Today we’d like to introduce you to Trystan Nguyen.
Hi Trystan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My journey started at around 8 years old when my dad helped me make my first sword. It was made from aluminum so if I fell on it accidentally I wouldn’t impale myself. I used to run around in our local forest going on “adventures” with it. My parents loved it, they had me clearing the bramble bushes with my mighty blade! While growing up I had loved the series “The Legend Of Zelda” and wanted the sword from the game, But coming from a first generation immigrant family, we didn’t have a lot of money. When my dad came over from Vietnam in the 70’s as a refugee with his family of 10, they were able to eventually start an autobody company as a family, which eventually turned into making Shelby cobra kit cars. We had equipment that I had grown up around, but the margins on cost were incredibly thin.
My first forge, as a result, was made out of the clay dirt that the Turner area is so well known for staining everything with, a hair dryer, one 4# sledgehammer as an anvil, and a framing hammer. I bought a 55 gallon drum for 15 dollars and gathered fallen wood from the area to turn into charcoal. As handy as my dad was, he didn’t know anything about blacksmithing, so everything I was experimenting with and learning was self taught from youtube and books.
After I had built some very basic blades, I ended up taking them to some trade shows and sold them there. Honestly, I think people saw a 14 year old selling crappy knives and paid to help me more than anything! I used that money to finance more tools, to make better knives, to buy more tools… Eventually to the point where blade smithing is my full time career.
One of the biggest helps in that regard was Forged In Fire. While I didn’t win, people have told me that I showed incredible grit for a 19 year old making it to the finale with a cast of competitors who all were old enough to have been my dad.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My biggest struggles have been financial, educational, and from my youth.
As I said before, I’m a first generation American, my dad was a Vietnam war refugee. Our story is the same for so many others in the country, but I got very lucky and learned quickly how to accomplish my goals as efficiently as possible with limited funding.
One thing I’ve noticed about the education system is that it seems that you have to choose to learn about finances. I had the option to graduate early, but I stuck around to take all of the fun classes that I never was able to as electives. The school (Sprague) wanted me to take a math class though, so I chose financial algebra. That one term was petty much the only exposure I ever got to filing taxes, balancing a bank account, and writing a P&L.
My age, size, and ethnicity also create huge challenges for marketing. There’s a stereotype of the old Japanese swordsmith with the wizened thin beard. But that’s around 40 years away from me! When I was on Forged in Fire at the airport, my driver in NYC who had been working with the tv show for a while circled around the airport almost a dozen times, because who would have thought a 105# 19 year old was actually a blacksmith. It’s only when people hear me talk about blacksmithing they begin to realize that I have been immersed in the craft for almost 13 years. In fact, next year will be my tipping point where I will have been forging for over half my life, and every year then my blacksmithing experience has overtaken the time I have spent without a hammer in my hand.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in artistic blacksmithing and bladesmithing. I love to crate blades and steel forms that are inspired by nature in some way, and incorporate organic materials into the steel itself. At this point, I’m known in my area for my hairpins. they are made from steel vines with a lily for the needle, leaves, and a stone setting.
I love to perform blacksmithing for folks at fairs and markets. If they’ll let me, I always try to bring my forge out to demonstrate and inspire more people to try blacksmithing.
What matters most to you? Why?
My business and my career have been the pillar that has held my life together. I see my friends and family my age struggling to make ends meet at jobs that aren’t designed to pay their workers a living wage. If my life hadn’t led me to start my own business I wouldn’t be able to afford a shop, a house or someday want to start a family. Creating a business that allows me to mee those goals and also feel artistically fulfilled while doing so has been a true blessing.
Pricing:
- Shop rate: 50/hr
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fluidforgeblackmithing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fluid_forge_blacksmithing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FluidForgeBlacksmithing
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FluidForgeBlacksmithing
- Other: Here is a link to a previous slideshow I made in case that is helpful as well! (https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/128EsCucKq8JICXt2lgEjFqch9x_NYV86rrLkf-i-iec/edit?usp=sharing)
