Local craftsman creates handmade tomahawks, knives,
Local craftsman creates handmade tomahawks, knives
For Matthew Cornelius, anything sharp has forever fascinated him since his youthful days.
And in recent years, this Texarkana native turned that fascination into a thriving small business, creating handmade tomahawks or axes and other types of bladed art, as he calls it. His Cornelius Creations crafts what he describes as “culturally inspired designs of the past, present and future.”
For a tomahawk, Cornelius employs his considerable woodcarving skills to give the handle a unique design, but he also does the same for the blade. He can turn a regular hammer into a Viking hammer. He can craft an ax with an American flag design on the handle.
Another side to the business is his love for making movies and taking photos. Cornelius runs a YouTube channel that gets hundreds of thousands of views. In tutorials, he teaches people how to wood carve and power carve, stencil letters, use a rotary tool, engrave metal and more.
Cornelius Creations combines many of his passions.
“Since I’ve been little bitty, I’ve always had this fascination with knives and cameras,” Cornelius said, recalling the home movies he used to make with his aunt’s camcorder. “I’ve always had this weird fascination with anything with a sharp edge, blades.”
He collected knives when he was younger, and enjoyed crafts like woodburning. As is so often the case with people inspired, he saw someone else selling hatchets with hickory handles and was inspired to do something more with it, to take it a step further.
“So I took it and I wood burned the stuff on there, just a little Viking design,” Cornelius recalled. Later, he got a request from an Army Ranger who saw the work and wanted some for his boys. Hesitant at first, Cornelius did it. That was three years ago.
Now Cornelius sources his steel and fashions the blades himself
through a process called stock removal. He also carves wooden handles with theme designs. He makes Christmas gifts, birthday gifts and such. He’ll put names and Bible verses on the handles. A recent project had a Choctaw design. He strives to lend his work sentimental value for the client.
“They’re very functional. I deem them as wall art,” Cornelius said. Customers may choose not to use them because of the intricate work put into each tomahawk, but they can be used. His carving doesn’t mess with the structural integrity of the wood. And it’s not just the handles that receive an intricate design. The blades do, too.
“I’ll take them and I’ll engrave them. I’ll do what you call acid etch on them,” Cornelius explained. He’ll file work them. He strives for a battle-worn appearance in many cases.
“That way when people get it, it looks like it has been in war or been in battle,” he said. Belt sanders and other power tools help him do the stock removal on blades, stock being the original piece. Hence, there are two parts to the art: the steel and the handle (typically hickory).
A project usually begins with writing down his vision on paper to stay organized. He’ll do a mini-interview with the client, staying open to changes along the way as they discuss the work. It all starts there, and then he takes his pencil to the handle to freehand the design. He’ll work on steel and handle at the same time, going back and forth. He sharpens last, for obvious reasons.
“I’ve made some hunting tomahawks where people will want to take it in the woods, and it has more of a spike-style head,” Cornelius said, noting he tries to include ergonomic considerations. He wants it to be comfortable to hold.
Cornelius is self-taught in such areas. “I listen to a thousand podcasts a day,” he says. Books, too, give him knowledge. He attended a two-day knife school, but otherwise he is self-taught and admits he’s still learning and growing. YouTube videos have given him a lot. And when he learns something, he can turn around and teach it.
This ax crafter got his start making YouTube videos with guitar playing and video games. He racked up money from ad revenue on that old, now-deleted channel. Sensing an opportunity, he took Cornelius Creations to YouTube; people can also find it on Instagram.
“What I mainly do there (on YouTube) is I teach woodcarving and other creative type of skills,” Cornelius said. He was praying one day, sitting on the floor, and the idea struck him. He also wanted to make what he couldn’t find there. He’s included motivational messages in his videos, too.
“I found a way to do it and I started teaching. I don’t give away all of my secrets, of course,” he said, adding, “Every successful person leaves a trail behind for people to follow.”
He’s been contacted by companies who want him to do tool reviews, but he wants to be selective. In addition to Cornelius Creations, he has a company that films weddings, another side to his creative nature: Cornelius Cinematics. “I’ve shot some commercial B-roll for some clients here locally,” he said.
And with Cornelius Creations, he’s been noticed. His work and YouTube channel have been featured on Woodcarving Illustrated Magazine’s Facebook page.
He can spend from 10 to 60 hours on a project. Cornelius pours a lot of time into each piece he makes. He’ll put photos and videos together for the client to keep.
After all, when people are buying his work, they’re buying something special and the effort he devoted to it. He’s attached to the handmade work he does.
“They’re just not buying just a tool or whatever, they’re buying me,” Cornelius said, adding, “I’m making them something that’s a one-of-a-kind gift that they don’t get anywhere else.”