanadium carbide steels like MagnaCut. He says other sharpening stones work well but it’s also contingent on the steel type. Most of Matt’s customers are from the US. Surprisingly, he says he’s sent more knives to Australia than he’s sold in Canada. He has produced nearly 600 knives over the 4 years of his professional career.
For handle material, Matt uses mainly domestic and exotic hardwood. He has used coloured stabilized hardwood and burls and resin-infused wood but he finds that generally his customers want natural colours. For steel he likes to use 5200 and AEB-L but he also uses MagnaCut, Z Wear (CruWear), W2 Tool Steel, 26C3 and CPM-M4. He has learned a substantial amount about metallurgy. He has studied the articles on KnifeSteelNerds to best determine what heat treatment will optimize steel’s properties in a kitchen environment.
Matt says “Kitchen knives are different than many others. Not only are the media they cut multitudinous, but they’re almost always subjected to board impact on every cut. This is an undervalued dimension of edge retention. Most people would probably see a more significant boost in edge life by upgrading their cutting board (to end grain) than their blade steel”.
Matt knows he needs to balance his desire to try new things with his need to earn a living. He says,, “An old friend of mine once told me ‘There is the work that feeds the belly and the work that feeds the soul’, there are projects you take on that keep you in the game and get the bills paid, and there are projects that you do for the passion of taking them on. One allows you to do the other.” He makes batches of 10-30 knives at a time. Last between batches, he finds it’s good to have a change of pace, and to give him that, he likes to make swords. In 2025 he made three, including two medieval-style longswords and a katana.
Biggest challenge – Matt says he finds marketing the most challenging. While he likes interacting with customers he finds keeping his website fresh and promoting his work is not something he enjoys, “if I could spend all my time hiding in the shop I would.”
Matt’s Tips
KISS – Over preparation can be just as much of a hindrance as under preparation. The main thing is just to start getting things done and start building your skill set. Most of the voids in your understanding will fill themselves in.
Don’t drown yourself in overhead. Sales are very tempting, but it’s easy to put yourself in financial jeopardy with an excess of steel and belts.
Buy structured abrasive belts, they are worth every penny. They last longer, cut more easily and with more control and it saves the wear and tear on your hands.
Always use proper safety precautions … no one will think you’re extra cool because you have silicosis and hearing loss. Protect yourself!
See more of Matt’s knives on his website: https://msicardcutlery.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msicardcutlery
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